READERSVOICE.COM aims to give a few interesting samples from out of print books. Here are some gags and stories gleaned from a couple of anthologies of The Strand Magazine. The volumes were published in 1897 and 1906. The Strand was a popular magazine sold in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues. It published short fiction and general interest articles.

A regular feature of The Strand was a section called The Chronicles of the Strand Club. It featured gags cited by some of the regular writers, which were later illustrated in black and white by their artists. Here are a few samples from the Chronicles of the Strand Club, from Vol. 31, January to June 1906:

From a letter received from a military officer in the Punjab:

Scene: A railway carriage.

Personae: A young lady. A middle-class family of three, eating ham sandwiches.

Father: “Well, ‘Arry, d’you like the sandwiches?”

Boy: “I like the ‘am.”

Father: “Don’t say ’am; say ‘am.”

Boy: “I am saying ‘am.”

Mother (to young lady): “You know they both think they’re saying ‘am.”

Another military joke:

Officer: “Why were you late in barracks last night, Private Hawkins?”

Private Hawkins: “Train from London was very late, sir.”

Officer: “Very good. Next toime the thrain’s late, take care y’ come by an earlier one.”

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-readersvoice.com