More jokes from Boys of Our Empire, Volume 1, 1901, an anthology of an Edwardian one penny magazine for boys…

“My proudest boast,” declared the lecturer, who expected his statement to be greeted with cheers, “is that I was one of the men behind the guns.”

“How many miles behind?” piped a voice from the gallery.

A Triumphant Explanation

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a showman said once to a group of country people, “you see here the skull of the famous Oliver Cromwell.”

One of the spectators, however, said: “That cannot be his skull, for we know he had a large head, and that is quite a small skull.”

The showman was nonplussed for a moment, then he replied: “It is true that Oliver Cromwell had a large skull when he died, but this is his skull when he was a child.”

— readersvoice.com

— See Boys of Our Empire, Volume 1, 1901, published by Andrew Melrose, London. It includes some interesting news items, adventure stories, wise columns, and some jokes that have aged quite well. How do you make your trousers last? Make your coat and waistcoat first.