History Literature / AmericanCornball

* CartoonCheese: "Limburger Cheese" (which is about the consistency of butter in real life) was depicted as a hunk of Swiss in at least one of the author's examples. He considers it a AcceptableBreaksFromReality, since a wedge with holes is the only thing that reads 'cheese' at comic-strip resolution.

* MsFanservice: "Blondes," "Pretty Girls," and "Flappers." Not only did they dominate the world of newspaper comics for a time, they benefited from an ArtShift to look more realistic and detailed compared to the males and non-sexy females. However, a pretty girl usually couldn't carry a comic strip: she eventually lost place to someone funnier, as Dagwood took over from ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'' or ComicStrip/{{Nancy}} displaced her pretty Aunt Fritzi.

* WeaponOfChoice: Batons for police, rolling pins for housewives.
* YesMan: A chapter is centered on this.

* CartoonCheese: "Limburger Cheese" (which is about the consistency of butter in real life) was depicted as a hunk of Swiss in at least one of the author's examples. He considers it a NecessaryWeasel, since a wedge with holes is the only thing that reads 'cheese' at comic-strip resolution.

* BowlingForRatings: "Bowling" is one of the spots most humor of the time set up, being blue-collar and unpretentious.

* CheatingWithTheMilkman: Usually the ''iceman'' in humor -- milk bottles arrive on the doorstep and the coal man only has to come by once a year. Ice blocks, on the other hand, require upper body strength and need to be delivered directly to the kitchen on a weekly basis, making the iceman the stereotypical seducers of housewives.

* ProneToTears: "Crybabies and Whiners." People who cry are played completely unsympathetically, of course; the chapter also mentions "crying towels" which can be offered to anyone who moans too much about the lousy game they're having in golf, bowling, etc.

* PizzaBoySpecialDelivery: The ice man was the stereotypical seducer of housewives before Pizza Hut, given that he visited once or twice a week and had to be fairly strong to lug blocks of ice around.

* SexySecretary: One variant under "Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists." Some of these women are [[BrainlessBeauty cute but dumb]], some are {{Hypercompetent Sidekick}}s and {{Beleaguered Assistant}}s, and some are just skating by.

* ExtremeDoormat: "Milquetoasts". The main example is the TropeNamer, Caspar Milquetoast from ''The Timid Soul'', who is too meek to retrieve his hat from a lawn with a posted "Keep off the Grass" sign.

* VisualInnuendo: A ''lot'' of the humor of this time was code for a sexual image the artist couldn't draw. "Shoes" of a certain impressive size indicate a well-endowed man; similar to "Noses" (meaning a "Sneeze" is code for orgasm). What this means about the beaky nose of the poor "Old Maid" is ambiguous -- is she too masculine or just oversexed from frustration?

* BananaPeel: "Bananas and Banana Peels" is all about this trope and how the general subject of bananas were one of the ubiquitous comedy tools in Vaudeville. The author notes that a banana peel as the setup to a {{pratfall}} seems incongruous (how many banana peels do you see in the wild?) but RuleOfPerception means there has to be something obvious for a character to slip on, and an icy sidewalk is harder to draw.

* SmellySkunk: One chapter, "Skunks", is devoted entirely to examples of this.

* BananaPeel: "Bananas and Banana Peels" is all about this trope and how the general subject of bananas were one of the ubiquitous comedy tools in Vaudeville.

* GrandDame: "Dowagers" -- upper-class, middle-aged women depicted as self-important, overweight, and TheComicallySerious. Also informs the humor of "Society Ladies," "Opera," and the 'bosoms' half of "Bosoms and Breasts."

* StockYuck: "Limburger Cheese" (more for the smell than the taste) along with PovertyFood like "Cabbage," "Beans," and "Hash." For kids, "Castor Oil" and the ever-detested "Spinach."

* InsatiableNewlyweds: One possible joke about "Honeymoons." Others involve a bride or groom disappointed in the other's appearance or performance, a couple who tire of each other way too soon, or a husband who is such a nebbish that he doesn't even know where to start. "Just Married" also features new couples rushing to get to the main attraction, with one postcard subverting expectations: the couple eagerly undressing were just in a hurry to get their bathing suits on and go for a swim.

* CartoonCheese: "Limburger Cheese" in at least one instance was depicted as a hunk of Swiss, since a wedge with holes is the only thing that reads 'cheese' at comic-strip resolution.

* MsFanservice: "Blondes," "Pretty Girls," and "Flappers." Not only did they dominate the world of newspaper comics for a time, they benefited from an ArtShift to look more realistic and detailed compared to the males and non-sexy females. However, a pretty girl usually couldn't carry a comic strip: she eventually lost place to someone funnier, as Dagwood took over from ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'' or ComicStrip/{{Nancy}} displaced Aunt Fritzi.

* SexySecretary: One variant under "Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists." Some of these women are [[BrainlessBeauty cute but dumb]], some are {{Hypercompetent Sidekick}}s and {{BeleagueredAssistant}}s, and some are just skating by.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Drives several tropes. Marriage means the end of a man's sexual freedom, shackling him to a woman who, no matter how desirable she once was, promptly lets herself go and becomes an overweight nag. While the OldMaid pines for the married life she never had, the Bachelor suffers nothing but mild societal disapproval if he never marries (though he does have to darn his own socks).

* CartoonCheese: "Limburger Cheese" in at least one instance was depicted as a hunk of Swiss, since a wedge with holes is the only thing that reads 'cheese' as comic-strip resolution.

* MsFanservice: "Pretty Girls" and "Flappers." Not only did they dominate the world of newspaper comics for a time, they benefited from an ArtShift to look more realistic and detailed compared to the males and non-sexy females. However, a pretty girl usually couldn't carry a comic strip: she eventually lost place to someone funnier, as Dagwood took over from ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'' or ComicStrip/{{Nancy}} displaced Aunt Fritzi.

* AbsentmindedProfessor: The very first entry in the book. It also mentions this trope's evil twin, the MadScientist. In the author's view, the difference is that the Absentminded Professor tends to be obsessed with knowledge for its own sake, while the Mad Scientist seeks knowledge in pursuit of power, wealth or sexual potency.

* OfficerOHara: Mentioned under "The Irish." The author notes in "Cops and Nightsticks" that part of virulence of anti-police humor was the stereotype that police officers were Irish.

* StockYuck: "Castor Oil" and "Limburger Cheese" both have entries, along with despised 'poverty' foods like "Cabbage," "Beans," and "Hash" and the ever-detested "Spinach."

* GrandDame: "Dowagers" -- upper-class, middle-aged women depicted as self-important, overweight, and TheComicallySerious.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: The 'hat take' in "Hats, Men's" (where the hat jumps vertically off the wearer's head) is interpreted as visual shorthand for an erection. The entry on "Penises" is primarily on phallic and/or expanding objects (e.g. the snake-in-a-can gag), not the physical organ.

** An entire chapter is dedicated to "Feces," with the caveat that it's almost always ''animal'' feces or poo-related joke items.

* EEqualsMCHammer: Discussed under "Eggheads," where the incomprehensibility of a board full of random symbols is part of the humor.

** An entire chapter is dedicated to the subject of Feces in old time humor.
** Both "Outhouses" and "Chamber Pots" have entries. The author notes that jokes and comics on this topic tended toward racism.