The Stag Call: A Compilation of Clean Dirt and an Assortment of Stag-Nated Material for a Stag-Nation [Two volumes]

New York: (the author), 1950. Trade Paperback. Very Good. Volume one: [3], 127 leaves; volume two: unpaginated by about 100 leaves. Printed rectos (front side) only. 8-1/2 by 11 inches; bradbound in paper covers. A collection of stag party jokes "strictly for men who are not so strict! For stags, barrooms, taverns, golf links, toilets, mens' rooms, cellars, dives, joints, cess-pools, sewers, etc. etc." A rare record of raunchy statndup comedy in the immediate post-War era. Not located on OCLC.

Undoubtedly issued in very small quantities. Unlike other Glason joke volumes, which were mimeographed, these are carbon copies, made on a typewriter, suggesting a print run of 4 to 6 copies at a time. The jokes are mild by modern standards, and many invoke euphemisms, double entendres, and elisions to evade censors (e.g., "She has an even disposition. She wants to F... all the time"). The jokes are also predictably racist and misogynist.

These two collections of jokes were produced by the former vaudeville performer Billy Glason under his nom de plum, Fun-Master. By most accounts, Glason was not a fan of blue jokes, but he has happy to make a buck (or $85, the price of these two books). In the introduction to another book of jokes, which included a few pages of what he termed "zingy" material, he wrote, "We aren't too much in favor of this brand of humor, but show-business is show-business, and in this business there is demand for every type of comedy."

After the end of his vaudeville career, Glason turned to selling jokes to other performers. He offered a monthly subscription service, as well as bound volumes on specific themes. Late in life, a comedian described his joke writing career: "He carved a very special niche for himself. He had, in his years of vaudeville, amassed trunk full of jokes, which he turned into a joke file. ... Every major comedian at one time or another, whether they would admit to it or not, used his services. Comedians subscribed to his newsletters. Comedy writers bought his joke files. Speakers and disc jockeys bought his volumes of Classified Gags. And would-be emcees bought his books on How to Master the Ceremonies. The big stars bought his $3,000 Comedy Encyclopedia."--Tommy Moore in A Ph.D. in Happiness from the Great Comedians, p. 138. Covers of volume one worn at the edges. Onionskin arbons interleaved with blank leaves to improve legibility, probably as issued. A few leaves bound upside down. Markings in the margins of many pages, apparently by someone who intended to use or repurpose some of the jokes. Very scarce.