Banana Peel Dude

In 1883, Dudes were funny, and people slipping on banana peels were funny; a dude slipping on a banana peel was hilarious!

The "Langtry Twist."       The "Dude Kick."     The "Vanderbilt Slide."

 

Puck, Volume 13, Number 335, August 8, 1883, Page 376.

Even a serious psychologist thought it was funny, even if his explanation of why was humorless.

Wit or humor is an aesthetic essence expressed by juxtaposition of incongruous ideas.  Both wit and humor touch our sense of laughter.

Nature of the Ludicrous. – The ludicrous takes several forms, wit and humor. . . .  In its essence the ludicrous is a subtle something, an invisible touch through the incongruous juxtaposition of ideas or facts.  Incongruity seems to be the suggestive, the expressive medium of the ludicrous.  The Broadway dude reduced to a horizontal position by the innocent banana peel is an incongruous situation that wakes up aesthetic appreciation in almost every breast. 

Charles C. Boyer, Concrete Psychology: An Inductive Investigation of Intellect, Sensibility and Will, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, Journal and Patriot Printing House, 1890, page 282.

 

(For a history of Banana Peel humor, see: A Slippery History of the Banana Peel Gag.)

Dudes of the Round Table - "Ye Iron Dude"

Dudes of the Round Table

Mark Twain’s 1889 fable, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, relates the “Excellent Adventures” of a modern (circa 1889) man magically transported back to King Arthur’s time – think, steam-punk Bill and Ted (Dude!).

The Connecticut the title-Yankee left behind was a society that had, for the most part, abandoned its earlier reverence for the divine right of kings, inherited titles, and aristocracy; that is, except for anglophile dudes and dudesses:

Of course that taint, that reverence for rank and title, had been in our American blood, too – I know that; but when I left America it had disappeared – at least to all intents and purposes.  The remnant of it was restricted to the dudes and dudesses.  When a disease has worked its way down to that level, it may fairly be said to be out of the system.

King Arthur’s Court, on the other hand, was peopled by dudes – Iron Dudes.   

Daniel Carter Beard’s illustration depicts one such “Ye Iron Dude” of King Arthur’s Court - a sort-of early Sir Robin:

Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, 1889; Illustrations by Daniel Carter Beard.

Dude #14 - Confession of a Dude.

I wonder what there is in me
  That makes folks smile as I go by.
My air is good, my clothes fit well;
  They cannot think I am a guy.
And yet they smile.  How very rude!
I may have faults; but I'm a Dude.

They are not Dudes themselves.  Ah, there
  The trouble is.  We Dudes are born;
We stir the envy of the throng,
  To which, thank Heav'n, we don't belong.
Not of the vulgar multitude
Are we.  Who would not be a Dude?

It is my comfort and my pride
  To know that what I am I am.
And what we are - what are we
  Anyhow?  By Jove, I'd have to cram
To learn; and learning's not my mood.
Who learns can never be a Dude.

I know I have no brains -
  They must be very hard to get -
And brains would never, never take
  In our select, exclusive set.
We care for better things, imbued
With all that glorifies the Dude.

The german I can lead; I bang
  My hair; I wear my trousers tight;
I dote on Chambertin; I hate
  To read or think;' I pass the night
At clubs; in short, I love the nude,
Though Art is not the dudest Dude.

To be a Dude is my whole aim.
  A Dude is chic, is nobby swell,
To feel that Life's a dreadful bore,
Creation's self an awful sell.
The swellest thing, from our point of view'd,
Is to recede from Man to Dude.

          - Junius Henri Browne.
New York, April 5, 1883.



The Evening Star (Washington DC), April 11, 1883, page 7. 

Dude #25 - Phil-a-lu II

The dude, the dude,

Belongs to a brood

  Of birds like the phil-a-lu;

He struts the street,

With picket-toes feet,

  And slings a cheap bamboo.

The dude, the dude,

Is always rude

  With his idiotic star;

He poses for the girls,

With his bangs and curls,

  Trying to “mash” everywhere.

The dude, the dude,

With manners crude

  And cheek of the rarest kind,

Essays to talk

Where angels balk

  And inflict his silly mind.

The dude, the dude

Is not indued

  With the fact that he’s an ass;

Every one knows

Him by his clothes

  As on the street he’s seen to pass.

Evening Critic (Washington DC), April 26, 1883, page2.

[See also, Philalu I]

 Is this a Philalu?

‘Philalu!’ cried the beast, ‘and chone! Philalu!

Saint Patrick, my darling, don’t look so blue.

London Society, Volume 24, September, 1873, page 251.

Philalu also appears in another Irish poem:

Ochone an’ ullagone ! we must vainly sigh an’ groan’’

  Philalu! A long adieu to Clifford Lloyd!

Caoine of the Clare Constabulary, from Arthur M. Forrester, An Irish Crazy-Quilt, Boston, 1891, page 77.

 

Dude #24 - a Phil-a-lu Bird.

“The phil-a-lu-bird is another species of bird that has made its appearance in our city,” said an old citizen within the hearing of the Critic last evening.

“The phil-a-lu-bird is another species of bird that has made its appearance in our city,” said an old citizen within the hearing of the critic last evening.

“Phil-a-lu-bird! Now, what kind of an animal is that?”

“Well, he is a slight improvement on the dude.  He is possessed of all the attributes of the dude, and has an additional qualification.  He wears sharp-toed shoes, Derby hat, tight pants, shad-belly coat, striped cravat, a red handkerchief in his pocket, the corner sticking out, smokes cigarettes, wears bangs and whistles through his nose, so as to be heard for miles around.  Oh! He is a bird.  I tell you, he is a dandy.  I saw one at the theatre last night with a $1 pair of opera-glasses.  He was occupying a twenty-five cent seat.  You can see the phil-a-lu-bird on the street at all hours of the day.  He is more dangerous than the dude in many respects.”

The Evening Critic (Washington DC), April 24, 1883.

[See also, Philalu II]

Is this a Philalu?

‘Philalu!’ cried the beast, ‘and chone! Philalu!

Saint Patrick, my darling, don’t look so blue.

London Society, Volume 24, September, 1873, page 251.

Philalu also appears in another Irish poem:

Ochone an’ ullagone ! we must vainly sigh an’ groan’’

  Philalu! A long adieu to Clifford Lloyd!

Caoine of the Clare Constabulary, from Arthur M. Forrester, An Irish Crazy-Quilt, Boston, 1891, page 77.