96. Two Racist Cartoons

December 1, 2005

Q: I’m looking for which issue had two full page comics. One is of two blacks taking a load of trash to the dump when a cop makes one of them cover the trash, ending with the punch line of “Somebody threw away a perfectly good n*****” The other comic is of a black girl and boy. The man begs to see undrneath the girl’s skirt and ends the comic with “Sho’ is a wonder yo guts don’t slide out.” Can anybody please help with not only the issue but where to acquire it?

A: “Jokes from the Old South” from the July 1976 (Down Home) issue. (Thanks Steve O. and B.A.!)

Comments

That was the July 1976 "Down Home" issue with the Fat Elvis cover (almost exactly a year before he died). You're right- the cartooons were racist. And somehow it's not nearly as funny as it seemed when I first read the issue. I'm sure that you can pick it up on EBay now that you know the particulars.

—Steve O.

December 5, 2005 6:38 pm

Both those cartoons were in the same issue (late seventies, I'm sure, but I haven't located the volume yet) in a feature titled "Jokes from the Old South," or something similar. I'll provide the exact issue when I find it. I know it's in my collection.

—B.A.

July 14, 2006 5:52 am

I remember those cartoons very well. I believe it was "true tales from the old south". No idea of the issue. I thought both of those jokes were old then, I had heard them so many times before.

—Warrington

June 10, 2007 4:48 pm

If I recall correctly, that punchline was something like: "Ain't folks wasteful, somebody done throwed away a perfectly good n****r"

—Foy

September 5, 2007 12:20 pm

There's a twist on that joke in BETTER OFF DEAD when John Cusack attepts suicide by jumping off a bridge and lands in a garbage truck. One of the garbagemen, who is black, says to the other "It's a shame, throwin' away a white boy like that"

—Vepo McJeeters

July 5, 2008 7:48 pm

Original material (excluding quoted material) © 1997-2024 Mark Simonson.
Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site is not affiliated with National Lampoon or National Lampoon Inc.
Click here for the real thing.