Stuff in Pockets

You know that weird/awesome moment when you reach your pocket and find something you didn't expect? Like, sometimes it is $20 and you suddenly feel like some kind of high roller whose pockets are overflowing with MONEY.

Or sometimes you find a ticket from a concert you went to or a restaurant receipt, and you suddenly get filled with memories from that day. Or sometimes you find a weird paper lump, which was probably a ticket or a receipt before it went through the wash. Personally, I find a lot of Kleenex in my pockets. This is usually a sign that 1) I am wearing something that I borrowed from my mother, or 2) I am becoming my mother.

Well, this happens all the time in the costume collection. When we clean an artifact or prepare it for exhibit, sometime random stuff falls out of the pockets. Much like your own pockets, it can vary in levels of excitement. At best, you find something that tells more about the object-- like a photo, or a handwritten note, or a candy wrapper from famous Seattle restaurant which implies that that dress was probably worn there. But sometimes it is a half-melted lump of actual candy which is totally gross and needs to be cleaned out ASAP.

A lot of the time, what we find in the pockets is kind of a head scratcher. It is maybe a sort of interesting thing, but how it relates to the object is a mystery. I had one such case recently. It happened while a volunteer and I were dressing this lovely 1850s dress:

And in the pocket we found this newspaper clipping: 

So two…jokes? Based on the fact that the paper didn't totally disintegrate in my hand, I'm going to guess it is not from the same era as the dress. Someone probably wore it as a costume for something and then…felt the need to carry around these jokes? Jokes that aren't that funny? In case you don't want to squint and read it, I am going to re-tell you the first one and attempt to make it funny by adding gifs. 

Title: A New Garment 

An American...

...took a visiting Englishman...

...to the theater.

An actor on stage dramatically pleaded with his wife just before he died. "Please don't bury me in Yonkers."

The Englishman looked puzzled a moment, and turning to his host asked: "I say, old chap, what are yonkers?"

Well, I tried. 

Although I think we can agree that with just slightly better writing, a Tom Haverford/Tom Hiddleston buddy comedy would be a 100% would watch situation.