The American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National MindMencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
General
The American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
American wit and humor; National characteristics, American
That the philoprogenitive instinct in rabbits is so intense that the
alliance of two normally assiduous rabbits is productive of 265
offspring in one year.
Sec.2
That there are hundreds of letters in the Dead Letter Office whose
failure to arrive at their intended destinations was instrumental in
separating as many lovers.
Sec.3
That the Italian who sells bananas on a push-cart always takes the
bananas home at night and sleeps with them under his bed.
Sec.4
That a man's stability in the community and reliability in business may
be measured by the number of children he has.
Sec.5
That in Japan an American can buy a beautiful geisha for two dollars and
that, upon being bought, she will promptly fall madly in love with him
and will run his house for him in a scrupulously clean manner.
Sec.6
That all sailors are gifted with an extraordinary propensity for amour,
but that on their first night of shore leave they hang around the
water-front saloons and are given knock-out drops.
Sec.7
That when a comedian, just before the rise of the curtain, is handed a
telegram announcing the death of his mother or only child, he goes out
on the stage and gives a more comic performance than ever.
Sec.8
That the lions in the cage which a lion-tamer enters are always sixty
years old and have had all their teeth pulled.
Sec.9
That the Siamese Twins were joined together by gutta percha moulded and
painted to look like a shoulder blade.
Sec.10
That if a woman about to become a mother plays the piano every day, her
baby will be born a Victor Herbert.
Sec.11
That all excursion boats are so old that if they ran into a drifting
beer-keg they would sink.
Sec.12
That a doctor knows so much about women that he can no longer fall in
love with one of them.
Sec.13
That when one takes one's best girl to see the monkeys in the zoo, the
monkeys invariably do something that is very embarrassing.
Sec.14
That firemen, awakened suddenly in the middle of the night, go to fires
in their stocking feet.
Sec.15
That something mysterious goes on in the rooms back of chop suey
restaurants.
Sec.16
That oil of pennyroyal will drive away mosquitoes.
Sec.17
That the old ladies on summer hotel verandas devote themselves entirely
to the discussion of scandals.
Sec.18
That a bachelor, expecting a feminine visitor, by way of subtle
preliminary strategy smells up his rooms with Japanese punk.
Sec.19
That all one has to do to gather a large crowd in New York is to stand
on the curb a few moments and gaze intently at the sky.
Sec.20
That one can get an excellent bottle of wine in France for a franc.
21
That it is dangerous to drink out of a garden hose, since if one does
one is likely to swallow a snake.
Sec.22
That all male negroes can sing.
Sec.23
That when a girl enters a hospital as a nurse, her primary object is
always to catch one of the doctors.
Sec.24
That the postmasters in small towns read all the postcards.
Sec.25
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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