Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 6 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 14 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 10 |
| 1895 | 12 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1925 | 1 |
98 stories matching humor
- The Highway That Keeps Moving
For years, the state has been stuck in an endless legal fight with the Pacific Ocean over the ownership of beaches used as public roads.
- A Night of Music for the Baptist Church
Fairhaven's local talent shines in a successful benefit performance at the Prosser house.
- The Great Harrison Street Heist
A pair of enterprising burglars—and their young apprentice—pulled off a sophisticated grocery store robbery in Seattle, only to leave their loot neatly stashed in a canyon tent.
- Primary Meeting Erupts in Laughter
A political primary meeting takes a humorous turn when a physician makes a pointed jab at the judiciary.
- The 'Pistol-Packin' Girl' of Seattle's Waterfront
A rowdy encounter on the Seattle waterfront leaves a man stunned after a local girl pulls a pistol on him—and fires.
- The Mayor's Hat Scandal
Snohomish citizens stage a humorous protest when the Mayor ditches his traditional straw hat for the season.
- An Editor's Brutal Critique of Bad Poetry
A local poet brings his manuscript to the P-I office, only to have his work butchered by an editor with a cynical, practical sense of humor.
- The Unsolved Murder of James A. Frace
A quarrelsome man is found riddled with bullets, leaving behind a confusing trail of clues and a city full of suspects.
- Music, Sunshine, and Pretty Girls at the Seattle Theater
The Carleton Opera Company concludes its popular engagement with a final performance of 'Dorothy,' leaving audiences enchanted.
- The Snohomish Afterlife: A Spiritualist Joke
In an 1878 newspaper, a medium's séance takes a darkly humorous turn when a grieving widow asks her late husband if he is in heaven.
- Col. Patrick Henry Winston Bolts the Populists — and the P-I Pounces
The Post-Intelligencer gleefully dissects Patrick Henry Winston's letter renouncing the People's Party, calling it less a conversion than the squirm of a politician who has run out of options.
- The Colonel and the Dog Catcher
A Democratic campaign rally ends in chilly indifference, punctuated by a bit of slapstick oratory.
- The Pants Politics of the Leban Schoolhouse
Farmers gather at a rural schoolhouse to discuss a new cooperative creamery, with one speaker humorously suggesting the project might cure the town's 'Democratic' rags.
- The Iron Foundry vs. The Anti-Chinese Movement
A vigilante mob of Seattle ironworkers forces the departure of Chinese laborers on a steamer to San Francisco.
- A Night for Seattle’s Fallen
A crowded hall gathers to secure a dignified resting place for local soldiers.
- Dark Humor on the Seattle Frontier
A grim tale of early Seattle life and the macabre way settlers identified human remains.
- Aberdeen Trounces Cosmopolis in Season Opener
A lively baseball game on the banks of Grays Harbor brings together the rival teams, ending in a lopsided victory for the visitors.
- Baseball Squabbles and a Rainy Sunday
A wet, cantankerous ball game between Lynden and Everson highlights the fierce and often humorous sporting rivalries of the Nooksack Valley.
- The Manly Art of Boxing Gone Wrong
A local man's humorous attempt to improve his health through boxing with his younger brother leads to broken brackets and a bruised nose.
- The Railroad Barricade
Tacoma citizens push to break the Northern Pacific’s chokehold on the city waterfront.
- Firefighters Host Aberdeen's Grand Masquerade Ball
Youth and beauty, hobgoblins and nuns, all crowded the armory for a raucous night of revelry.
- The Garden Prank That Sour-Ed a Marriage
A husband’s elaborate scheme to fool his wife with gilded pebbles backfires, leaving the household in a state of icy tension.
- The Day Wenatchee’s Ball Team Folded Under Pressure
A local defeat at the fairgrounds reveals how quickly confidence can turn to costly errors in early 20th-century sports.
- The Price of a Lost Election Bet
After betting on the wrong presidential candidate, a local man spent his afternoon forced to play a hand organ for charity to settle his debt.
- A Piano Problem in Ballard
A ten-year-old boy writes a humorous letter to a local piano merchant with a very specific complaint about his new instrument.