Someone recently sent me a link to a Web site that produces “novelty” diplomas, college transcripts, birth certificates and other official-looking documents. In this context, the term “novelty” is clearly meant to be ironic, as the true purpose of these documents is to deceive. But there has always been a market for real novelty certificates, the type that are designed to make you laugh.
Probably as long as there have been official documents there have been tongue-in-cheek versions of them. These range from phony membership cards to humorous fake societies, diplomas for dubious achievements, tickets and citations for rude behavior, and the like. This form of humor seems to have reached its peak in the 1950s, the decade from which most of the examples below hail.
You can tell these are from the ’50s, not just by the art style, but by the blatant sexism and slightly “naughty” tone. The “Permit to Spank Your Wife” above is signed by Seymour Butts, Spanky Bottom, and Howie Whacter. I’d like to think these were never particularly funny, but then I grew up with my dad, who was inclined toward this sort of humor.
Here is the art from a certificate designating the recipient as an official “wolf.”
Certificates for reckless driving were often given as gifts at birthdays and were (maybe still are) found at tourist gift shops, drugstores and joke shops. (Yes, there use to be a joke shop in most decent-size downtowns.)
It wasn’t just women who were portrayed badly. Men were usually drawn as hapless heels and arrogant cads, too. No one was spared.
Of course, the 1950s was the decade of the cocktail party, and many of the novelty documents of the era had to do with excessive drinking and the compromises that accompanied it.
And when it comes to goofy novelty items, there’s no better target than golfers. It must be the clothes.
Sometimes these certificates had an official look, but mostly they were cartoonish. Here is the art from a “Permit to Chase Girls” and from the “Permit to Be a Chain Smoker.” So funny, huh?
Have you ever received a novelty certificate or card that was meant to be funny, but somehow just missed the mark? The line between subtle parody and dorky goofiness can be a fine one. The best example of this genre I’ve seen was one in a colleague’s office. It was very official looking and entirely in Latin. When asked for the translation I was told it said, “This is an official-looking certificate, printed in Latin, presented
This article was last modified on May 18, 2023
This article was first published on May 16, 2008
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