# How did the Challenger jokes spread? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537 "2005-08-11T01:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/21 "2005-08-11T04:01:50Z")
Regarding the spread of jokes, just about every large office in the '70s and '80s had a teletype device called a TWX. A huge number of jokes and cartoons were circulated all over the country by this method. The TWX in the state government office where I worked was more often used as a humor-transmittal machine than for its intended purpose, which was the rapid distribution of memos and other text to a large number of branch offices. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/22 "2005-08-11T04:20:02Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > They were all being told in Australia soon afterwards too. “How did the Challenger jokes spread?” Similar to the astronauts, very quickly, across the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/23 "2005-08-11T04:23:01Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I worked with a former stock broker, and he said one thing he missed was how quickly jokes would spread throughout the country due to their constant chatter. He knew that Pope John Paul was polish before the smoke had cleared the chimney, due to the sheer number of polish pope jokes he suddenly heard, before any major news outlet had even announced the pick. Q. Why are they building a bowling alley in the Vatican? A. So the Pope can have someplace to cash his paycheck! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/24 "2005-08-11T04:37:17Z")
It’s funny… I was born in 1982, and I never heard a Challenger joke (I thought it was considered one of those ‘untouchable’ topics for most people) until I saw one on the Clerks cartoon DVD. I cracked up AND I was amazed by their brass, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/25 "2005-08-11T04:39:13Z")
Q. Who makes the world’s most expensive fish food? A. NASA. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/26 "2005-08-11T04:54:56Z")
Only one I remember is really bad: As the shuttle took off, what was the last thing that went through Christa McAuliffe’s head? Her helmet. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/27 "2005-08-11T04:55:35Z")
I was in the lobby of the Georgia State University College of Law when I received the news of the disaster. I ran down the hall to the Law Review office, where I saw the replays of that tragedy. The very next day I heard: “Where did the Challenger crew spend their vacation?” “All over Florida.” ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/28 "2005-08-11T06:16:50Z")
The one that I remember most is: Q. How deep is the water off the coast of Florida? A. 14 feet ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/29 "2005-08-11T07:00:23Z")
What do Tupperware, a Walrus, and NASA have in common? They’re all looking for a tight seal. I was in school when the Challenger went up, so I know it wasn’t a national US holiday that day. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/30 "2005-08-11T07:13:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Funny you shouyld bring up stockbrokers. > > My memory is a bit hazy, but back in the 80’s, I remember seeing an article in “New York” magazine on this very subject. The author wondered about how jokes were spread so quickly in the aftermath of a disaster. > > Anyway, just a few days after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the author heard a new joke making the rounds: “What has feathers and glows in the dark? Chicken Kiev!” That was known as The Joke. It appeared to be making the rounds literally within hours of the news hitting the US. I remember that article as well. Wall Street’s efficient transmission of sick jokes was well known at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/31 "2005-08-11T09:21:35Z")
Even the kids at the high school where Christa taught were in school. I remember seeing a picture of some of them. They’d gathered in an auditorium with a big screen TV or something. Some were wearing pointy party hats, with noisemakers and all. The picture was a sad one, kids with their mouths agape in horror and disbelief, still wearing party hats. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/32 "2005-08-11T09:39:22Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I was too, and it drove me nuts trying to remember why we had the day off. Still don’t remember. Ours was just a standard teacher inservice day, but we were off as well. And I remember the jokes happening pretty quickly as well - I think I remember almost all that have been mentioned so far. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/33 "2005-08-11T09:48:15Z")
I was born in 1983, so the way I learnt about the Challenger was from the jokes, of which I only ever heard two - the ‘what does NASA stand for’ one, and ‘How do you fit seven astronauts in a mini?’. Telling these jokes involved making sure your intended audience knew what the Challanger disaster was - they normally didn’t, so why tell 'em? Ah, pre-teen humour, no reason required. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/34 "2005-08-11T10:33:08Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > Regarding the spread of jokes, just about every large office in the '70s and '80s had a teletype device called a TWX. A huge number of jokes and cartoons were circulated all over the country by this method. The TWX in the state government office where I worked was more often used as a humor-transmittal machine than for its intended purpose, which was the rapid distribution of memos and other text to a large number of branch offices. I can attest to similar phenomena in a company whose FAX machines, if there were any, were limited in their access. XEROX machines were commonly used for dissemination of jokes. But the main source for jokes was “the circuit.” There were 20 or so people I’d make the rounds with almost daily, sharing new ones I’d heard and picking up other new ones on the route. Traveling people in the organization would be the main source of new stuff. But the speed of spread was phenomenal and I recall the disaster jokes being as quick as cited in the OP. Other traumatizing events got similar treatment through jokes and other varieties of humor. In my own opinion, the Internet has ruined joke telling. Reading a joke is next to nothing compared with a well-told (and well-acted) one. So few people can even tell a joke nowadays. Tone of voice, timing and pacing, inflection, facial expression, etc., are all needed for a joke to work well. Reading jokes off websites or getting them in e-mail is a pitiful substitute. You get lots more of them, but they don’t have the punch old jokes did. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/35 "2005-08-11T11:29:27Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > It has long been the goal of humor researchers to witness the “birth” of a joke–the first telling of a joke that eventually becomes widely known. Unfortunately, it has never been observed, though it must of course _happen_ on a fairly regular basis. Anyway: if anyone ever did witness an original telling of a joke that later became famous, there are people who want to know about it. > > I’m SERIOUS Asimov, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/36 "2005-08-11T11:52:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Asimov, wasn’t it? Extra-terrestrial origin. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/37 "2005-08-11T12:05:38Z")
I was in college, hanging in my dorm room when the explosion occured. Within a literal span of _minutes_, one of the guys from next door was running in to tell us some sick jokes. As I know for a confirmed fact that they had no fax machines, computers or stock marketeers in their room, I wonder did I witness the afterbirth of a spontaneous joke eruption? I told one of the jokes to a female friend of mine who was from Melbourne, Florida (not a long way from Cape Canaveral). She turned around and slapped my face - _hard_. Besides feeling guilty (and sore), I wondered: how much of her reaction was knee-jerk; how seriously did this affect her life? 3 years later, for a political science class, I conducted a poll: How Much Do You Remember About the Challenger Disaster? It consisted of about 10 easy questions. Miss Face-slapper scored about 30%. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/38 "2005-08-11T12:41:54Z")
A plausible theory: Keep in mind that a lot of the jokes were just recycled Natalie Wood and Grace Kelly jokes, both of whom had died famously within a few years of the Challenger explosion. So it wasn’t a big stretch to just plug 'em into the new disaster. Were they invented for Grace Kelly & Natalie Wood, or were those retellings from previous tragedies? Doesn’t really matter as it pertains to the Challenger. This thread reminds me of _Hudsucker Proxy_. The CEO jumps out the window, and like 2 seconds later they cut to the mail room guy in the elevator and he’s got like 50 jokes about it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/39 "2005-08-11T12:54:09Z")
The one I remember hearing was What were the last words transmitted from the cockpit of Challenger? _No! Bud Light!_ …which was based on an advertising slogan at the time where characters would ask for a light, get blown up or something, then say No! Bud Light! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537/40 "2005-08-11T13:25:56Z")
My colleague and I agree that the underlying question is a good one (how do jokes spread so quickly), but this thread is nothing more than a repository for _horrible_ jokes. This is closed. **Cajun Man** for the SDMB [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-challenger-jokes-spread/316537.md?page=1)