# Prince Albert in a can **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394 "2004-01-21T01:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/21 "2004-01-21T16:22:45Z")
I weep for today’s youth. With Called ID becoming more and more prevalent, prank calling is becoming a thing of the past. Gone forever are the days of calling the bowling alley and asking the attendant if he has 8-pound balls (“Holy crap, how big are your pants?”) or calling the KFC and asking the guy if he has chicken wings. (“Must be hard to buy shirts then!”) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gcarroll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@gcarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gcarroll)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/22 "2004-01-21T16:23:48Z")
Owning a computer store I once got the following call: “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” “No. This is a computer store.” “Well, you better… uh… what?” “I said, ‘No, this is a computer store.’ We don’t sell tobacco.” “Oh.” (long pause) “Do you know anyone who does sell tobacco? Do you have their phone number?” ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/23 "2004-01-21T16:27:59Z")
I’m just amazed that this classic prank call has hung on for as long as it has, especially in America. All of the important referents are nearly unknown to the prank-call target demographic. How many know who Prince Albert was, or have seen a can of loose tobacco, or even know where to find a tobacco shop? ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/24 "2004-01-21T16:35:59Z")
I was wondering if this was the same Prince Albert whom the penile peircing is named for. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/25 "2004-01-21T16:44:00Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > I weep for today’s youth. With Called ID becoming more and more prevalent, prank calling is becoming a thing of the past. > > Gone forever are the days of calling the bowling alley and asking the attendant if he has 8-pound balls (“Holy crap, how big are your pants?”) or calling the KFC and asking the guy if he has chicken wings. (“Must be hard to buy shirts then!”) 😃 They will probably learn to use the extra digits which block the ID, and a retail establishment cannot afford to ignore non-ID calls. They’ll cope. What strikes me is that I don’t think I’ve heard one of these things that wouldn’t have worked 30 years ago. Surely new types of businesses and merchandise has created new possibilities. Not to mention the survival of some of them long past the passing of the relevent referents, as observed by **paperbackwriter**. Actually I just wanted an excuse to add the call to the butcher “Do you have pig’s feet?” - “Well, wear shoes and nobody will notice”. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/26 "2004-01-21T17:06:52Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > I was wondering if this was the same Prince Albert whom the penile peircing is named for. Yes. The original Victorian Prince Albert, frock coat and all were pictured on the ‘can.’ I think I still have one stashed away somewhere. Note the double meanings of Prince Albert/tobacco, can/toilet. It is the double meaning selected by the inquirer and contrary meaning assumed by the smoke shop owner that make the joke. Smoke shops are alive and thirving in TN USA. Some even carry strange upstart brands such as “Grim Reaper.” ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/27 "2004-01-21T18:12:28Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#): > > I’m just amazed that this classic prank call has hung on for as long as it has, especially in America. All of the important referents are nearly unknown to the prank-call target demographic. How many know who Prince Albert was, or have seen a can of loose tobacco, or even know where to find a tobacco shop? (while stoned) - Do you have Cap’n Crunch in a box? \*Yes, we do, sir! Would you like that with or without Crunchberries? - (He said ‘yeah’! NOW what?) Uh, so, uh… well, do you have Sara Lee in a box? \*I believe the Sara Lee delivery is being stocked right now, sir! Are you interested in pies, cakes, or cookies? - (Yeah, yeah! They have that too!) Uh, OK. Cool. Uh, do you have Dad’s Root Beer in cans? (What? Oh, shit!) Well, YOU BETTER LET HIM OUT! Oh, and **BurnMeUp** … Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/28 "2004-01-21T18:20:46Z")
“Your cow is in my garden.” “I don’t have a cow.” “I don’t have a garden.” Hilarity ensues. Oh the days of being 7 and Caller ID yet to be invented. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/29 "2004-01-21T19:44:55Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Smoke shops are alive and thirving in TN USA. Some even carry strange upstart brands such as “Grim Reaper.” Do you have Grim Reaper in a can? ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/30 "2004-01-21T20:16:37Z")
Just in case anyone is keeping track… I _never_ heard anyone consider that Prince Albert might be in the toilet. With all due respect, that makes no sense to me whatsoever. The question “Do you have Prince Albert in a can” is a legitimate question to a tobacco shop. That’s what makes the punch line so funny. Well. At least to bunch of bored third graders. (Not that I’m admitting I ever made that call. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/31 "2004-01-21T20:31:47Z")
I can understand how this “joke” could be confused over. In fact, I never got the joke up until now either. Up here where I live (Saskatchewan, Canada), there is a city named Prince Albert, and concequently, I have never heard of or even seen any “Prince Albert” brand cigarettes (even on my many visits to the U.S.). For years I tried to comprehend what was so funny about the city of Prince Albert being shoved into a can and laughed over :smack: ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/32 "2004-01-21T20:35:56Z")
> [@klockwerk](#): > > …even seen any “Prince Albert” brand cigarettes (even on my many… Prince Albert brand tobacco, that is. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![AnsaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b782af/32.png) [@AnsaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnsaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/33 "2004-01-21T20:36:39Z")
My favorite is going to the Meat Department where I work and asking the lady behind the counter: “Do you have crab legs?” “Yeah.” “Well you ought to see a doctor for that.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/34 "2004-01-21T21:02:35Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > I weep for today’s youth. With Called ID becoming more and more prevalent, prank calling is becoming a thing of the past. > > Gone forever are the days of calling the bowling alley and asking the attendant if he has 8-pound balls (“Holy crap, how big are your pants?”) or calling the KFC and asking the guy if he has chicken wings. (“Must be hard to buy shirts then!”) 😃 Well, you could use a payphone, I guess. HEhehe, my favorite was always: Hello, is do you have John there? No, I’m sorry, you have the wrong number. Then where do you go to pee!? Much yuks. 😛 Prince Albert tobacco-I thought the Prince Albert in question here would be his son, Prince Albert who became Edward VII. Certainly, that’s the guy on the package-it’s definitely a picture of Edward VII and not Albert Sr. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/35 "2004-01-21T21:08:59Z")
I never associated ‘can’ with ‘toilet’. As I heard it, the prank line was “You’d better let him out before he suffocates”. That is, unless one has an airtight loo. Then I suppose either mental image is proper. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/36 "2004-01-21T21:14:21Z")
“Oh, waiter, do you serve tarts?” “We serve anybody. Siddown, lady.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/37 "2004-01-21T21:41:33Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > No. I have never heard it stated as Prince Albert in **the** can. As a question in regards to tobaco, it makes no sense to ask if it is in the can. The question is if the vender sells it in **a** can. The meaning of the question can then be turned into a (ver) slightly humorous twist by suggesting that the actual Prince is in said can. Actually, as should be obvious by now, the joke is told two different ways. Neither makes a lot of sense, but of course this is a joke that is mainly amusing to 10-year-olds. If you say “Do you have Prince Albert in _a_ can,” you have in mind the Prince being inside the can of tobacco. If you say “Do you have Prince Albert in _the_ can,” (and this is the way I have mostly heard it) you are counting on the tobacconist to ignore the fact that you said “the” instead of “a,” and you have in mind the Prince being locked in the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/38 "2004-01-22T01:23:17Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > “Your cow is in my garden.” > > “I don’t have a cow.” > > “I don’t have a garden.” > > Hilarity ensues. > > Oh the days of being 7 and Caller ID yet to be invented. …or… “What’s leather made from?” “Hide” “Why should I hide?” “No, no…HIDE…HIDE…the cows outside!” “Well, I’m not afraid of cows…let him come in!” (Sounds like Burns and Allen, maybe?) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/39 "2004-01-22T03:46:46Z")
…so, I called my mom. You know-the one who remembers Sears catalogues in the outhouse. She confirms that people did this in the 1930’s. Next, a column by Walter Winchell in 1945 says: > [@](#): > > The telephone, whether in New York or in Joplin, MO., is one of the child’s first joys. When he’s old enough to be the very devil, he plays the tricks everyone’s guilty of. You call up a cigar store and ask if they’ve Prince Albert in a can. When the answer is yes, the gimmick is “Better let him out before he smothers!”…Then there’s the one where you call up a store on a busy corner and ask if they’re on the car line. “yes” brings forth, “Then you’d better get the heck off, 'cause the trolley’s coming!” …The best, however–and you try it on your boss–is to ask the person on the other end if this is number 1-9-4-5. When they say no, you laugh yourself hoarse. “It sure is 1945!” you yelp. “Brother, you’re in the wrong year!” Yockitty, yockitty yock!’ ---
**Author:** ![rodent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@rodent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rodent)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394/40 "2004-01-22T04:29:00Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > … or calling the KFC and asking the guy if he has chicken wings. (“Must be hard to buy shirts then!”) 😃 When I worked at KFC (I don’t really want to admit this) the common prank call was, “How big are your breasts?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-albert-in-a-can/225394.md?page=3)