The “Prince Albert in a can” joke is a classic prank call or joke that plays on the absurdity of the situation. The setup typically involves someone calling a store or friend and asking if they have “Prince Albert in a can.” When the person on the other end confirms that they do, the punchline is delivered: “Well, you better let him out!”
Key Elements:
- Play on Words: The joke relies on the double meaning of “in a can,” referring both to a product and the absurd image of a person being trapped in a can.
- Childish Humor: It’s a lighthearted, silly joke that has been passed down through generations, often associated with pranks among friends.
Overall, it’s a simple, humorous play that relies on surprise and wordplay for its comedic effect!
Prince Albert was a brand of tobacco for rolling your own cigarettes. So the joke comes from the idea that someone would call a store and ask the question, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can (as opposed to a smaller package). When the store clerk says, “Yes we do.” the caller says, “Well let him out immediately!” It was what passed for bad boy behaviour in my day.
It’s more of a prank than a joke, and it relies on the two meanings of “Prince Albert” – the person and the tobacco that once resided in the vintage container below.
Somebody (usually a child or someone else with a juvenile sense of humor) would call a store and ask “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
When the answer was yes, the caller would say “Well, let him out!” This was followed by hysterical laughter before the caller hung up.
What is the ‘Prince Albert in a can’ joke?
But the best joke for children of the 1930s involved a tobacco tin. Prince Albert was a very popular brand of tobacco first made in 1907. It was named for the future king of England, Edward VII (called “Albert” by his family), and his picture was on the front.
It was packaged in a rectangular red tin container with a flip lid. Since many tobaccos were sold in bags, not tins, it was special. The ultimate joke, still quoted today, is a child’s call to a drugstore: “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” The druggist’s answer, “Yes,” was followed by the young prankster’s response, “Then let him out,” followed by peals of laughter.
The “Prince Albert in a can” joke is a classic prank call or joke setup that plays on the absurdity of a fictional scenario. The joke typically goes like this:
- Setup: Someone calls a store and asks, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
- Punchline: When the store employee replies that they don’t, the caller says, “Well, you better let him out!”
The humor comes from the play on words regarding “Prince Albert,” which refers to a type of tobacco product (or could be interpreted as a person) and the absurdity of the idea of someone being trapped in a can. It’s a lighthearted, silly joke that’s been popular for decades.
My uncle told me years ago. You call up a tobacco shop on the phone asking, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” Prince Albert is the name of a tobacco product. The person who answers says, “yes, we do.” You then say, “Then let him out!” Hang up phone.
It was supposed to be very funny in its day. But even as a kid, it left me untouched.
Where does the saying Prince Albert in the can come from and what does it mean?
prank got its start
British ancestors enjoyed jokes any day of the year, not just on April Fools’ Day.
By the 1850s, potters were making puzzle jugs with holes that let liquid dribble down a shirt front and beer mugs with a ceramic frog or snake inside waiting to appear when the beer was gone.
There were bronze figures that came apart to show a different figure inside, and odd ceramic birds that were really bottles with heads that could be removed. One famous American potter made pig-shaped bottles with a saying on the rear that started, “in a hog’s …”
And there were numerous bottles by the German firm Schafer and Vater that were shaped like comic men and women.
But the best joke for children of the 1930s involved a tobacco tin. Prince Albert was a very popular brand of tobacco first made in 1907. It was named for the future king of England, Edward VII (called “Albert” by his family), and his picture was on the front.
It was packaged in a rectangular red tin container with a flip lid. Since many tobaccos were sold in bags, not tins, it was special. The ultimate joke, still quoted today, is a child’s call to a drugstore: “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” The druggist’s answer, “Yes,” was followed by the young prankster’s response, “Then let him out,” followed by peals of laughter.
The brand also used Chief Joseph, a Nez Perce Indian chief, as an advertising symbol in 1913-14. A large tin sign picturing both the chief and a Prince Albert tobacco tin sold recently for $8,400, proving that Prince Albert tobacco is no joke.
Conclusion
HRH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. The Prince Consort died an untimely death from typhoid fever.
In the 1930s “Prince Albert” was the most popular independent brand of pipe tobacco in the United States. It remains one of the America’s best selling pipe tobaccos. The “Prince Albert” blend was a burley-based crimp-cut slow-burning pipe tobacco. introduced by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1907. It was marketed in a bright red 1 lb. round “coffee” style can or in a red oblong “flask” shaped 1.5 oz. hip-pocket can. These old “hip-pocket” cans can go for as much as 95.00 Dollars on EBay to collectors. Now available only from specialty cigar and pipe tobacco suppliers and largely unavailable from any other source.
In the early days of telephone pranks, a call would be made to the corner drugstore asking, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” When answered in the affirmative, the laughing prankster would say, “…then let him out!” and hang up.
In November 2018, RJ Reynolds announced they were no longer marketing the brand and, when current stocks were depleted, the product would be discontinued. One more victim of the anti-smoking Nazis. Good night, sweet Prince.
Prince Albert is a brand of loose tobacco that was distributed in a tin. Kids used to think it was funny to call a local store and ask if they had Prince Albert in a can. When the clerk answered yes, the kid would say, “better let him out.”
Prince Albert was a chewing tobacco brand sold in cans. It was a prank to phone smoke shops and ask:
“Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
“Why, yes, we do.”
“Well, you ’d better let him out; he probably can’t breathe!”
That goes along with another prank call:
“Ma’am, is your refrigerator running?”
“Yes…”
“Don’t you think you better go out and catch it?”