By Rom Watson
c. September 29, 2013
There’s a lesson to be found in almost everything, if you look for it. Even an old joke.
When I was a child, my mother told me about a prank phone call that teenagers made during the years in which she grew up.
“Someone would call a drugstore and say, ‘Do you have Prince Albert in the can?’ And when they said ‘yes’ the caller would respond ‘Then you better let him out!’ and hang up.” Then she laughed. She told this story more than once, and she always laughed. I didn’t get the joke, and asked for an explanation. After the explanation I still didn’t think it was funny, as the joke depends on word play, and word play is different from humor. I guess you had to be there.
There are two things one needs to know to get the joke.
1. Prince Albert was a real person. Born Nov. 9, 1841 and died May 6, 1910, he was the eldest son of Queen Victoria, and later became King Edward VII.
2. Prince Albert is ALSO a brand of tobacco. Most tobaccos were sold in bags, but the Prince Albert brand was often, though not always, packaged in a can.
Why am I delving into the details of a decades-old prank phone call?
My mother-in-law died on New Year’s Eve, and my wife inherited her house. While cleaning out the house, I came across an object I had heard about since I was a child, but had never seen.
I found Prince Albert in the can.
Here is a photo.
The back is the same as the front, but here’s a photograph of the side.
Here’s a photograph of the bottom.
Here’s photograph of it next to a ruler, to indicate its size.
After all these years, I finally know what my mother was talking about. I still don’t find it funny, but at least I can understand where the joke came from because I can hold its inspiration in my hand.
I keep it on the desk near the scotch tape. 
I leave it there as a reminder that if I make a topical reference in one of my plays, no one will know what I’m talking about after only a few years. I would like my plays to remain relevant for as long as possible, and the lesson I learned from that old joke is that topical equals disposable and outdated.
Photos courtesy of Cory Watson.
