Knock-Knock

History of Knock-Knock Jokes

The knock-knock joke had its big moment in America back in 1936, when it swept the country as a full-blown fad, showing up in newspapers, on the radio, and even in a novelty song called "Knock, Knock, Who's There?" The setup itself is even older than that, with some tracing its roots all the way back to the porter scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth, where a drunken doorman jokes around while answering a series of knocks. The format has barely changed since. A knock, a name, and a groan-worthy pun waiting on the other side of the door.

Did You Know?

During the 1936 knock-knock craze, the joke format got so popular that it was blamed for slowing down productivity in offices across America, with newspapers reporting that workers couldn't stop trading them at their desks. Radio stars picked it up soon after, and it's been a staple of grade-school comedy and parent-child car rides ever since.

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