THE HAPPY HIGHLANDER’S RECORDS Episode 2 - World Laughter Day 2026 Special, “Laughing on Shellac” - Part 2
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THE HAPPY HIGHLANDER’S RECORDS
Episode 2
World Laughter Day 2026 Special, “Laughing on Shellac” - Part 2
Fit like a’body. I hope you are all hale and hearty and most importantly, happy. So hello and welcome back, friends, to The Happy Highlander’s Records -the programme where the crackle of shellac and the spin of a 78 brings the past delightfully back to life. If you joined me before in episode 1, you will remember we explored some wonderfully infectious laughing records from the early days of recorded sound.
Those records proved one simple thing: laughter is timeless. Long before streaming, television, or even widespread radio, people were already buying records simply to hear someone laugh -and, of course, to join in themselves.
Today’s programme continues that cheerful tradition because this second broadcast is also marking World Laughter Day, celebrated this year in 2026 on the 3rd of May. It’s a day devoted to the idea that laughter connects people across cultures, generations and languages. And in many ways these old records are perfect proof of that idea. Even though they’re over a century old in some cases, the laughter still feels spontaneous, human and wonderfully contagious.
For this special edition I’ve selected five sides from four old 78-rpm records, each with its own curious story. We’ll hear comic performances, musical humour, a family overcome with giggles, and even a rather unusual spoken message about happiness recorded by a clergyman.
So settle back, imagine the sound of a wind-up gramophone, and let’s celebrate World Laughter Day the vintage way.
Our first record is titled “The Singing Lesson,” part of what Parlophone called “The Parlophone Laughing Record – Number Two.” It was issued in December of 1925, right in the middle of the roaring twenties when novelty comedy records were extremely popular.
The basic idea behind many laughing records was wonderfully simple: a short comic sketch that gradually dissolves into uncontrollable laughter. In this case we hear what begins as a perfectly respectable singing lesson between a teacher and pupil. But, as so often happens in these early comedy recordings, the lesson goes completely off the rails. The pupil struggles, the teacher becomes increasingly exasperated, and before long the whole situation collapses into fits of laughter. Parlophone was quite a forward-thinking company at the time. Although many people now associate the label with famous later artists, during the 1920s they produced a huge range of novelty recordings, comic sketches and spoken pieces that were designed specifically to amuse gramophone owners at home. Laughing records like this were something of a party favourite. Imagine the scene in a 1920s sitting room: someone winds up the gramophone, places the needle down, and within seconds the room fills with exaggerated giggling. It’s almost impossible not to laugh along, which, of course, was exactly the point. Another interesting detail is that by the mid-1920s recording technology had just improved dramatically with the arrival of electrical recording, which allowed laughter, voices and small sounds to be captured far more naturally than before. That’s one reason why records from this period often sound much more lively and realistic than earlier acoustic recordings. So let’s begin todays programme with a rather chaotic musical education. Here is “The Singing Lesson” - The Parlophone Laughing Record Number Two, from 1925.
Our next record takes us even further back in time, all the way to October 1912, and features a performer who was practically the king of laughing records -Charles Penrose.
Penrose was a British music hall entertainer who became internationally famous for his novelty hit “The Laughing Policeman.” which we heard in episode 1. That record sold extraordinarily well in the early twentieth century and helped establish the whole genre of laughing records. But the piece we’re hearing today is called “The Laughing Family.” It appeared on the John Bull Record label, a brand that specialised in popular entertainment recordings during the early 1900s.
The premise is delightfully simple. Instead of just one person laughing, Penrose presents an entire family overcome with giggles. One by one the members of the household join in -father, mother, children- until the whole home seems to be filled with unstoppable laughter. What makes these records fascinating is that they capture the style of humour popular in the music hall era. Music halls were lively theatre venues where singers, comedians and novelty acts entertained audiences with fast-paced performances. When gramophones became more common, performers like Penrose brought those same routines onto record. Technically speaking, this recording was made using the acoustic recording process, meaning the performers sang or spoke directly into a large recording horn which mechanically cut the sound into the master disc. No microphones, no electronics -just pure mechanical ingenuity. And yet, more than a century later, the laughter still carries through remarkably clearly. So let’s hear one household that simply can’t stop laughing. This is Charles Penrose with “The Laughing Family,” recorded in 1912.
For our third selection we turn to something rather different. Instead of a comic sketch, we have a short spoken message titled “A Message on Happiness,” recorded around 1930 by Reverend Pat McCormick, who was the Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London. This record appeared on the Broadcast label and is particularly interesting because it’s an eight-inch disc, slightly smaller than the more common ten-inch records used for most popular music.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s there was a growing interest in recording inspirational talks, sermons, and short speeches for home listening. Gramophones were no longer just for songs and comedy -they were also becoming a way of sharing ideas and messages. St Martin-in-the-Fields itself is a famous church standing on the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, and over the years it has been associated with outreach work, public speaking and community life in London. Recording a short message from its vicar was a way of bringing that voice directly into people’s homes. It might seem slightly unexpected to include a spoken reflection on happiness in a programme about laughter, but in many ways the connection makes perfect sense – and of course very fitting for The Happy Highlander’s Records broadcast!. Laughter has always been one of the simplest expressions of joy, and messages about happiness often remind us of the same idea — that a little light-heartedness can go a long way. And of course, when we think about happiness and laughter, the two often go hand in hand. Even the most serious speakers of the period often recognised that humour had an important place in everyday life. Records like this remind us that the gramophone wasn’t just an entertainment machine — it was also an early form of broadcasting in miniature. Before many homes had radios, a spoken record could deliver a speech, a lesson, or a reflection to listeners whenever they chose to play it. We’ll hear both sides of this eight-inch record, so here is Reverend Pat McCormick with “A Message on Happiness,” recorded around 1930.
Our final record in this episode brings us back firmly into the world of comic performance.
This one is titled “You’ve Got to Laugh – The Laughing Song,” performed by Charles Jolly and released on the Regal label in 1922.
The Regal label was well known in Britain during the 1920s for issuing a wide variety of popular entertainment records — dance bands, singers, novelty songs and comic performances. Their catalogue reflected the lively musical tastes of the period just after the First World War.
Charles Jolly was one of many entertainers who specialised in lighthearted novelty pieces, and songs built around laughter were extremely popular at the time. The idea was simple but effective: mix a catchy tune with bursts of exaggerated laughter, and the audience can’t help joining in. There’s also a cultural element to these songs. The early 1920s were a time when people were eager for cheerful entertainment after the hardships of the war years. Records like this offered a moment of uncomplicated fun — a reminder that sometimes the best response to life’s troubles is simply to laugh. And in a way that makes this record a perfect ending for this second of two episodes of our World Laughter Day 2026 broadcast. After all, the title itself gives us the message of the programme: “You’ve got to laugh.” So to finish tonight’s selection of vintage shellac humour, here is Charles Jolly with “You’ve Got to Laugh – The Laughing Song,” from 1922.
And that brings us to the end of this second special World Laughter Day edition of The Happy Highlander’s Records. From music hall giggles to singing lessons gone wrong, and even a thoughtful message on happiness, these old 78-rpm discs remind us that laughter has always been part of recorded history.
This edition was recorded on an island off the West coast of Scotland where my collection of some 160,000 old shellac records is lovingly kept – to preserve, record and share these sounds from the past at 78rpm.
You can listen to recordings of each individual record via my website TheHappyHighlandersRecords.com and also via my YouTube Channel Scottish Islands Records.
Before we finish this World Laughter Day edition of The Happy Highlander’s Records, I’ll leave you with a lovely thought from the great comedian and pianist Victor Borge, who once said: ‘Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.’ And even across the crackle of a century-old gramophone record, that still seems wonderfully true.
Wherever you’re listening from, I hope these cheerful old records brought a smile — and perhaps even a laugh.
Until next time, keep the gramophone spinning and the laughter going.
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