Happy Hooligan [1903]

Opens on a stage set of a house exterior, complete with a door, window, and ivy on the walls. In front of the house, an organ-grinder plays as Happy Hooligan listens and claps along merrily. The Hooligan character is dressed as a tramp in a ragged and torn suit, and sports a bald pate with an incredibly tiny hat perched atop it. A middle-aged woman appears in the house window and yells down to the musician to stop. Encouraged by Hooligan, however, the organ-grinder continues as the woman grows increasingly upset and Hooligan pokes fun at her. As she leaves the window, the tramp suddenly warns off the organ-grinder, pushing the street musician offstage. From the other side of the stage enters an angry policeman, who grabs Hooligan by the throat, shaking and yelling at him. The woman reappears in the window with a pail of water, which she mistakenly throws on the policeman. When she sees the officer sputtering on the ground, she faints against the window frame. As Hooligan laughs heartily, the policeman gets up and storms inside the house.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• happy
• hooligan
• tramps
• organ
• grinders
• slapstick

[smerdley]

HAPPY HOOLIGAN was a very popular newspaper cartoon in his day. He wore a tin can on his head. My mother was an antique dealer and she had a wooden HAPPY HOOLIGAN doll dressed in cloth clothing.I am happy to see him again.