Book: The Joys of Aging and How to Avoid Them

Object Details

Date made
1981
publisher
Doubleday and Company, Inc.
illustrator
Klein, Norman
maker
Diller, Phyllis
Doubleday and Company, Inc.
Description

The Joys of Aging and How to Avoid Them by Phyllis Diller with illustrations by Norman Klein was published by Doubleday and Company, Inc. in 1981. Throughout her career Phyllis Diller wrote three other comedy books (Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints, The Complete Mother, and Phyllis Diller’s Marriage Manual) as well as an autobiography (Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy).

Phyllis Diller (1917-2012) began her comedy career in the 1950s at the age of 37 and broke barriers in the comedy world to become the first solo female comic to be a household name. She developed a stage persona of an incompetent housewife and dressed in outlandish outfits with wild hair. Her material focused on self-deprecating jokes that tackled the idealized image of American mothers and homemakers. She also created many mythical personas for her stage act including her “husband” Fang, her “neighbor” Mrs. Clean, and her “mother-in-law” Moby Dick.
Location
Currently not on view
place made
United States: New York, Garden City
Subject
Humor
Comedians
Books
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Popular Entertainment
Phyllis Diller
Credit Line
Gift of Phyllis Diller
Data Source
National Museum of American History
ID Number
2003.0289.35
accession number
2003.0289
catalog number
2003.0289.35
Object Name
Book
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
ink (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 8 1/2 in x 5 3/4 in x 5/8 in; 21.59 cm x 14.605 cm x 1.5875 cm
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-16e0-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Record ID
nmah_1247717