Legendary comedian Henny Youngman was the comic genius behind these cards.  Early in his career, he owned a small print shop in New York City and began printing humorous cards to use as promotional giveaways.  His "Pride and Joy" business sized version of the card was the most memorable, and he used them as business cards throughout his long career.

He was not the first to do so, however.  His friend Milton Berle had seen the powerful marketing potential of funny cards, and was the first to give such cards away to his fans after his show.  As Henny Youngman's career took off, he began to use the cards that so well matched his brand of humor, printing his actual address and phone number on the back so he could be easily booked for a show.  He used the cards right up until his death at age 91 in 1998.

The products photographed to be on the card are (were) popular consumer products found in many homes, and were therefore very familiar to anyone looking at the card.  PRIDE™was a liquid wax product made by the S.C. Johnson Company, which today makes products like GLADE™, PLEDGE™, RAID™, SCRUBBING BUBBLES™, SHOUT™ and WINDEX™.  JOY™ is a brand of liquid dishwashing detergent, still sold by Procter and Gamble.