Adolph Aschoff’s Humor – Jokes from another century
The Humor of Adolph Aschoff: Marmot’s Legendary Storyteller
The following account highlights the legendary sense of humor of Adolph Aschoff, a well-known pioneer from Marmot, Oregon. It comes from a 1970s entry in The Mountain Magazine, a publication that featured historical articles and local business advertisements from the Hoodland area. The article was written by Wilbur Sulzbach.
Adolph Aschoff: A Pioneer with a Story to Tell
Adolph Aschoff was a pioneer homesteader who settled in Marmot—a place he named himself—along the old Oregon Trail. In 1883, he built a hotel called Aschoff’s Mountain Home, where he entertained travelers and adventurers along the Barlow Road. For nearly 50 years, his hotel served as a destination for people eager to experience the great outdoors and begin their Mount Hood adventures.
A Man Who Knew How to Entertain
Adolph was a jovial character who loved to entertain his guests. He played music, told jokes, and shared thrilling stories of adventure. In those days, storytelling was an art, and Adolph excelled at it.
The following two stories were among his favorites. They offer a glimpse into 19th-century humor and how people entertained themselves long before radio and television. Today, we might call Adolph Aschoff’s humor classic “Dad Jokes.”
You can read more about Adolph Achoff and Marmot Oregon HERE.
Adolph Aschoff’s Sense of Humor
Many People remember Adolph Achoff as a man who brought life and laughter to any gathering. His jokes were told and told again with variations. Melvin Haneberg remembers these two.
Adolph told a gathering about a recent trip to Gresham with his wife. They were driving along standing in their high box wagon when a grouse flew up and suddenly in front of the horses. The team reared and jumped into the ditch alongside the road and overturned the wagon. Adolph and his wife crouched down as the wagon overturned and escaped injury but were trapped under the wagon.
“There we were,” said Adolph, “the wagon on top of us and we couldn’t get out.”
“You wouldn’t believe this but I had to walk almost a half a mile to find a fence rail to pry the wagon up and get us out.”
At another time some Marmot friends were complaining about sudden changes in the weather. Adolph said, “Gentlemen, let me tell you about Kansas. I was driving along in a light one-horse wagon on a lovely spring day. The sky suddenly grew black as night, the rain fell so hard I could not breathe, the water filled the wagonbox and ran over the top of my shoes. then the cold wind started to blow. In two minutes my hands were so numb I dropped the reins and had to call to the horse to take me home. When the horse stopped at the barn door I yelled for my wife to bring the axe and shop my feet loose from the wagonbox. Just then the sun came out and melted the ice before my wife could find the axe. Marmot weather is not so bad.”
-Wilbur (“Pete”) Sulzbach