Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 55(3) 2008 Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com © 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved. 388 doi:10.1080/00918360802345107 WJHM 0091-8369 1540-3602 Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 55, No. 3, August 2008: pp. 1–37 Journal of Homosexuality “Fruits,” “Fags,” and “Dykes”: The Portrayal of Gay/Lesbian Identity in “Nance” Jokes of the ’50s and ’60s Peter M. Nardi and Nancy E. Stoller Journal of Homosexuality Peter M. Nardi, PhD Pitzer College Nancy E. Stoller, PhD University of California, Santa Cruz ABSTRACT. What is humorous and how it is interpreted very much depends on the norms and values of a culture at a particular point in time, the characteristics of who is telling jokes, and the makeup of the audience. This article presents archival material and an analysis of an outsider’s jokes about gays and lesbians. These were told to primarily heterosexual audi- ences by a heterosexual comic. They reveal the assumptions Americans held about gays and lesbians throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and a few years into the mid-1970s, when most of these jokes were compiled. Although Peter M. Nardi, PhD, is Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges. Nancy E. Stoller, PhD, is Professor of Community Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. The authors wish to thank Sam Freund, a student at University of California, Santa Cruz, who painstakingly went through the 105 pages of often poorly typed jokes and pulled out those that related to male and female homosexuality. Also, thanks to the late Whitey Roberts who demonstrated his “nance” accent and gestures during a three-hour interview with Peter Nardi in 1996. Address correspondence to: Peter M. Nardi, Pitzer College, 1050 N. Mills Ave, Claremont, CA 91711 (E-mail: peter_nardi@pitzer.edu) or Nancy E. Stoller, Department of Community Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (E-mail: nancys@ucsc.edu).