Books like funny

Cole's Funny Picture Bookis a series of children's books of Victoriana puzzles, stories, poems, jokes and "nutty humour", first compiled by E.W. Cole and synonymous with Cole's Book Arcade.

E.W. Cole began a small publishing and second-hand book selling business in 1865, and by 1873 had opened the first incarnation of his book arcade, with the recognisable rainbow arch facade. The Cole's Book Arcade became one of the great iconic stores of Melbourne in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Cole's Funny Picture Book was first published in 1879, being sold from the Book Arcade for 1s and selling a thousand copies that Christmas. The book was divided into themes or "Lands" (e.g. Girl Land, Picture Puzzle Land). It contains many references to the Cole's Book Arcade, and features the Cole's Patent Whipping Machine for Flogging Naughty Boys (48th edition, page 41), as well as E.W. Cole's own vision of the future.