Bloody Mary, Anyone?

On ollege campuses and grade-school playgrounds in all parts of the U.S. last week, youngsters -- and many of their elders -- were laughing at a new kind of joke that had spread across the nation with appalling thoroughness. Called variously sick stories, gruesome jokes or Bloody Marys, these gags get their laughs by making fun of decapitations, amputation, disease, death -- in short, every variety of horror-provoking subject dealing with physical disability. The jokes range from the mild to the bloodthirsty. Samples :

Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Mother, can I have a new dress for Easter?

Certainly not, George . . .

Mommy, why do I keep walking in circles?

Shut up, or I'll nail your other foot to the floor.

Can Johnny come out to play baseball?

No, he hasn't any arms or legs.

We know that; we want him to be the second base.

What brought on this surge of morbidity? Actually, the idea is old, the form merely revised. A generation ago people laughed at "Little Willie" verses:

Little Willie with a shout Gouged the baby's eyeballs out Jumped on them to make them pop Mamma said, "Now Willie, stop."

Before that -- and since, for that matter --U.S. rural folk liked to say that they "ain't had so much fun since the hogs et Little Willie." or "ain't laughed so much since Grandma got caught in the wash wringer." With each new generation, psychiatrists attempt to explain the meaning of such jokes in relation to their era. Cer tain only is the fact that Little Willie.

Grandma and Baby will strike adolescent horror again in future generations, very likely under new names.

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