Meaning of a 19 century joke printed in a newspaper, with punchline "Oh, mother, what a good job the cat’s a black one" From a 19th century newspaper: ![Newspaper cutting with the quote transcribed below]( > A family who had the misfortune to lose their father were discussing what mourning would be required, when the youngest, a child of six, said : " **Oh, mother, what a good job the cat’s a black one**." I don't understand the meaning of the child's remark. The family is discussing what kind of mourning to perform. The child's remark is hard to parse for me, as a non-native speaker: "what a good job" seems not to combine logically with "the cat's a black one". What does it mean? My guess is that it means "How lucky it is that the cat is a black one". But then the meaning of the whole joke remains completely incomprehensible for me.

Your guess is correct; "How lucky it is that the cat is a black one" is an accurate restatement of the phrase. "good job" is a particularly British term for "lucky".

So that leaves the question: why would it be lucky that the cat is black?

In all likelihood, this has to do with the tradition of wearing black clothes to a funeral or when mourning. There's a long history of wearing black while mourning in the English-speaking world; rumor has it that the tradition can be traced back to the Romans wearing black togas to funerals.

In any case, the mourning family is discussing what's required. The mention of black clothes would have come up. The child, not fully grasping that the cat doesn't necessarily wear clothes or attend funerals, remarks that it's lucky that the cat is already black, which saves the trouble of getting black clothes (or dye) for the cat.