The old on ARE the be

Have you heard the one about John Prescott and his saucy squirter? Not a sex toy. He just couldn’t resist spraying tomato ketchup over unsuspecting punters.

Thankfully, it wasn’t real, just a long coloured string that spiralled out of a fake sauce bottle. Prezza’s favourite is one of the best-selling tricks on sale in what must be the country’s oldest joke shop, Dinsdales of Hull, marking its 90th year.

The iconic store, with windows full of itching powder, fake dog poo, plastic rats and chattering teeth, is a stop on the city’s tourist trail.

Visitors pose for pictures against a ghoulish backdrop that could be the props department of

Hammer Films.

Joke shop manager,

Graham Williams, has been the joker behind the counter for 42 years, and embodies the business motto: “We sell laughter. Keep smiling!”

Not everybody does. Dr John

Sentamu, the chuckling Archbishop of York, couldn’t get enough of the ketchup crack.

But when John Prescott gave

Alastair Campbell the treatment on a Burnley v Hull City trip, Ali was not amused (he rarely is). Generations of Hull folk have come to Dinsdales for a laugh. The shop was originally a music store, and founder George W Dinsdale styled himself The Record King, a big deal in ‘Ull.

He later branched out into selling American comics that came to the port as ballast in ships from the USA, and then into the joke business.

His range of stock was – and remains – enormous. You can still buy cheeky little model “cameras” from the 1950s, which show tiny stills of voluptuous women. Manager Graham confesses: “I only came

BARGAINS A mountain of fun for the young and old can be found at Dinsdales, Hull, the UK’S SAUCY This ketchup prank was loved by Labour’s John Prescott MAGIC Graham & Paul Zeno below, the Silly String is pop