This artical is a survey of hitherto unresearched Prątka Jednodniówka [ The Mayfly], a magazine edited by the patients of the TB sanatorium at Bystra Śląska near Bielsko-Biała and published in 1931–1935. Five issues of the magazine stored at the Cieszyn Library were examined for their literary content, made up almost exclusively by humor and satire. The gelotherapeutic profile makes the magazine unique among similar publications associated with healthcare institutions.

Echo z Polski ( Echo from Poland) published in New York in 1863 was the first Polish-language newspaper to appear in the Western hemisphere. The oldest Polish humour magazine in the United States was Osa ( The Wasp), started in New York by Julian Czupka in 1886. It lasted only a few months, but soon after its closure similar 'funny papers' — Bocian ( The Stork), Kukuryku ( Cock-a-doodle-do), Śmiech ( Laughter), Zabawny Kuryerek ( A Funny Little Courier), Kikier ( The Squinty Eye) — sprang up in other American cities. This article outlines a history of the six oldest humour and satire magazines published for Polish readers in the USA in the 19th century and a handful of profiles of their editors.