The Laughing Barrel

In slavery times the slaves were not allowed to laugh in many plantations. When the urge to laugh became irrepressible, the slaves had a “laughing barrel” into which they would lean way down, place their head in the barrel and laugh; then go back to whatever it was they were doing.

This continued into history with one person reporting: "My grandfather told me back in the 50's and 60's when they had an ordinance in some cities where blacks could not laugh out loud in public just because of the way they act crazy when they laugh. If someone told a joke, they would have to run to a designated "laughing barrel" and duck their heads in and they could laugh as long as they wanted."

So now you know the origin of the term "Barrel of Laughs."

I have my suspicions about the origins of "Cracker Barrel" as well.