First Meme
The debated hunt for the 'first meme' — from 1920s Expectations vs Reality print cartoons to Dancing Baby, with no single agreed answer.
Not one image but a recurring internet argument: what counts as the first meme? Candidates include pre-internet cartoons that copy a two-panel 'Expectations vs. Reality' joke, early email GIFs like Dancing Baby, and forum catchphrases like All Your Base. The meme is the debate itself — people want a origin story, but memes need copying and variation, not just a single funny picture.
History
BBC Trending investigated a 1921 cartoon in satirical magazine The Judge (reprinted from the Wisconsin Octopus) showing a two-panel Expectations vs. Reality gag. Researchers found an earlier version in 1919–1920 using the same template — copied and remixed in print, which fits Richard Dawkins's 'meme' idea if not today's image-macro definition. The article stresses one cartoon alone is not a meme until the format spreads with variations — which is why Dancing Baby, Hamster Dance, and forum-era jokes remain separate contenders.
Cultural scores
Editorial estimates of cultural weight — Current Popularity tracks how much people are posting about this now, not historical fame.
Current Popularity = how actively people are posting about this today. Influence = lasting footprint. Cringe = online reception. Brainrot = absurdist energy. Scores last reviewed 2026-07-25. How scoring works
Timeline
1919–1920
Wisconsin Octopus prints an Expectations vs. Reality cartoon
1921
Similar cartoon appears in The Judge; later shared on Tumblr/Twitter
Apr 2018
BBC Trending article asks if this is the first meme; debate goes viral
1996–1998
Separate lineage: Dancing Baby email GIF and Hamster Dance web fad
2000s+
Forum memes (All Your Base, etc.) enter 'first meme' lists
Examples
- “Twitter thread arguing 1921 cartoon vs Dancing Baby vs Kilroy”
- “Expectations vs. Reality panel reused with modern caption templates”
- “Documentary-style TikTok listing five 'first meme' candidates with no winner”
Media
Related entries
Culturally linked — not random recommendations.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us
MemeThe Zero Wing Engrish catchphrase that became one of the internet's first mainstream memes — 'All your base are belong to us.'
Hamster Dance
MemeDeidre LaCarte's late-90s GeoCities page of dancing hamster GIFs — one of the first true internet memes (also spelled Hampster Dance).
Dancing Baby
MemeThe 1996 Baby Cha-Cha viral 3D animation — one of the first GIFs to email inboxes worldwide and a landmark of pre-social viral video.
Numa Numa
MemeGary Brolsma's 2004 Newgrounds lip-dub of O-Zone's Dragostea din tei — an early viral video that defined webcam meme culture.
Rickroll
MemeThe internet's most legendary bait-and-switch — Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' disguised as something else.
References
Sources behind this entry. Prefer primary reporting and established culture archives over rumor.
- Meme — Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org