[Ads-l] Bat Masterson Quote

Sat Feb 18 20:33:27 UTC 2017

The article title below suggests that he joke might be from the humor
publication "Judge" but I am
uncertain.

Date: February 2, 1898
Newspaper: The Pittsburgh Press
Newspaper Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Article: Merry Thoughts of Judge
Quote Page 4, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
"This not such an unjust world, after all, when you come to think
about it," said the old-young man. "Of course the rich people have ice
in summer, but don't the poor get it in winter?"
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 3:03 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Same basic joke told in 1898:
> The Pittsburgh Press
> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
> Wednesday, February 2, 1898 - Page 4
>
> On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 2:58 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Quick response: The ice anecdote was in circulation by 1941. That is
>> still a late date:
>> The Age
>> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
>> Saturday, March 8, 1941 - Page 9
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 2:13 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>>> There is a great quotation attributed to outlaw-turned-lawman "Bat" Masterson:  "There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break even for all of us.  I have observed, for example, that we all get the same amount of ice.  The rich get it in the summertime, and the poor get it in the winter."  When I search ProQuest Historical Newspapers, I find articles from the early 1960s claiming that this was found on Masterson's typewriter when he died at his desk in 1921 (he was a newspaperman at that point in his life).
>>>
>>>
>>> Can anyone supply any information about the veracity of this story?  Does it appear in print before the 1960s, and, if so, how far back can it be found?
>>>
>>>
>>> Fred Shapiro
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org