[Ads-l] Bat Masterson Quote

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat Feb 18 21:33:04 UTC 2017


Here is the quip more than a decade earlier. (Apologies to list
members who do not wish to see research in real-time.)

Date: November 18, 1886
Newspaper: Atchison Daily Patriot
Newspaper Location: Atchison, Kansas
Article: Untitled short piece
Quote Page 2, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
Quote Page 2, Column 2

[Begin excerpt]
It is on the Emersonian doctrine of compensation illustrated by one of
his disciples, who said all things are about evenly divided, as for
instance: The rich have ice in summer and the poor have it in winter.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 4:03 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> After "The Pittsburgh Press" appearance an instance was printed in the
> "Denver Rocky Mountain News" on February 13, 1898. "Judge" received
> credit.
>
> The joke appeared in "Judge's Library" in February 1900 which I
> believe reprinted its material from "Judge". But I have not yet
> located the appearance in "Judge" itself.
>
> Date: February 1900
> Periodical: Judge's Library: A Monthly Magazine of Fun
> Number 131
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=bT4gAAAAMAAJ&q=%22unjust+world%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> EVERYTHING EQUAL
>
> "This is 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 3:33 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 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

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



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