Three hots and a cot (1969)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

In my own recollection (not necessarily representative) the usual version
in the 1960's was "three hots and a flop" = "three hot meals and a place to
sleep". I think this slogan may have been associated with some kind of
conservation make-work during the Depression, but when I heard it it
referred either to a stint in the Armed Forces or to some minimal
employment providing the bare necessities. To me it seems that the version
with "cot" was a later "improved" version (maybe "flop" = "sleeping place"
had become obsolescent?).

-- Doug Wilson