"Have XXX Will Travel"

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:54 PM -0600 2/2/05, Mullins, Bill wrote:
>The science fiction author Robert Heinlein had a novel
>titled "Have Spacesuit Will Travel".  A recent commentary
>on his works (Robert A. Heinlein, A Reader's Companion by
>James Gifford, Nitrosyncretic Press) points out that it
>almost certainly was derived from the TV show "Have Gun
>Will Travel" (which I knew), but that an earlier version
>was the vaudeville phrase, "Have Tux, Will Travel" (which
>I didn't know).
>
>My PQ Historical Newspapers search on this phrase yielded
>1951 for a first cite, which sure seems late for a "vaudeville"
>phrase.
>
>>>From www.etymonline.com :
>"Phrase have (noun), will (verb) is from 1954, originally
>from comedian Bob Hope, in the form Have tux, will travel;
>Hope described it as typical of vaudevillians' ads in
>"Variety," indicating a willingness to perform anywhere, any time."
>Hope wrote a book titled "Have Tux, Will Travel"
>
>Is the root of this phrase, "have (noun) will (verb)" older than
>the 1950's??

I can confirm that for many of those in the relevant generation, it
was indeed Bob Hope's book title in the mid-1950s that introduced us
to the "Have Tux, Will Travel" formula, with precisely the meaning
indicated, and that "Have Gun Will Travel" (still remember "Paladin"
and that chess-knight logo) was recognized as a variation on that
theme.  Only a few years elapsed between the appearance of the Hope
book and the TV show. How long the expression was in circulation in
the vaudeville (or, more generally, show biz) world before Hope used
it for his autobiography I have no idea.

larry