"Happiness is . . ."

[Charles Doyle]

When I first encountered the caption/book-title "Happiness Is a Warm Puppy" in the early 1960s, I assumed that the usually-decorous Charles Schulz was parodying--therefore bawdily alluding to--the expression "happiness is a warm pussy," which I was familiar with. When the Beatles' "White Album" appeared in 1968, with the song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," I didn't know which older expression was the prototype (maybe both).

Now, I can't discover much of an early record of the saying "Happiness is a warm pussy." It can be found in Elting, Cragg, and Deal's _Dictionary of Soldier Talk_ (1984; s.v. "prosign," p. 241), among expressions from WW2 and later wars, but without a date.

Any recollections or documentation?

--Charlie

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