OED Appeals list (UNCLASSIFIED); Ghost-Written Famous Quotations

[Sam Clements]

It probably goes back a bit further.  About a month before Barry's cite is
one from Walter Winchell:
The Charleston{WV} Daily Mail,  27 January 1952, pg. 33

    "The late theatre magnate nodded sadly and replied:  "My son, don't call
us.  We'll call you."

 Winchell identifies the late magnate as Marcus Lowe,  so it probably
predated Winchell's column by at least a few  years. Assuming the joke being
told was more than invented in 1952.

Sam Clements



----- Original Message -----
From: <Bapopik at AOL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:24 PM
Subject: Re: OED Appeals list (UNCLASSIFIED); Ghost-Written Famous
Quotations


> In a message dated 6/21/2007 5:14:38 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL writes:
>
> don't  call us .. (we'll call you) (phr.):
> antedate 1987, or any exx. in  print
> (now antedated to 1959; variants also accepted (e.g. with  'ring'))
>
> "Guys and Dolls Lexicon" By GILBERT MILLSTEIN. _New York  Times_; Feb 17,
> 1952; Magazine section, pg. 20 col 3.
> "Keep in touch  with the office -- Means the reverse; don't bother us;
> stay out of the way;  a variation of the casting director's "Don't call
> us, we'll call you."  "
>
>
> ...
> ...
>
>
> 27 January 1952, Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, pg. 33, col. 1:
> _IN NEW YORK WITH WALTER WINCHELL_
> (...)
> ETHEL SMITH'S favorite is about the jobless vaudeville juggler, who was
> told
> it was Good Luck to stand in front of the Marcus Loew plaque in the Loew's
> State Theater building and ask for bookings...This gullible fellow decided
> to
> try it...He removed his hat as he approached the 3-a-day circuit founder's
> plaque and reverently asked for help...He even went into his juggling act
> thinking it might help matters...After 20 minutes of doing all of his
> routines  he
> was sure he saw tears in Loew's eyes..."Oh." said the juggler, "I didn't
> mean
> to depress you. Don't you like my act?"
> ...
> The late theatre magnate nodded sadly and replied: "My son, don't call us.
> We'll call you."
> ...
> ...
> ...
> GHOST-WRITTEN FAMOUS QUOTATIONS
> ...
> "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." (for Cassius Clay/Mohammed
> Ali)
>
>
>
>
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> http://www.aol.com.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>

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