Quote: Change one letter in that phrase and you have my life story (antedating 1957 Dorothy Parker)

[Garson O'Toole]

Goal: antedate 1968 for the following quote attributed to Dorothy Parker:
There, but for a typographical error, is the story of my life. [re
"ducking for apples"]

Below is a 1957 variant. It is less stylish in my opinion because the
phrase "typographical error" is absent.

Cite: 1957, Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles
MacArthur by Ben Hecht, Page 99, Harper, New York. (Google Books
snippet view; Verified on paper)

At a subsequent Halloween party, Miss Parker spoke one of her wryest
sentences. Asked to join a group of merrymakers who were "ducking for
apples," Dorothy said, "Change one letter in that phrase and you have
my life story.

http://books.google.com/books?id=QRItAAAAIAAJ&q=merrymakers#search_anchor


In 1967 a version with "typographical error" appears in "The Time of
Laughter" by Corey Ford.

Cite: 1967, The Time of Laughter by Corey Ford, Page 53, Little, Brown
and Company, Boston. (Google Books snippet view; Verified on paper)

The quotations could go on endlessly. There was the night that Mrs.
Parker arrived at a Halloween party given by Herbert Bayard Swope, and
inquired what the guests were doing. "They're ducking for apples," her
host explained. Mrs. Parker shook her head sadly. "There, but for a
typographical error," she sighed, "is the story of my life."

http://books.google.com/books?id=V_qwAAAAIAAJ&q=ducking#search_anchor


Also in 1967 a peculiar variant appears in the Saturday Review. The
anecdote is censored, and the primary joke is removed.

Cite: 1967 November 4, Saturday Review, First of the Month by
Cleveland Amory, Page 6, Saturday Review Associates, New York. (Google
Books snippet view; Verified on paper)

Finally, our favorite story of many a month appeared in a marvelous
book, The Time of Laughter, by Corey Ford. Among other gems, Mr. Ford
writes of the night Dorothy Parker arrived at a Halloween party given
by Herbert Bayard Swope. Seeing guests in an odd position-obviously
partaking of a new fad-Miss Parker asked what they were doing.
"They're ducking for apples," Mr. Swope explained. Miss Parker shook
her head. "There," she sighed, "is the story of my life."

Garson

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