"outside of a dog"

[Laurence Horn]

For those unfamiliar with the publication in question:  In those
years, this magazine came free with a membership to the Cub Scouts,
and I assume the Boy Scouts as well.  I remember it well, having been
a Cub Scout for the whole Webelos trajectory--"Wolf Bear Lion
Scout"--but I dropped out before the Tenderfoot stage (I think I was
apprehensive about the ritual initation ceremony).  In fact in 1954 I
was a faithful subscriber, although I don't recall that particular
joke.  I recall it as Boys' Life--that is, I think the apostrophe
came in that position, but I suppose there may have been a
controversy might have been an precursor to the current brouhaha over
_The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's/Hornets' Nest_ (see yesterday's
Times Book Review blurb about "The Girl With the Strunk and White
Tattoo").

LH

At 12:06 AM -0400 6/14/10, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>Excellent find! Here is a link to the joke in Boy's Life for convenience:
>
>http://books.google.com/books?id=JpxKLVXpLdoC&q=of-a-dog#v=snippet&

>On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 11:35 PM, Baker, John M. <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       "Baker, John M." <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: "outside of a dog"
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Google Books has an earlier example of this, in full text, from Boys' =
>>  Life, p. 78 (Feb. 1954).  It's on the magazine's Think and Grin page, =
>>  which appears to be a collection of jokes sent in by readers (though I =
>>  don't see a specific invitation to readers to contribute).  The quip is =
>>  in more or less the canonical form:
>  > =20
>>      A book is man's best friend=20
>>  outside of a dog, and inside of a
>>  dog it's too dark to read.--_Jim
>  > Brewer, Cleveland, O._

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