Quote: It seems as if anything I like is either illegal or immoral or fattening. (Frank Rand attrib Sept 16, 1933)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Barry Popik has an entry on this topic:

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/all_the_things_i_really_like_to_do_are_either_immoral_illegal_or_fattening/

On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 6:04 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Quote: It seems as if anything I like is either illegal or
>               immoral or fattening. (Frank Rand attrib Sept 16, 1933)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening.
>
> In the past, the expression above has been attributed to the New
> Yorker columnist and radio personality Alexander Woollcott. I recently
> located a citation that may shift this attribution.
>
> On September 16, 1933 the Albany Evening News of Albany, New York
> published a column called "As I Hear It" by "The Listener" which
> reported on the content of recently broadcast radio programs. The
> columnist stated that Alexander Woollcott could be heard on the WOKO
> radio station on Wednesday and Friday nights at 10:30 PM.
>
> The program began with a cry of “Hear ye! Hear ye!” and the ringing of
> a bell according to “The Listener”. Indeed, Woollcott’s CBS radio show
> "The Town Crier" used precisely that introduction. Fortunately for
> 21st century researchers, the columnist decided to record some of the
> remarks made by Woollcott over the air:
>
> [ref] 1933 September 16, Albany Evening News, “As I Hear It” by The
> Listener, Quote Page 14, Column 6, Albany, New York. (Old Fulton)
> [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> As for instance quoting Woollcott’s story about the Mr. Frank Rand of
> St. Louis who in the interest of his girth was lunching on bouillon
> cubes and undressed lettuce.
>
> "Do you eat that stuff because you like it?" someone asked Rand.
> "No, I hate it," he replied. "But it seems as if anything I like is
> either illegal or immoral or fattening."
> [End excerpt]
>
> More on this topic is available at the following link.
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/09/fattening/
>
> Additional citations and comments are welcome. Thanks.
> Garson
>
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