Joke: I'm looking here because the light is better (1932)

[paul johnson]

paul johnson
There is a 1942 french film by Georges Clouzot called "_The Murderer
Lives at Number 21_"
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034478/>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034478/
with the same joke, only this time the drunk has climbed the pole for
even more light


On 4/11/2013 2:15 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> Last month LH mentioned the joke (or allegory) about the misdirected
> search of an inebriate beneath a shining lamppost. I heard the same
> tale a few decades ago. Additional citations or information would be
> welcome. The QI post shows some panels from a Mutt and Jeff cartoon in
> 1942 along with the 1932 cite. Thanks:
>
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/11/better-light/
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 11:02 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> LH said:
>>> I wonder if that's the same drunk who's looking for the
>>> keys that he lost two blocks away under that same lamppost
>>> because the light is so much better there.
>> I did not find this joke in the YBQ or the DMP. A scholarly joke
>> tracing reference work may exist; perhaps a list member can name one.
>> After a quick search, below are the two most interesting cites I
>> found. The earliest cite does not involve a drunk. Inebriation may
>> have been incorporated in the evolving joke to provide a rationale for
>> Mr. Snoop's casual attitude toward empirical reality.
>>
>> [ref] 1932 October, Boys' Life, Volume 22, Number 10, Think and Grin,
>> Edited by F. J. Rigney, Quote Page 36, Published by the Boy Scouts of
>> America, New York. [/ref]
>>
>> [

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