I'm as pure as the driven slush. (Tallulah Bankhead 1941)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Several references have entries for the quotation listed in the
subject line, e.g., Cassell's Humorous Quotations (2001), Yale Book of
Quotations (2006), Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (2008). A
citation in 1947 is given.

Below is a 1941 citation in which Walter Winchell presented the
quotation and asserted that Tallulah Bankhead employed it "a dozen
seasons ago".

[ref] 1941 September 3, Tucson Daily Citizen, Walter Winchell On
Broadway, Quote Page 4, Column 2, Tucson, Arizona.
(NewspaperArchive)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Tallulah, however, is still indifferent to what others think and say
of her. As indifferent as she was a dozen seasons ago when a prudish
interviewer asked: "Would you call yourself a pure woman?" "Yes," said
Bankhead, "I'm as pure as the driven slush."
[End excerpt]

Garson

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