Joke: He hated the stuff they served in hotels. And such small portions (1933 August)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Barry has now updated his entry on this topic with some great new
citations starting in 1927. These early cites help to explain why the
allusion to the joke in 1931 would be understandable to many readers.

“The food is terrible - and such small portions!”

Short link: http://bit.ly/UicoYZ

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

Garson


On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 10:22 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Joke: He hated the stuff they served in hotels. And such
>               small portions (1933 August)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And the 1931 text surely represents an allusion to the joke, not an actual "telling" of it, the reader being assumed already to know the joke.
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2013 6:11 PM
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The same author, Ernest L. Meyer, printed parts of the 1933 story in
> his newspaper column. So the joke was in print by 1931. (The text is
> slightly different.)
>
> [ref] 1931 November 29, Capital Times, Making Light of the Times by
> Ernest L. Meyer, Quote Page 20, Column 2, Madison, Wisconsin.
> (NewspaperArchive)
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> With Chicago and Milwaukee capital he was promoting a huge irrigation
> enterprise in the western desert. He made flying visits to Milwaukee
> and always came to eat with us, bringing loads of edibles, for he
> hates the stuff they serve one in hotels. And such small portions!
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 5:47 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Joke: He hated the stuff they served in hotels. And such small
>>               portions (1933 August)
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Barry Popik has an entry for a well-known joke that was told by Woody
>> Allen in the movie Annie Hall.
>>
>> "The food is terrible - and such small portions!"
>> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/the_food_is_terrible_and_such_small_portions/
>>
>> Barry notes that never-tiring quotation collector Bennett Cerf
>> presented the joke to his newspaper readers in 1942.
>>
>> Here is an instance alluded to in passing in 1933:
>>
>> [ref] 1933 August, The American Mercury, Twilight of a Golden Age by
>> Ernest L. Meyer, Start Page 456, Quote Page 461, Column 1, The
>> American Mercury, Inc., New York. (Unz) [/ref]
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> With Chicago and Milwaukee capital he was promoting a huge irrigation
>> enterprise in the Western desert. He made flying visits to Milwaukee,
>> and always came to eat with us, bringing loads of edibles, for he
>> hated the stuff they served in hotels. And such small portions!
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>
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