Quote: Time Wounds All Heels

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The pun "Time wounds all heels" is based on the phrase "Time heals all wounds".

This saying is listed in Charlie and Fred's The Dictionary of Modern
Proverbs”, Fred's "The Yale Book of Quotations", Ralph Keyes' "Nice
Guys Finish Seventh", Nigel Rees' "The Best Guide to Humorous
Quotations", "The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations" and other
important references.

In the past the earliest citation was dated 1938. I've located a
December 1934 citation in a newspaper column. The Quote Investigator
website now has a lengthy entry:

Time Wounds All Heels
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/09/23/heels/

There are multiple candidates for originator of the line. If you are a
knowledgeable fan of Old Time Radio or if you have connections to that
community then you might be able to help clarify the origin of the
expression.

Frank Case included the pun in his 1938 memoir and stated that he had
spoken it on a radio program hosted by the entertainer Rudy Vallee.
But Case did not specify the date of the episode. I listened to a
December 2, 1937 radio episode of "The Royal Gelatin Hour" during
which Case visited Vallee. The exchanges between the two sounded
scripted (to me). Case did not use the pun in this episode, but the
dialog indicated he had visited the show in the past. Open question:
Did Case use the line before December 1934?

A citation from April 1939 indicated that Jane Ace of the radio show
"Easy Aces" used the quip during an episode. The "Easy Aces" series
began broadcasting in 1930; hence, it is possible that she used the
joke before 1934. Open question: Did Jane Ace use the line before
December 1934?

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Garson

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