[Ads-l] Quotation: Using money you haven't earned to buy things you don't need to impress people you don't like (June 1928)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Two requests have been sent to me to trace a saying about consumerism
that can be expressed in many ways. Here are three versions:

1) We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress
people we don't like.

2) Spending money you don't have for things you don't need to impress
people you don't like.

3) Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they
don't want to impress people they don't like.

Because the phrasing of this saying is highly variable it has been
difficult for me to trace. Earlier citations would be welcome.

The volunteer editors at Wikiquote credited the saying to the actor
Walter Slezak with a 1957 citation.

After pushing the saying back to June 1928 I belatedly found that
Barry Popik had done very valuable work and found a first citation in
"Office Cat" January 1929. So my efforts uncovered some new citations.
I also found a 1933 Winchell cite that helps to explain why he has
been linked to the saying.

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

The June 1928 citation appeared in the syndicated column by Robert Quillen:

[ref] 1928 June 4, The Detroit Free Press, Paragraphs by Robert
Quillen, Quote Page 6, Column 4, Detroit, Michigan.
(Newspapers_com)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Americanism: Using money you haven't earned to buy things you don't
need to impress people you don't like.
[End excerpt]

Interestingly, seven years previously Robert Quillen included a
partial match in his column titled "Editorial Epigrams". This version
was simpler; the element of "not liking" the impressed individuals was
absent. Hence, Quillen may have constructed the 1928 saying by
embellishing the 1921 saying:

[ref] 1921 August 18, The Evening Repository, Editorial Epigrams by
Robert Quillen, Quote Page 4, Column 3, Canton, Ohio.
(GenealogyBank)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Hard times: A season during which it is very difficult to borrow money
to buy things you don't need.
[End excerpt]

Here are a few more citations in chronological order.

In 1929 a simpler instance was used as the caption of a syndicated
"Flapper Fanny" comic.

[ref] 1929 July 24, Omaha World Herald, Flapper Fanny Says (Caption of
one panel comic), Quote Page 16, Column 4, Omaha, Nebraska.
(GenealogyBank)[/ref]

People often spend money on things they don't need to impress people
they don't like.

In 1933 the widely-read columnist Walter Winchell attributed an
instance to radio personality Tony Wons:

[ref] 1933 September 26, The Scranton Republican, On Broadway by
Walter Winchell (Syndicated), Quote Page 4, Column 4, Scranton,
Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Tony Wons describes Broadway's best—where people use money they
haven't earned to impress people they don't like.
[End excerpt]

In 1935 credit was transferred directly to Winchell in a Texas
newspaper citing an Oklahoma newspaper:

[ref] 1935 November 18, The Paris News, Press Comments: What Other
Newspapers Have to Say, Quote Page 4, Column 6, Paris, Texas.
(Newspapers_com)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Soper (Okla) Democrat: Walter Winchell describes Broadway as a place
where people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't
need to impress people they don't like. We are not so sure that the
condition described is confined altogether to Broadway.
[End excerpt]

In May 1939 gossip columnist Hy Gardner ascribed the quip to comedian
Ken Murray:

[ref] 1939 May 5, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Broadway Newsreel: Brenda
Frazier Engaged to Howard Hughes Soon? by Hy Gardner, Quote Page 19,
Column 5, Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
The Rambling Reporter quotes Ken Murray as summing up Hollywood
thusly: "Hollywood is a place where you spend more than you make on
things you don't need to impress people you don't like!
[End excerpt]

Also in May 1939 Walter Winchell expressed irritation that the joke
was being ascribed to Ken Murray:

[ref] 1939 May 11, Morning World-Herald (Omaha World Herald), On
Broadway by Walter Winchell (Syndicated), Quote Page 8, Column 2,
Omaha, Nebraska. (GenealogyBank)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
The Hollywood Reporter quotes Ken Murray as saying: "Hollywood is a
place where you spend more than you make on things you don't need to
impress people you don't like. . . . Hey, Berle! Move over!
[End excerpt]

Garson

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