[Ads-l] Archetypal Advertisement: Eat at Joe's

[Wilson Gray]

Apropos of nothing:

On the old radio show, "My Friend, Irma," 19447-1954,  the go-to guy of
Irma's boyfriend, Al, was Joe:

"Hello, _Joe_? Al. Got. a problem."

Waiting for Godot: Tragicomedy in 2 Acts - Page 247
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0802141366
Samuel Beckett - 1954 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
I'm stuffy, but sympathetic to multicultural concerns. What am I to do? I
must be a victim somehow, that is the currency of acceptance, the knock on
the door to all the cool places, the whispered "_Joe_ sent me" that allows
one into the inner fold.

Richard Pryor stand-up, ca. 1969:

[knocks on door; door opens]
a) Whutchu wont?
b) _Joe_ sent me.

On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 3:15 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Barry Popik asked off list about the statement "Eat at Joe's" which
> appears on signage. Here are the results of a quick search. Below is a
> 1932 citation in which "Eat at Joe's Place" was employed as a
> prototypical message on a
> highway sign:
>
> [ref] 1932 November 25, Illinois State Journal, Regulating The Side
> Lines, Quote Page 6, Column 1, Springfield, Illinois.
> (GenealogyBank)[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Another important regulation bans the use of flashing red lights or
> "stop" signs erected on the highways to call attention to commercial
> establishments. No more will Indiana allow a highway sign reading
> "Stop" in large letters and then, in smaller letters, "Eat at Joe's
> Place."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Google Books has an interesting match that apparently occurs in a
> 1931, but it should be verified with hardcopy. This usage is moving
> towards the archetype, I think.
>
> Year: 1931 (Worldcat agrees with date; visible in snippet)
> Title: Wide Open Town
> Author: Myron Brinig
> Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated, 1931
> Database: Google Books snippet; data may be inaccurate and should be
> verified with hardcopy; text partially visible in snippet
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> Zola was whipped by the abrupt pathos of the signs the one in front
> bearing the words, Whether It Snows or Whether the Sun Shines, Eat at
> Joe's Place, 356 North Main Street. Delicious Food at the Lowest
> Prices. Roddy did not see her until ..
> [End extracted text]
>
> Below is a classified journal advertisement in 1923 with "EAT AT JOE'S
> Restaurant". This seems to be a concrete non-generalized instance.
>
> Date: 1923 April
> Periodical: The Nassau Literary Magazine
> Volume: 78 (LXXVIII)
> Page: Unnumbered Page in advertising section after page 291
> Database: Google Books
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=YN0mAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Eat+at%22#v=snippet&
>
> {Begin excerpt]
> EAT AT JOE'S Restaurant
> Opposite head of University Place
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below is a classified ad from 1915 with "eat at Joe's Lunch Room".
> This seems to be a concrete non-generalized instance.
>
> [ref] 1915 December 08, Evening World Herald (Omaha World Herald),
> Help Wanted—Male: Miscellaneous (Classified Advertisement), Quote Page
> 16, Column 6, Omaha, Nebraska. (GenealogyBank)[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Wanted—Men to eat at Joe's Lunch Room at S.E. cor., 14th and Harney,
> Open day and night.
> [End excerpt]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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