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

[Dan Goncharoff]

"Just knock three times and whisper low
That you and I were sent by Joe
Then strike a match and you will know
You're in Hernando's Hideaway"

from Pajama Game, 1954

DanG

On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 5:55 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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