[Ads-l] the Drink Canada Dry joke

Thu Jun 8 19:05:55 UTC 2017

Barry's earliest citation for the "Canada Dry" joke is dated October 11, 1927.

An interesting precursor appeared in a May 1925 article headlined
"THIRSTY AMERICANS DRINK CANADA DRY" which described a large group of
Prohibition era Americans visiting Canada to drink beer (not ginger
ale). The headline was a jocular exaggeration, but the humor was not
based on the "Canada Dry" beverage wordplay. There was another form of
wordplay. The word "dry" refers to the lack of water/fluid and the
lack of alcohol.

Date: May 27, 1925
Newspaper: The Iowa Recorder (The Greene Recorder)
Newspaper Location: Greene, Iowa
Article: THIRSTY AMERICANS DRINK CANADA DRY: 200,000 GALLONS CONSUMED
IN FOUR DAYS:
By Auto and By Rail They Invade the New Land Where the Amber Fluid Flows
Quote Page 1, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt - the humor is in the headline not the body excerpt below]
Windsor, Ont., May 24.—Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are
marching—marching off the ferryboats at the rate of a thousand every
ten minutes—marching up the main street of this little city, that has
been re-christened America's filling station—marching past the windows
of the office in which these lines are written—marching into the
restaurants and hotels that are dispensing the famous four-point-four.
[End excerpt]

Below is a July 1925 citation containing an instance of the "Canada
Dry" beverage wordplay.

Date: July 7, 1925
Newspaper: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Newspaper Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Article: Down to Cases With Case
Quote Page 6, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
"DRINK CANADA DRY," says a sign in one of Honolulu's principal
Streets. From what we are able to learn, a lot of Americans are trying
to do it.
[End excerpt]

Below is another instance of the joke in the form of a telegram in August 1926.

Date: August 30, 1926
Newspaper: Chicago Tribune
Newspaper Location: Chicago, Illinois
Column: A LINE O' TYPE OR TWO
Quote Page 10, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
AH, YES, IT'S QUITE A TASK THESE DAYS.

A62C MS 22 WK 1046A AUG 29 62 R H L
SIGN IN CORNER DRUG STORE QUOTE
DRINK CANADA DRY UNQUOTE STOP CANT
DRINK CANADA DRY STOP TOODAM BUSY
DRINKING UNITED STATES DRY
             HERBLOCK 1103A
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 2:13 PM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com> wrote:
> There was a version of this that went:  Family takes their heavy drinker to
> see Seagram's distillery, points out size of building and lights on all
> night,  "See dad, you can't drink Canada Dry"
>
> "Yes, but I got them working nights"
>
>
>
>
> On 6/8/2017 12:13 PM, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>>
>> on my blog, with credit to ADS-L and Barry Popik:
>>
>> https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/06/08/an-old-resultative-joke/
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> --
> Can T_ _ _ p speak while Putin drinks a glass of water?
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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