[Ads-l] background of a quote

Mon Nov 1 17:28:06 UTC 2021

The earliest I had found when I raised the question was

https://archive.org/details/spacecitynews01spac_7/page/17/mode/1up?q=%22times+of+no+dope%22

(Space City News, 10/1969) which includes a partial reprint of the comix version ("Grass will carry you  . . . "), and an interview with Gilbert Shelton in which he states the "Dope will get you . . . " version (which he says get got from a third party in Austin).

This:

https://archive.org/details/tales-from-the-ozone-001-1969-c-2c-pyramid/page/n17/mode/1up?q=%22times+of+no+grass%22

may be the original -- Tales from the Ozone, which includes the Freak Brothers cartoon with the "Grass will carry you . . . " version.  Like many underground comix, there is no publisher's indicia with publication date.  However, the back cover carries ads for concerts in Detroit Michigan which occurred in early Apr. 1969 (confirmed in newspapers.com), so presumably the comic is no later than Mar 1969.

----

Here are two slightly earlier citations for the "dope" version of the
quotation. "The Great Speckled Bird" underground newspaper reprinted a
single panel from a comic (not the full comic). To me it looks like
the panel is from the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. The panel has a
word balloon containing the quotation. Bill suggested this comic was
the origin. The second citation below gives the precise title of one
of the comics containing the quotation (although it might appear in an
earlier comic).

Date: May 26, 1969
Periodical; The Great Speckled Bird
Volume 2, Number 11
Quote Page 10,
Database: JSTOR
Description: Word balloon from a single panel of a comic
Caution-https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28037611

[Begin excerpt]
... WE HAVE PLENTY OF GRASS AND AS WE ALL KNOW, DOPE WILL GET YOU
THROUGH TIMES OF NO MONEY BETTER THAN MONEY WILL GET YOU THROUGH TIMES
OF NO DOPE!
[End excerpt]

An article in "The East Village Other" described the contents of a
comic titled "Those Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Pull A Heist" which
apparently included a panel with the target quotation. This instance
used the variant spelling "thru" for "through".

Date: July 30, 1969
Periodical: The East Village Other
Publication Location: New York, New York
Volume 4, Number 35
Article: Wonder Wart, Hog's Father
Caution-https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28035902

[Begin excerpt]
What happens, see, is that the Brothers have run out of money,
prompting Frank to disburden himself of this gem of folk wisdom: "As
we all know, DOPE get you thru times of no MONEY better than money
will get you thru times of no DOPE!!”
[End excerpt]

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 11:19 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> The New Yale Book of Quotations has the following:
>
> Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.
> Quoted in The Rag (Austin, Tex.), 24 Nov. 1969
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2021 9:14 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: background of a quote
>
> Another variation on the theme: "Love will get you through times of no sex
> better than sex will get you through times of no love," from Tom Rapp's
> song "Love/Sex" (on his 1973 album "Sunforest").
>
> On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 9:09 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > "Love will get you through times of no money better than money will get you
> > through times of no love"
> >
> > On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 8:55 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > But notice the swapping of order /superiority between the two quotations.
> > >
> > > Mark A. Mandel
> > >
> > > On Sun, Oct 31, 2021, 8:40 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Sometime before 1984, Jerry Pournelle (an SF author who was a NYT
> > > > bestseller but never won a Hugo award) said "Money will get you through
> > > > times of no Hugos better than Hugos will get you through times of no
> > > money."
> > > >
> > > > He was preceded by cartoonist Gilbert Shelton, whose character
> > > > Freewheelin' Franklin Freak (of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) said
> > > > "Grass will carry you through times of no money better than money will
> > > > carry you through times of no grass." (1969 or before) (usually quoted
> > as
> > > > "dope will get you through  . . .")
> > > >
> > > > Is the Dope/grass version the ur-text?  or are they both riffing off
> > > > something earlier, of which I am not aware?
> > > >
> >
>
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