[Ads-l] Family of Quips: How Do You Make a Small Fortune Doing X? Start With a Large Fortune

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Journalist Jason Zweig sent me a note which described a variant of the
joke in the subject line which begins: "How do you make a million
dollars". The earliest instance I found is the following:

[ref] 1981 Copyright, Pascal Programming for the Apple by T. G. Lewis
(Oregon State University), Chapter 5: Money, Money, Money! Financial
Applications, (Chapter epigraph), Quote Page 68, Reston Publishing
Company: A Prentice-Hall Company, Reston, Virginia. (Verified with
scans) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
OLD JOKE: "Ya wanna know how to make a million dollars in the stock market?"
"Yeah, how do you make a million in the stock market?"
"Start with 2 million!"
[End excerpt]

The QI article has been updated.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/11/19/small-fortune/

Earlier citations of the type above or instances within this overall
family would be welcome.
Garson

On Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 1:23 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A family of jokes emphasizes the unforgiving economics of risky or
> expensive activities. Here are four examples:
>
> (1) How do you make a small fortune in social media? Start out with a large one.
>
> (2) The surest way to make a small fortune in the commodity market is
> to start with a large one.
>
> (3) It's easy to make a small fortune in Las Vegas . . . start with a large one.
>
> (4) You can end up with a small fortune in the winery business
> provided you start out with a large fortune.
>
> George Thompson told me about the first item above that occurred in an
> x-twitter message from Elon Musk dated November 17, 2022. George noted
> that similar quips had been constructed years earlier about producing
> Broadway shows, owning racehorses, and other activities. He suggested
> that it would be an interesting topic to explore.
>
> Now there is a Quote Investigator article.
> Quote Origin: How Do You Make a Small Fortune in a Risky Domain? Start
> With a Large Fortune
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/11/19/small-fortune/
>
> The earliest member of this family I have found appeared in February
> 1950 within the syndicated newspaper column of Earl Wilson. The quip
> was credited to the popular singer Leo Fuld. The remark was about the
> high cost of living in England and not about a risky activity.
>
> [ref] 1950 February 9, Courier-Post, It Happened Last Night by Earl
> Wilson, Quote Page 41, Column 3, Camden, New Jersey. (Newspapers_com)
> [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> TODAY'S BEST LAUGH: Leo Fuld, the Dutch singer who's become a big hit
> in England, asks: "Know how to go to England on a visit and leave with
> a small fortune? . . . Go there with a large fortune."
> [End excerpt]
>
> The next match was about gambling on horse racing in Hialeah, Florida.
> The punchline was attributed to an unnamed wit from Miami, Florida:
>
> [ref] 1950 April 12, The Cincinnati Enquirer, John Garretson, Quote
> Page 2, Column 2, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> During the races one afternoon this winter, this chap was talking to a
> friend from the North in the grandstand at Hialeah and he told him
> that he knew a sure-fire way that this man could leave Florida with a
> small fortune every winter.
> "How can I do that?" the man from the North asked.
> "Come down here with a big one," the Miamian replied.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Barry Popik has also investigated this topic. His website is currently
> down. I think Barry found citations beginning in March 1951.I stored
> part of the pertinent webpage years ago when I performed a preliminary
> search.
>
> Feedback welcome
> Garson O’Toole

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