[Ads-l] Star Wars Day -- May the Fourth Be With You

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Bill Mullins tweeted back on May 6, 2022 a citation with “May the
Fourth Be With You” in July 1977. The phrase referred to the 4th of
July instead of the 4th of May:
 https://twitter.com/mullins_bill/status/1522673800059539459

[Begin tweet text]
Washington DC Evening Star, 7/1/1977, p B-3; in reference to the Fourth of July.
[End tweet text]

Barry Popik has a valuable entry about “May the Fourth Be with you”:
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/may_the_fourth_be_with_you_star_wars_day_may_4th

The earliest citation using the label “Star Wars Day” for May 4th
still seems to be the May 3, 1984 citation found by Peter Reitan, but
the pun was employed in the 1970s.

Garson O’Toole

On Sat, May 6, 2023 at 11:42 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Excellent citation, Bill.
> On May 3, 1984 an advertisement for a club in England employed the pun
> and referred to Star Wars Day. I just found this match in the
> newspapers.com database, but Peter Reitan had already clipped it two
> days ago. The clipping says "May the Force", but the festivities were
> continuing into May 4th. The "aarggh" signals that the creator of the
> advertisement knew that the pun was groan-worthy.
>
> Date: May 3, 1984
> Newspaper: Burton Mail
> Newspaper Location: Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England
> Article: (Advertisement for fashion show at club)
> Quote Page 17, Column 6
> Database: Newspapers.com
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/burton-mail/124066069/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> At around 11 pm its our stylish Alternative Fashion Show and let super
> Cool DJ Malc Rex Byrd take you into Star Wars Day: May the Force be
> with you (aarggh!)
> [End excerpt]
>
> Wikipedia has an entry for Star Wars Day which suggests that the pun
> was employed in May 1979. (I have not attempted to verify this.) The
> message using the pun did not mention Star Wars Day.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The first recorded reference of the phrase being used was on May 4,
> 1979, the day after Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister of
> the United Kingdom. Her political party, the Conservatives, placed a
> congratulatory advertisement in the London Evening News saying "May
> the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations."[5][6][7][dubious –
> discuss]
> [End excerpt]
>
> In January 1980 a different pun was employed based on "May the fourth
> be with you".
>
> Date: January 7, 1980
> Newspaper: The Evening Sun
> Newspaper Location: Baltimore, Maryland
> Article: Swann cites Rams' edge
> Quote Page C3, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/371023627/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Best poster of the day: "May the fourth be with you," a reference to
> the Steelers' impending fourth Super Bowl victory.
> [End excerpt]
>
> In May 1983 another pun was employed based on "May the fourth (reel)
> be with you".
>
> Date: May 26, 1983
> Newspaper: The Honolulu Advertiser
> Newspaper Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
> Article: 'Jedi': May the fourth (reel) be with you
> Author: David Freed (Los Angeles Times Service)
> Quote Page 1, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/269544154/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> 'Jedi': May the fourth (reel) be with you
>
> The debut of the "Star Wars" sequel "Return of the Jedi" nearly became
> a sequel to "The Wild Bunch" yesterday when moviegoers threatened to
> riot after managers of a packed theater misplaced a film reel,
> interrupting a chase scene.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson O'Toole
>
> On Fri, May 5, 2023 at 2:38 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I posted about Star Wars day to twitter yesterday, and thought it might be worth sending here.
> >
> > https://twitter.com/mullins_bill/status/1654198201166057491
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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