[Ads-l] Outside a horse, a book is man's best friend--inside it's too dark to read

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Way back in April 2010 Laurence Horn initiated a thread about a quip
attributed to Groucho Marx: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best
friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

Bill Mullins recently discovered a wonderful new citation for the
horse variant of this gag in July 1943. This antedates a May 1947
citation.

[ref] 1943 July 6, The Chicago Daily News, Personalities Plus, Edited
by Ralf Gall, Item Title: The Heck You Say, Quote Page 23, Column 4,
Chicago, Illinois. (GenealogyBank) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Francis Bisson, public relations officer for the Chicago Board of
Trade, says "Outside of a horse, man's best friend is a book, but
inside a horse it's too dark to read."
[End excerpt]

The Quote Investigator article has been updated, and changes should be
visible within an hour:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/09/08/dog/

[Begin updated acknowledgement]
This question was inspired by a discussion on the ADS mailing list.
Thanks to the participants, especially Laurence Horn for initiating
the discussion. Special thanks to Bill Mullins who found the key
citation dated July 6, 1943. He also found additional valuable
citations dated December 2, 1948; September 6, 1950; November 23,
1952; and April 5, 1973. Many thanks to Andrew Steinberg who located
the helpful citation dated May 31, 1947. Additional thanks to John
Baker who located the February 1954 citation. Thanks to Gregory B.
Gregory for pointing out a typo. The remaining errors are the
responsibility of QI.
[End updated acknowledgement]

Garson O'Toole

On Sat, Aug 14, 2021 at 12:48 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Way back in April 2010 Laurence Horn initiated a thread about a quip
> attributed to Groucho Marx: Outside of a dog, a book is man's best
> friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-April/098753.html
>
> There was also a pertinent thread in March 2017. Bill Mullins posted
> several intriguing variant statements.
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2017-March/146953.html
>
> Ten days ago correspondent Andrew Steinberg sent me a 1947 citation
> containing the earliest variant I have encountered. Evidence now
> indicates that this joke evolved during several years beginning in
> 1947. Groucho only received credit by 1973; hence, it is unlikely that
> he originated this quip.
>
> In May 1947 the "Nashville Banner" of Tennessee printed a column
> containing a variant of the jest based on a horse instead of a dog:
>
> [ref] 1947 May 31, Nashville Banner, Sideline Sidelights by Fred
> Russell, Quote Page 5, Column 1, Nashville, Tennessee.
> (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Probably because he is well-read and articulate, Jockey Ted Atkinson
> has been credited with the following “observation”: “Outside a horse,
> a book is man's best friend—inside it's too dark to read.”
> [End excerpt]
>
> I've updated the QI article, but the changes are not visible yet. The
> updated article should be visible in a few days.
>
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/09/08/dog/
>
> [Begin acknowledgement]
> This question was inspired by a discussion on the ADS mailing list.
> Thanks to the participants especially Laurence Horn for initiating the
> discussion. Many thanks to Andrew Steinberg who located the crucial
> May 31, 1947 citation. Special thanks to Bill Mullins who located
> valuable evidence, e.g., citations dated December 2, 1948; September
> 6, 1950; November 23, 1952; and April 5, 1973. Additional thanks to
> John Baker who located the February 1954 citation.
> [End acknowledgement]
>
> Here is a citation located by Bill.
>
> In December 1948 columnist Phil Willon of the "Binghamton Press" in
> New York published a variant with a different punchline and the word
> "policeman" instead of "book":
>
> [ref] 1948 December 2, Binghamton Press, All in Fun by Phil Willon,
> Quote Page 21, Column 6, Binghamton, New York. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Outside of a dog, a policeman is a boy's best friend. Inside of a dog,
> a boy isn't likely to meet one anyhow.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is another citation I found.
>
> In January 1950 columnist Phil Willon published a version from the
> point of view of a dog. The text contained a typo with the word "man"
> appearing instead of the correct "man's":
>
> [ref] 1950 January 11, The Sunday Press (Binghamton Press), The
> Lurking Lensman by Phil Willon, Quote Page 3C, Column 1, Binghamton,
> New York. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Outside of me, a book's a man best friend. Inside of me, he probably
> couldn't read it anyhow.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson

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