“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A potato version is:
Q: Why did the potato cross the road?
A: He saw a fork up ahead.
The potato joke has been cited in print since at least 1984.
25 January 1984, Journal Star (Peoria, IL), “Etc.,” pg. B1, col. 1:
Why did the potato cross the road? Because he saw a fork up ahead.
1 February 1984, The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor-St. Joseph, MI), “Spud Humor,” pg. 5, col. 3:
Why did the potato cross the road?
Because he saw a fork up ahead!
Google Books
The Great Potato Book
By Meredith Hughes and Thomas Hughes
New York, NY: Macmillan
1986
Pg. 73:
Question: Why did the potato cross the road?
Answer: he saw a fork up ahead.
7 April 1998, The Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), “Mr. Potato Head’s Legacy” by Susan G. Hauser, pg. A16, col. 3:
Q: Why dud the potato cross the road?
A: Because he saw a fork up ahead.
Twitter
Trevor McCombie
@McC1971
Why did the potato cross the road? He saw a fork up ahead.
5:09 AM - 19 Aug 2009
Google Books
Teacher’s Joke and Story Book
Collected by Stanley B. Graham
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2016
Pg. ?:
Q. Why did the potato cross the road?
A. He saw a fork up ahead.
Twitter
lorraine Jo King
@LahLahBean
#badjokethursday
Why did the potato cross the road?
He saw a fork up ahead.
12:23 AM - 21 Jun 2018
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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