A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

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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Entry from March 26, 2011
“I long for the day when we have to run bake sales to raise money for bombs”

“It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber” has been a popular bumper sticker. The origin of the saying is unknown.
   
Terry Herndon, executive secretary of the National Education Association, said in 1973, “I look forward to the day when the schools automatically receive the funds they need and the Pentagon holds bake sales to buy tanks.”
 
The “bake/baking sale” has been an American institution since at least 1891.
 
   
CafePress
I long for the day when we have to run bake sales to raise money for bombs
$5.00 “Bake Sales” Bumper Bumper Sticker
 
Google News Archive
7 December 1973, Waycross (GA) Journal-Herald, “Headquarters For Offices Dedicated,” pg. P13, col. 6:
“I look forward to the day when the schools automatically receive the funds they need and the Pentagon holds bake sales to buy tanks.”
(Terry Herndon, executive secretary of the National Education Association—ed.)
   
Google Books
Dollars & Sense
Issues 1-42
1974
Pg. 75:
It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a B-1 bomber.
 
22 September 1974, Trenton (NJ) Times, This Week Magazine, pg. 6, col. 1:
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: “Some day schools will automatically get the funds they need, and the Pentagon will hold bake sales to buy tanks.”
—From the Ohio AFL-CIO News and Views.
 
14 October 1974, Charleston (WV) Gazette, “The Gazetteer” by James Dent, pg. 7A, col. 1:
READER passes along a quote from Terry Herndon, executive secretary of the National Educational Assn., to wit: “I long for the day when the schools have unlimited funds to draw on and the Pentagon has to have spaghetti suppers and bake sales to buy tanks.”
 
Google News Archive
6 April 1975, Lakeland (FL) Ledger, “School Funding High Legislative Priority” by Mary Ann Lindley, pg. 1A, col. 6:
TALLAHASEE—A few years ago a national educator said he looked forward to the day when schools automatically receive the funds they need and the Pentagon holds bake sales to buy tanks.
 
11 March 1978, St. Joseph (MO) News-Press, “From Area Newspapers,” pg. 4A, col. 1:
Grant City Times Tribune—All our problems will be solved when schools automatically get the money they need to operate and turn out well educated students and the Pentagon has to conduct bake sales to raise enough money to buy tanks.
   
6 April 1982, Trenton (NJ) Times, pg. A6, col. 1:
There is a bumper sticker that says, “Wouldn’t it be great if schools had money and the Pentagon had bake sales?”
 
12 April 1983, Trenton (NJ) Times, pg. A7, col. 1:
There is a bumper sticker that asks, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the schools had enough money and the Pentagon had bake sales?”
 
Google Books
Every Kid Counts:
31 ways to save our children

By Margaret Brodkin; Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth.
San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco
1993
Pg. 120:
As a popular bumper sticker says, “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”
   
Google Books
Foreign policy and the Black (inter)national interest
By Charles P. Henry
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press
2000
Pg. 221:
A bumper sticker slogan popular during the late 1960s and early 1970s captured this tension aptly: Won’t it be a great day when our children’s schools have all the money they need, and the Pentagon has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber!
 
Google Books
A Few Good Memories:
Tales from Marine Corps Boot Camp

By Bob Taylor
Victoria, BC: Trafford
2001
Pg. 3:
Bumper stickers shout distressing messages, such as the one that appeared recently on the bumper of a middle-school teacher’s automobile. It read, “It’ll be a great day when schools get all the money they need, and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a new bomber.”
 
eduwonkette
Guest blogger Sean Corcoran on: Private Donations to Public Schools
By eduwonkette on December 2, 2008 12:30 PM
One of my all-time favorite bumper stickers is the now-classic:
 
it will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber
 
The Maddow Blog
Bake sales for bombers
By Will Femia -  Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:31 PM EDT.
Regarding Rachel’s remarks on the Today show this morning, a similar discussion came up in yesterday’s story meeting and Rachel made the point that the mainstream headlines announcing the cost of the military activity in Libya combined with headlines about budget cuts to things like education (just from a quick google scrape: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…) reminded her of that old saying about funding for education and the Air Force holding a bake sale.
 
This led to a post-meeting hunt for the source of the saying - for me a somewhat personal pursuit because the image of the poster below is vivid in my childhood memory. It turns out the poster comes from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom circa 1979.

Posted by {name}
New York CityEducation/Schools • Saturday, March 26, 2011 • Permalink


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