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.

Recent entries:
“Shoutout to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
“Thank you, ATM fees, for allowing me to buy my own money” (3/27)
“Anyone else boil the kettle twice? Just in case the boiling water has gone cold…” (3/27)
“Shout out to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
20-20-20 Rule (for eyes) (3/27)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from October 04, 2012
“The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it”

“The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it” is a one-line joke that has been printed on several gift items, such as posters and T-shirts. ““The hot dog. It not only does not bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it” has been cited in print since at least 1934 and is of unknown authorship.
 
Educator and author Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990) is often credited with originating the line. Peter did include the line in one of his books from the 1970s, but he didn’t use the joke first.
 
“What is the difference between a dog with rabies and a hot dog? One bites the hand that feeds it; the other feeds the hand that bites it” is a related riddle.
   
   
6 December 1934, The Weekly Tribune (Moulton, IA), “Jokes,” pg. 5, col. 3:
Gale: “What is the noblest kind of dog?”
Mir. Strong: “I give up.”
Gale: “The hot dog. It not only does not bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it.”
 
5 March 1935, The Bee (Danville, VA), pg. 4, col. 4:
Friend—What is the noblest kind of dog?
Northside Man—I give up.
Friend—The hot dog. It not only doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it.
 
11 April 1941, Daily Boston Globe (Boston, MA), pg. 14:
Noble Dog
The noblest kind of dog is hotdog, for it not only doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it, it feeds the hand that bites it.—Santa Fe Magazine.
   
Google Books
July 1942, The Rotarian, pg. 63, col. 1:
Hot Dog
It is said: “The noblest kind of dog is the hot dog — it actually feeds the hand that bites it.” — The Signal, EAST PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.
 
Google Books
Handbook of Humor for All Occasions
By Jacob Morton Braude
London: Bailey Bros. & Swinfen
1958
Pg. 293:
Hot dog: the only animal that feeds the hand that bites it.
 
Google Books
The Successful Toastmaster;
A Treasure Chest of Introductions, Epigrams, Humor, and Quotations

By Herbert V. Prochnow
New York, NY: Harper & Row
1966
Pg. 244:
A dog is noble but a hot dog is nobler: it feeds the hand that bites it.
 
Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 238:
The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it.
 
Google Books
The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said
Selected and compiled by Robert Byrne
New York, NY: Touchstone
2012
1,568
The noblest dog is the hot dog, which feeds the hand that bites it.
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–1990)

Posted by {name}
New York CityFood/Drink • Thursday, October 04, 2012 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.