“Webster notwithstanding, in our opinion a restaurant waffle is pancake with a non-skid tread” was printed in a June 1923 newspaper. “A waffle is a pancake with a non-skid tread” is a jocular food definition that has been frequently reprinted.
15 June 1923, Honolulu (HI) Star-Bulletin, “Down to Cases” with Case, pg. 6, col. 3:
Webster notwithstanding,
In our opinion a
Restaurant waffle is
Pancake with a
Non-skid tread.
Google Books
September 1930, The Rotarian, pg. 35, col. 1:
A small boy recently defined a waffle as a pancake with a non-skid tread.
Google Books
November 1960, Boys’ Life, “Think and Grin,” pg. 82, col. 2:
Daffynishion: Waffle — A pancake with a non-skid tread, — Wendell Hall, Ft. Myers, Fla.
Google Books
Teachers:
Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
By Todd Harris Goldman
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing
2001
Pg. 244:
TEACHER: “Johnny, can you tell me what a waffle is?”
JOHNNY: “Yes’m, it’s a pancake with a non- skid tread.” — Lewis and Faye Copeland
Twitter
Hugh Mann
@hughmann2
“Johnny, can you tell me what a waffle is? Yes, it’s a pancake with a non-skid tread.”
9:22 PM - 3 Aug 2010
Twitter
Tony D.
@VMMan
Replying to @Veronica
@Veronica Just remember what they said in the 60’s “A waffle is a pancake with a non-skid tread”
11:45 AM - 13 Jul 2012
Twitter
Meg 🌻
@MeganMarieODea
“Can you tell me what a waffle is?”
“It’s a pancake with a non-skid tread.”
12:52 PM - 9 Feb 2017
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:
•“I read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“I study old buildings because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“Due to personal reasons, I’m still going to be fluffy this summer” (4/18)
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More new entries...
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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