“Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol” is a saying that dates to the Prohibition era in 1928, when it appeared in the newspaper comic strip “Flapper Fanny says.” The saying was credited to authors Graeme and Sarah Lorimer in a 1937 Reader’s Digest. A currently popular version of the saying is “Many things can be preserved in alcohol. Dignity is not one of them.”
Another saying about things preserved in alcohol is “Alcohol is a good preservative for everything but brains.”
24 April 1928, Chester (PA) Times, “Flapper Fanny Says” comic strip, pg. 6, col. 5:
Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol.
Google Books
The Reader’s Digest
Volumes 30-31
1937
Pg. 82:
Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol. — Graeme and Sarah Lorimer
Google News Archive
9 July 1937, Mount Washington News (Pittsburgh, PA), “Thinking It Over,” pg. 2, col. 6:
Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol.
Google Books
A.A. Grapevine
Alcoholics Anonymous
Volume 16
1959
Pg. 12:
Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol
Google Books
Children of the Stars:
A daily galaxy of shining thoughts from the past and present
By Laura Mundy Kinkel
New York, NY: Vantage Press
1967
Pg. 21:
Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol.
Graeme (and Sarah) Lorimer
10 February 1976, El Paso (TX) Herald-Post, “Drinking” by Norton Mockridge, sec. B, pg. 3, col. 2:
“A lot of people who drink too much are dignified when sober, but remember—dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol.”
2 April 1978, Seattle (WA) Times, “A word from the wise, as the sayings go” by Walt Evans, pg. A10, col. 1:
“Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol”
That’s just SO true
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Many things can be preserved in alcohol. Dignity is not one of them.
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:
•“The ‘W’ in Wednesday stands for wine” (4/24)
•“Reminder: Communism is when ugly deformed freaks make it illegal to be normal then rob and/or kill all successful people…” (4/24)
•“Communism is when ugly deformed freaks make it illegal to be normal then rob and/or kill all successful people…” (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP15 (4/24)
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.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.