Entry from
July 11, 2004
Go Fight City Hall
I've posted several citations on "Go fight city hall" or "You can't fight city hall" to the American Dialect Society list. The phrase was popularized -- but not coined -- by the book Go Fight City Hall (1949, but also copyrighted 1946) by Ethel Rosenberg.
That Man Is There Again:
The Adventures of a Hollywood Agent
by Arthur Kober
Random House, NY
no date, but 1937-1946 magazine articles
Pg. 106: What'm I supposed to do now? Go fight City Hall?
19 September 1947, Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard, pg. 1:
Dave Boone Says:
Food prices are still topic number one and the city of New York is going to issue a daily menu based on the best food bargains. Well, it will stop a lot of domestic squabbling if the old man starts blaming city hall instead of the wife when the dinner ain't what it should be. I never thought there was a mayor that courageous anywhere!
"Aw, go fight city hall," can be the New York mom's answer to any squawks about the grub from now on.
19 February 1950, New York Herald Tribune, This Week magazine, pg. 30:
"GO SUE CITY HALL"
27 March 1950, Ken (Brooklyn College student newspaper), pg. 3, col. 4:
Go Fight City Hall_
Stop knocking your head against a stone wall because you can't win! That's the meaning (of? -- ed.) the title "Go Fight City Hall."
The Joker Is Wild:
The Story of Joe E. Lewis
by Art Cohn
New York: Random House
1955
Pg. 177: (Song "Poor Little February" by Lester Lee, Danny Shapiro, and Jerry Seelen; a New York Post clipping on 19 May 1941 mentions this "new" song -- ed.)
"Poor little Feb, go fight city hall!"
17 January 1965, New York Herald Tribune, pg. 26, col. 1:
Fighting City Hall -- In Court
By Francis Sugrue
Sue the City!
That Man Is There Again:
The Adventures of a Hollywood Agent
by Arthur Kober
Random House, NY
no date, but 1937-1946 magazine articles
Pg. 106: What'm I supposed to do now? Go fight City Hall?
19 September 1947, Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard, pg. 1:
Dave Boone Says:
Food prices are still topic number one and the city of New York is going to issue a daily menu based on the best food bargains. Well, it will stop a lot of domestic squabbling if the old man starts blaming city hall instead of the wife when the dinner ain't what it should be. I never thought there was a mayor that courageous anywhere!
"Aw, go fight city hall," can be the New York mom's answer to any squawks about the grub from now on.
19 February 1950, New York Herald Tribune, This Week magazine, pg. 30:
"GO SUE CITY HALL"
27 March 1950, Ken (Brooklyn College student newspaper), pg. 3, col. 4:
Go Fight City Hall_
Stop knocking your head against a stone wall because you can't win! That's the meaning (of? -- ed.) the title "Go Fight City Hall."
The Joker Is Wild:
The Story of Joe E. Lewis
by Art Cohn
New York: Random House
1955
Pg. 177: (Song "Poor Little February" by Lester Lee, Danny Shapiro, and Jerry Seelen; a New York Post clipping on 19 May 1941 mentions this "new" song -- ed.)
"Poor little Feb, go fight city hall!"
17 January 1965, New York Herald Tribune, pg. 26, col. 1:
Fighting City Hall -- In Court
By Francis Sugrue
Sue the City!