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 June 23, 2012
“Lips that touch wine shall never touch mine”

“Lips that touch liquor/wine shall never touch mine” was a popular temperance saying in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine” has been cited in print since at least February 1869.
 
“The lips that touch wine shall never touch mine” has been cited in print since at least March 1873 and possibly at least as early as 1869. The “wine/mine” version rhymes, but doesn’t include other alcoholic drinks. In an 1885 anecdote about Minneapolis girls who said this (see below), a newspaper added, “Minneapolis is a great town for beer.”
   
 
Google Books
Which Will You Choose?
By Mary Dwinell Chellis
Rockland, ME: Z.P. Vose & Co.
1869 (This is the copyright date, but the book’s printing date is 1873—ed.)
Pg. 6:
NELLIE.—“Lips that touch wine shall never touch mine.”
 
Chronicling America
19 February 1869, Elk County Advocate (Ridgway, PA), pg. 3, col. 1:
MOTTO FOR A YOUNG LADY.—“The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine.”
 
23 July 1869, The Gazette (Cedar Falls, IA), pg. 3, col. 1:
THEIR MOTTO.—The Republican says the motto of the Montazuma girls is: “The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine.”
 
Google Books
2 May 1870, Western Temperance Herald, pg. 72, col. 1:
Then he shook his head, and replied gravely—“No! The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine!”
   
19 March 1873, Rockford (IL) Daily Register, pg. 3, col. 1:
The motto of the Good Templar girls in Salem, N. J., is “The lips that touch wine shall never touch mine.”
 
OCLC WorldCat record
“The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine!”
Author: Harriet A Glazebrook
Publisher: London : [s.n., 1874?]
Series: Kempster’s temperance readings, No. 1. 
Edition/Format:  Book : Poetry : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine : song and chorus
Author: Geo T Evans; Samuel Booth
Publisher: San Francisco : M. Gray, ©1874.
Edition/Format:  Musical score : Songs : English
 
Chronicling America
5 April 1874, The Morning Star and Catholic Messenger (New Orleans, LA), pg. 8, col. 1:
A New York clergyman suggests that instead of adopting the tactics of the western ladies, our girls should try the following method: Let every young woman say to him who is dearest to her: “If your lips touch liquor they shall never touch mine.”
     
Google Books
Readings and Recitations (No. 2)
Edited by Miss L. Penney
New York, NY: The National Temperance Society and Publication House
1878
Pg. 66:
THE LIPS THAT TOUCH LIQUOR MUST NEVER TOUCH MINE.
(A poem by George W. Young—ed.)
   
Chronicling America
11 May 1885, Salt Lake Evening Democrat (Salt Lake City, UT), pg. 3, col. 2:
MINNEAPOLIS girls have Red Ribbon clubs with the motto: “The lips that touch wine shall never touch mine.” Minneapolis is a great town for beer.
 
Google Books
The Speaker’s Garland:
Comprising 100 choice selections (Vol. 4, No. 16)

Edited by Phineas Garrett
Philadelphia, PA: The Penn Publishing Company
1905
Pg. 88:
THE LIPS THAT TOUCH LIQUOR MUST NEVER TOUCH MINE.—GEORGE W. YOUNG
(A poem—ed.)
   
OCLC WorldCat record
Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine
Author: Tiny Hill
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Mercury, [1946]
Edition/Format:  Music : 78 rpm : Dance forms : English

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Saturday, June 23, 2012 • Permalink


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