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 September 24, 2012
“You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard”

“You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard” is a jocular saying that has been included in “Murphy’s Laws” collections and a frequently reprinted collection of sayings titled “Dilbert’s Laws of Work.” The saying has been cited in print since at least 1996 and is of unknown authorship. “Clipboard” dates the saying—someone today probably carries an electronic device.
 
   
Google Books
The Guerrilla Guide to High-Tech Trade Shows:
The underground resource for saving your time, money, and sanity

By Michael Roney and Michael Utvich
New York, NY: Random House
1995
Pg. 166:
Look serious and carry a notebook.
 
10 December 1996, Charlotte (NC) Observer, Living, pg. 3E:
You can go anywhere if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
 
30 May 1998, Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA), “Bishop’s Mantle” by Jim Bishop, pg. 13, col. 5:
You can go anywhere if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
 
Google Books
Murphy’s Law 2000:
What Else Can Go Wrong in the 21st Century!

By Arthur Bloch
New York, NY: Price Stern Sloan
1999
Pg. 59:
THE CORRIDOR COROLLARY: You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
   
Dilbert’s Laws of Work
Last modified: Tue Dec 21 15:01:35 EST 1999
You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
 
Google News Archive
30 October 2000, New Straits Times (Malaysia), “Laws of Work,” pg. 6, col. 2:
You can go anywhere if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
 
31 October 2003, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Do our Halloween masks reveal our true selves?” by Bill Kirby, pg. B1, col. 3:
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityWork/Businesses • Monday, September 24, 2012 • Permalink


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