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 07, 2008
“Your grasshoppers (kangaroos) are bigger than ours” (Texas-Australia size joke)

Texas and Australia both boast about their large size, so it’s no surprise that a Texas/Australia size joke appeared in the 1950s and is still told today. A Texan was visiting Australia. According to the versions, either the Texan or the Aussie was boasting about the large size of his territory. A kangaroo hopped in front of their car, startling the Texan.
 
In the Aussie version, the Aussie jokes: “Aren’t there any grasshoppers in Texas?”
 
In the Texas version, the Texan states: “I’ll grant you this. Your grasshoppers are larger than ours.”
   
   
JokeFrog.com
Texas Vs. Australia
A Texan farmer goes to Australia on vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets to talking. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, “Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice that size!”
 
They walk around the ranch a little, and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately replies, “We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows.”
 
The conversation has died down when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks the Aussie, “What are those?”
 
The Aussie replies with an incredulous look, “Don’t you have any grasshoppers in Texas?”
   
16 December 1952, Sault Ste. Marie (MI) Evening News, pg. 4, col. 2:
An Australian was trying to impress an American from Texas with the sights of Australia without success.
 
Finally, when they saw a kangaroo hopping across a field, the Texan said: “Well, I’ll grant you one thing, your grasshoppers are larger than ours.”
 
18 July 1954, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Aussie Grasshoppers,” part IV, pg. 2:
To the Dallas News:
In Australia, an Aussie was attempting to impress the wonders of his country on a visiting Texan when a kangaroo went hopping by. Whereat, the Texan drawled: “I’ll grant you one thing. Your grasshoppers are bigger than ours. That’s sure.”
PAUL W. TRUITT.
Alvord, Texas.
     
10 November 1955, Hayward (CA) Daily Review, pg. 25, col. 1:
Maybe you didn’t hear about the Texas telecaster who saw his first kangaroo in Australia. “Ah’ll grant you one thing,” he drawled to his host. “Your grasshoppers are a mite bigger’n ours.”
     
8 January 1956, Long Beach (CA) Press-Independent-Telegram, pg. 7, col. 1:
LATEST Texas story to reach this dept, told by Lakewood Banker Labe Brewer, is about the Texan who visited Australia. After he’d spent a couple of weeks telling his Aussie friends about the big things in Texas, he went out for a ride.
 
A kangaroo jumped across the road in front of the car.
 
“Hey, what’s that?” said the Texan.
 
“Why, don’t you have any grasshoppers in Texas?” asked an Aussie.
 
Google Groups: rec.humor
Newsgroups: rec.humor
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Ed Boress)
Date: 1995/06/29
Subject: ABOUT TEXAS
 
A fellow from Texas visited Australia.  He told the folks down under how much bigger and better things were in Texas.  Suddenly a kangaroo jumped in front of him.
     
“What in the dickens was that?” the startled Texan asked.
     
“You mean you don’t have grasshoppers in Texas?” an Australian calmly replied.

Posted by Barry Popik
Texas (Lone Star State Dictionary) • Sunday, September 07, 2008 • Permalink


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