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.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
“Has anyone here ever drank a pint of tequila? I know it’s a long shot” (3/28)
“A pint of tequila? That’s a long shot” (3/28)
“The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” (3/28)
“My love for the truth outweighs my fear of offending you” (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from February 10, 2012
“A man in debt is caught in a net”

Entry in progress—B.P.
 
The proverb is cometimes credited to John Ray’s 17th century book of English proverbs, but it does not appear there.
 
   
Google Books
The Salt-Cellars:
Being a collection of proverbs, together with homely notes thereon

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
New York, NY: A.C. Armstrong and Son
1889
Pg. 26:
A man in debt is caught in a net.
 
29 December 1923, Trenton (NJ) Evening Times, pg. 14, col. 7 ad:
A MAN in debt is caught in a net. But he can extricate himself without any great difficulty by accepting the profits offered by the Times Classified Ads.
 
27 June 1932, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), proverb contest, pg. 17, col. 1:
A man in debt is caught in a net.
 
Google Books
The Folly of Instalment Buying
By Roger Ward Babson
New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
1938
Pg. 106:
“A man in debt is caught in a net; yes, loans and debts make worries and frets.” — John Ray
   
Google Books
The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs
By Martin H, Manser, Rosalind Fergusson and David Pickering
New York, NY: Facts On File
2007
Pg. 181:
a man in debt is caught in a net Those who owe money are trapped by their obligations and at the mercy of their creditors: My father once told me, “A man in debt is caught in a net,” and on the basis of that advice I have never borrowed a cent from anybody.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityBanking/Finance/Insurance • Friday, February 10, 2012 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.