Parking meters often have a maximum of one hour—otherwise, people would leave their cars longer. “Parking meter — A device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one” is a joke that was published in Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine in May 1958. “A parking meter is a device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one” was printed in the “Today’s Chuckle” feature in many newspapers in 1968.
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May 1958, Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine, pg. 2, col. 1:
Parking meter — A device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one.
22 May 1958, Hampton (IA) Chronicle, pg. 4B, col. 2:
The parking meter is the first invention that enables women to do two hours shopping in one.
20 September 1959, The State Journal (Lansing, MI), pg. 38, col. 5 ad:
Parking Meter: Urban device that gets you through two hours’ shopping in one.
(“Dines Dictionary,” in an ad for Dines restaurant.—ed.)
1 October 1961, Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune, “Radio TV Gag Bag” by Larry Wolters, Chicago Tribune Magazine, pg. 28, col. 3:
Jim Conway: “A parking meter is a device that makes you do two hours shopping in one.”
26 August 1968, Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR), “Today’s Chuckle,” pg. 1, col. 1:
A parking meter is a device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one.
2 September 1968, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Good Morning.” sec. 2, pg. 5, col. 1:
A parking meter is a device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one.
25 June 1971, Courier-Post (Camden, NJ), pg. 16, col. 1 ad:
A parking meter is a device that enables you to do two hours’ shopping in one.
(“Quick Snacks” by Adolph Lubas. Ad for Adolph’s Drive-In.—ed.)
Stress Humour & Health (Australia)
Humour Shots Part Nineteen (2006)
(...)
A parking meter is a device that enables you to do two hours shopping in one.
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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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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