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 October 29, 2012
“A smoking section in a restaurant is like a peeing section in a swimming pool”

“A smoking section in a restaurant is like a peeing section in a swimming pool” is a jocular one-line saying that has been printed on posters and has been cited in print since at least 1997, when it was said by Canadian comedian Dave Broadfoot. The saying means that smoke in a restaurant spreads—like pee in a swimming pool—and that special smoking sections (or non-smoking sections) are unlikely to contain the smoke for non-smokers.
 
 
8 November 1996, The Record (Kitchener, ON), “Dave Broadfoot’s 70 and still going strong,” pg. B5:
His one-liners range from the sharply political ... to mild social commentary (“If you can have a smoking section in restaurants, why not a peeing section in swimming pools?”) ...
 
InfoLanka.com
Joke Time!!!
Posted by Jan Bulagik on April 07, 1997 at 11:22:51
(...)
Isn’t making a smoking section in a restaurant a little like making a peeing section in the swimming pool?
 
Bread-Bakers.com
From: “Lamoureaux, Shona”


Subject: Thanks
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 08:02:01 +1300
(...)
Quote of the month: Having a Smoking Section in a restaurant is like having a Peeing Section in a pool!
 
21 December 1999, Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Herald, “Smoke-free air welcomed,” pg. A10, col. 3:
I remember our mayor once commenting that having a “no-smoking” section in a restaurant is akin to having a “no-peeing” section in a swimming pool.
(...)
DAVE ANNIS
Lethbridge
 
14 November 2002, Denver (CO) Post, “Future still cloudy on city smoking ban” by Cindy Brovsky, pg. B1:
“A smoking section in a restaurant is like a peeing section in a swimming pool,” said Dave Gleason of Evergreen, who endorses a statewide ban like the one in California.
 
18 June 2003, Hyde Park Herald (Chicago, IL), “Locals weigh in on possible restaurant smoking ban” by Mema Ayi, pg. 7, col. 3:
Coalition member Rev. Leslie Saunders Sr. says there is no such thing as dividing smokers from non-smokers in restaurants. “The non-smoking section is just like the non-peeing section in pools. Non-smoking sections just do not work,” he said.
   
Google Books
Council Of Bears
By Pete Merrill
Victoria, BC: Trafford
2004
Pg. 62:
When I got home I put up a “Ralph” sign that said, “A SMOKING SECTION IN A RESTAURANT IS LIKE A PEEING SECTION IN A SWIMMING POOL”.
   
Google News Archive
7 February 2005, Philippine Daily Inquirer, “On the Road” by Aida Sevilla-Mendoza, pg. B2-3, col. 3:
TODAY’S BUMPER STICKER: Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.
 
Google Books
Hindsight
By A A Bell
New York, NY: HarperCollins
2011
Pg. ?:
‘A smoking section in a restaurant? You’re kidding. Isn’t that like having a peeing section in a swimming pool?’

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores • Monday, October 29, 2012 • Permalink


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