“Black as midnight under a skillet” is very dark, indeed. The phrase is probably cowboy talk; skillets were put to good use, and Texas midnights can be very dark. The phrase appears on several “Texas talk” websites.
Texas Talkin’ Page
Blacker than midnight under a skillet.
Texas Neopets
In case you’ve never been to Texas, here is a guide to a few of the more colorful expressions you might encounter there:
1. It’s blacker than midnight under a skillet = It is very dark
Google Groups: misc.writing
From: Gene Royer
Date: Fri, Oct 31 1997 12:00 am
“Why is it so damn dark in here?” I asked.
b
“It is?” He seemed genuinely shocked
“Yeah. Dark as midnight under a skillet.”
1 March 1968, Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville, AK), “Hillside Adventures” by Fred Starr, pg. 4, col. 2:
The night was black as midnight under a skillet, and we were not yet old enough to be brave in the dark.
30 July 1998, Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard, Northwest section, pg. 17:
Cowpokes young and old are sure to enjoy Susan Lowell’s retelling of a well-known childhood classic, retitled “The Bootmaker and the Elves.”
(...)
The bootmaker and his wife are astonished to discover a finished pair of beautiful boots—“tall, shiny and black as midnight under a skillet.”
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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