“Get me a crocodile/alligator sandwich, and make it snappy” is a popular one-line joke with a pun on the word “snappy” (quick). “A crocodile sandwich, and make it snappy” has been cited in print since at least 1978.
Wikipedia: One-line joke
“Get me a crocodile sandwich, and make it snappy” (Anonymous)
Google Books
London Charivari
Volume 274
1978
Pg. 537:
If I hear “a crocodile sandwich, and make it snappy” said once more as though for the first time I shall immolate the offending party.
Google Books
South
Greatvine Limited
Issues 27-38
1983
Pg. ?:
You know — the one about the man who goes into a cafe and says to the waiter: “Get me an alligator sandwich and make it snappy.”
28 August 1984, Miami (FL) Herald, “Sun’s Weller keeps things in perspective,” pg. 5C:
This is a man who has entered restaurants, studied the menu, and earnestly ordered, “A crocodile sandwich please, and make it snappy.”
Google Books
Kisaeng: a novel
By Marc Olden
New York, NY: D.I. Fine
1991
Pg. 321:
“He said, ‘Give me an alligator sandwich and make it snappy.’”
BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 10 June, 2004, 10:05 GMT 11:05 UK
Rogue Hong Kong crocodile bagged
(...)
COMMENTS
A huge crocodile sandwich and make it snappy!
Chris James, Phuket, Thailand
Google Books
The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink
Edited by Andrew F. Smith
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2007
Pg. 306:
Humor, Food
’‘Waiter, waiter! Bring me a crocodile sandwich, and make it snappy!’‘
Harrow Observer (UK)
Farr on food: Exotic tastes
Mar 25 2010 With Terry J Farr Of Friends Restaurant In Pinner, Harrow Observer
(...)
This story made it into one of the evening newspapers, with the comment ‘at last you can go into a bar and ask for an alligator sandwich, and make it snappy’.
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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