American humorist Gerald Barzan was credited in the book The Greatest Laughs of All Time (1961), by Gerald F. Lieberman, with a popular line about working as a salesman:
“I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.”
Google Books
The Greatest Laughs of All Time
By Gerald F. Lieberman
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1961
Pg. 300:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.
GERALD BARZAN
Google Books
Webster’s New World Best Book of Aphorisms
By Auriel Douglas and Michael Strumpf
New York, NY: Webster’s NewWorld: Distributed by Prentice Hall
1989
Pg. 231:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one. — Jacques Barzun
Google Books
Dick Enberg’s Humorous Quotes for All Occasions:
Speaking Tips and Over 1,000 One-Liners
By Dick Enberg with Brian Morgan and Wendy Morgan
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing
2000
Pg. 179:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.
Gerald Barzan
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Fr Nicholas Gregoris
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#Humor #Work “I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.” #Gerald #Barzan
9:13 PM - 6 Mar 2017
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I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one. - Gerald Barzan
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I once worked as a salesman and was very independent, I took orders from no one.
8:00 AM - 30 Jan 2019
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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