“It was so cold that hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs” is a jocular one-line saying that has been printed on an image. “It was so cold…hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!” was printed on the Athropolis blog on February 7, 2004.
   
   
Athropolis (February 7, 2004)
It was so cold…
(...)       
2. It was so cold…
hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
   
The QBlog
MONDAY, JANUARY 02, 2006
Funny Sayings about Cold
(...)
51. It was so cold hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs.
       
Early-Retirement
Re: 55 Degrees Bad For House?
MasterBlaster
02-20-2006, 03:25 PM
(...)
It was so cold…
hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
 
Google Groups: alt.callahans
not really back-Shadowdancer stops by briefly to check out the Place
Wesley Struebing
7/16/06
(...)
>“In the cold up north, hitchhikers would hold up a drawing of their
>thumbs.
 
30 November 2007, Pensacola (FL) News Journal,  “Jokes & Groaners,” pg. B1, col. 5:
It was so cold, hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs.
   
South Marion Citizen (Dunnellon, FL)
Some of my best friends are (snow) flakes
By Dick Frank
Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 7:00 pm
(...)
Hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs.
     
Twitter
Greg Fowler‏
@fowgre
Replying to @nimbleassistant
@nimbleassistant It’s so cold today, hitchhikers are holding up pictures of thumbs! 😉
6:44 AM - 14 Jan 2009
 
SkyWriting.Net (January 25, 2009)
How Cold Was It?
[ Author Unknown—from Patricia, via ‘Buffalos Chips’ (buffalos-g-jokes.yahoogroups.com) ]
IT WAS SO COLD THAT . . . . .
(...)
2. Hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
     
Google Books
A Man Walks Into a Bar 3
By Jonathan Swan
London, UK: Ebury Press
2010
Pg. 376:
It was so cold hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
 
WDRB (Louisville, KY)
HUMOR: It’s so cold that…
Posted: Dec 06, 2010 1:30 PM EST
Updated: Jan 11, 2016 12:11 PM EST
JAN. 11, 2016 UPDATE: The following story was published on our site on Dec. 6, 2010—but it was so funny, we thought you’d enjoy revisiting it!
(...)
Suzan Wall: “It’s so cold out the hitchhikers are holding up signs with pictures of thumbs.”
   
Google Books   
Stories from Potowasso:
Morality Tales from a Small Town
By William Morris
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse
2011
Pg. 33:
“It got so cold that hitchhikers through Potowasso were holding up pictures of their thumbs!”
 
Cleveland.com
Polar vortex brings out some of the best ‘It’s so cold that..’ jokes: What are yours?
By Glenn Moore, Northeast Ohio Media Group
on January 07, 2014 at 12:16 PM, updated January 07, 2014 at 12:21 PM
(...)
It’s so cold out the hitchhikers are holding up signs with pictures of thumbs.
 
Forest River Forums
It’s So Cold Jokes
Iggy
01-07-2014, 03:22 PM
(...)
“It’s so cold out the hitchhikers are holding up signs with pictures of thumbs.”
 
Eyewitness News—WABC-TV (New York, NY)
‘It’s so cold that…’: Jokes to keep you warm in a polar vortex
ABC
January 8, 2014 3:56:24 AM PST
(...)
It’s so cold that…
 
”...hitchhikers are holding up pictures of thumbs.”
       
New Jersey 101.5
The best ‘It’s So Cold…’ jokes for New Jersey
By Jim Gearhart February 16, 2016 8:21 AM
(...)
It’s so cold, hitchhikers were showing pictures of their thumbs.
 
Google Groups: The Grif.net
01/13/17 Grif.Net - It was so Cold . . .
Dr. Bob
1/13/17
It Was So Cold that . . .
(...)
. . . hitchhikers wore mittens and held up pictures of thumbs
 
Twitter
Treasure Classifieds‏
@Treasureclass
Replying to @GitRDoneLarry
It’s so cold, hitchhikers are showing pictures of their thumbs.
4:22 PM - 4 Jan 2018