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.

Recent entries:
“Shoutout to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
“Thank you, ATM fees, for allowing me to buy my own money” (3/27)
“Anyone else boil the kettle twice? Just in case the boiling water has gone cold…” (3/27)
“Shout out to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
20-20-20 Rule (for eyes) (3/27)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from July 09, 2012
“One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time”

Nancy Astor (1879-1964) is often cited for the quotation, “One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish/want to know when I am having a good time.”
 
This quotation appears to be a shortened version of what she said in June 1926 before Scotland’s Edinburgh World’s Christian Temperence Union Convention:
 
“Drinking is one of the stupidest of amusements because the joy the victims get out of it is so fleeting. I like gaiety and pleasure that is lasting. I like to get my money’s worth. I like to know that I am having a good time. I don’t call it a good time if I don’t know that I am having a good time.”
 
     
Wikipedia: Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor
Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, CH, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons. Nancy Astor, a Conservative Party representative, was the wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor.
(...)
Quotes
(...)
One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time.
 
19 June 1926, Lethbridge (Alberta) Daily Herald, pg. 9, col. 3::
W. C. T. U. NOTES
Lady Astor says:
(...) (This paragraph is illegible, but says that these remarks were made at Scotland’s Edinburgh World’s Christian Temperence Union Convention—ed.)
“Drinking is one of the stupidest of amusements because the joy the victims get out of it is so fleeting. I like gaiety and pleasure that is lasting. I like to get my money’s worth. I like to know that I am having a good time. I don’t call it a good time if I don’t know that I am having a good time.”
     
Google Books
The International Student of Liquor in Life Today
Volumes 29-36
1931
Pg. 28:
When I am having a good time I want to know it; I don’t want to have my brain muddled with alcohol. — Lady Astor, Great Britain.
   
Google Books
Friends’ Intelligencer
Volume 89, Issues 27-53
1932
Pg. 592:
When I’m having a good time I want to know it — I don’t want my brain muddled with alcohol. — LADY ASTOR, Member British Parliament.
 
Google Books
Fruit of the Vine, as seen by many witnesses of all times
By Grace Hill Turnbull
Baltimore, MD: Lord Baltimore Press
1952
Pg. 54:
“When I am having a good time I want to know it,” says Lady Astor; “I don’t want my brain muddled with alcohol.”
   
16 August 1956, The Daily Journal-Gazette and Commercial-Star, (Mattoon, IL), pg. 21, col. 6:
Lady Astor once said: “One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time.”
—Mrs. J. E. Dillard, Pres. Alabama, W.C.T.U.
 
Google Books
The Yale Book of Quotations
Edited by Fred R. Shapiro
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
2006
Pg. 30:
Nancy Astor
U.S.-born British politician, 1879-1964
“One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time.”
Quoted in Christian Herald, June 1960

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Monday, July 09, 2012 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.