“Some people are like blisters—they don’t show up until the work is done” has been cited in print since at least January 1959. The saying was printed in many newspapers in the 1960s and has been collected in many books on American quotations (almost always without a specific attribution).
25 January 1959, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Entertainment, pg. 11, col. 7:
STAR SHOWS WIT
Between scenes of “Warlock,” her new western opposite Richard Widmark, actress Dolores Michaels cracked: “Some people are like blisters—they don’t show up until the work is done.”
12 March 1959, Time Table (Lenox, IA), “The Old Timer” (comic strip), pg. 6, col. 3:
“Some people are like blisters—they don’t show up until the work is done.”
8 November 1959, Atchison (KS) Sunday Globe, pg. 1, col. 1:
Overheard: Some Men Are Like Blisters. They Don’t Show Until After The Work Is Done.
Google News Archive
11 July 1960, Beaver County Times (PA), pg. 2, col. 5 ad:
SOME MEN ARE LIKE BLISTERS—THEY SHOW UP WHEN THE WORK IS DONE!
(Ambridge Savings & Loan Association—ed.)
14 August 1962, Hartford (CT) Courant, ‘Today’s Chuckle, pg. 1:
Some people are like blisters. They don’t show up until you’ve finished the job.
Google News Archive
11 October 1962, The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan), pg. 5, col. 6:
CHUCKLE
Some people are like blisters. They don’t show up until you’ve finished the job.
(Copyright General Features Corp.) .
Google News Archive
21 May 1969, Evening Herald (Rock Hill, SC), “Living wife cuts spouse’s chance of heart attack” by Hal Boyle (AP), pg. 11, col. 6:
Executive signs: This one is on the desk of Elmer Winter, president of Manpower, Inc.: “Some people are like blisters. They don’t show up until the work is done.”
Google Books
November 1969, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 82, col. 2:
Confucius says: Some people are like blisters — they show up when work is done. — Mark Mathison, Grangeville, Idaho.
Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 729:
Some people are like blisters — they don’t show up until the work is done.
Google Books
1001 More Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking:
Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers
By Michael Hodgin
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House
1998 (ePub Edition August 2010)
Pg. 994:
TOPIC: Work
Blister Workers
Too many people are like blisters…they don’t show up until the work is all done.
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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