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.

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Entry from June 07, 2019
“Sufferin’ succotash” (“Suffering succotash”)

“Sufferin’ succotash” is an expression that has been printed on many images. “Suffering succotash!” is a minced oath for “suffering savior.”
 
“‘Oh, sufferin’ succotash!” was printed in The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) on May 15, 1910. “Sufferin succotash” was printed in the Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune on December 12, 1910. “‘Sufferin’ succotash,’ exploded the sergeant” was printed in the St. Louis (MO) Star on December 11, 1921.
   
The expression was used frequently in the Looney Tunes 1940s cartoons by the character Sylvester the Cat.
   
     
Wikipedia: Succotash
Succotash (from Narragansett sohquttahhash, “broken corn kernels”) is a culinary dish consisting primarily of sweet corn with lima beans or other shell beans. Other ingredients may be added including tomatoes, green or sweet red peppers, and okra. Combining a grain with a legume provides a dish that is high in all essential amino acids. Because of the relatively inexpensive and more readily available ingredients, the dish was popular during the Great Depression in the United States It was sometimes cooked in a casserole form, often with a light pie crust on top as in a traditional pot pie. Succotash is a traditional dish of many Thanksgiving celebrations in New England, as well as in Pennsylvania and other states. In some parts of the American South, any mixture of vegetables prepared with lima beans and topped with lard or butter is called succotash. Corn (maize), American beans, tomatoes, and peppers are New World foods.
 
Cultural references
“Sufferin’ succotash” is a catchphrase used by Looney Tunes cartoon character Sylvester the Cat. and Yosemite Sam.
       
15 May 1910, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “When Deacon Luther Backslid” by Edith Sessions Tupper, Illustrated Sunday Magazine, pg. 8, col. 2:
“‘Oh, sufferin’ succotash!’ says I, ...”
       
12 December 1910, Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune, “Bird Scares 32 Police Heroes,” pg. 1, col. 5:
Sufferin succotash! Lookut the spook!
   
26 March 1915, Emporia (KS) Gazette, “Pursuit and Possession” and Walt Mason, pg. 7, col. 6:
Just this morning, as I was coming past, I heard him say, “Great suffering succotash, Gwendolin, do give me a chance to read my newspaper.”
 
11 December 1921, St. Louis (MO) Star, “O. B. Diah’s Little Trick,” Metropolitan sec., pg. 7, col. 4:
“Sufferin’ succotash,” exploded the sergeant.
 
1 April 1944, Washington (DC) Post, “About the Showstops” with Nelson B. Bell, pg. 7, col. 8:
As we were leaving the Statler suite, Dr. Wassell was reentering. When thoroughly aroused, he is given to extraordinarily strong language. We shall venture to quote verbatim his most violent oath, at the risk of violating all newspaper ethics. It is “Suffering succotash!”
 
9 April 1944, Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR), “Arkansans in Washington” by Norman Walker, 4th sec.,pg. 9,  col. 7:
Gleaned in this manner were Dr. Wassell’s bitterest oaths: “Great gravy” and “sufferin’ succotash.”
 
Google Books
The Button Boat
By Glendon Fred Swarthout, Kathryn Swarthout and Suzanne Verrier
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1969    
Pg. 52:
“Suffering succotash, what’ll I do?”
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Sufferin’ succotash
Author: Ron Padgett; Joe Brainard
Publisher: New York : Adventures in Poetry, ©1971.
Edition/Format:   Print book : English
     
Google Books
Drown Every Mouth
BY John A. Lukas
M.A. thesis
Davis, CA: University of California
1975
Pg. 46:
“Suffering succotash, Gaff.”
 
OCLC WorldCat record
On the Lighter Side Sufferin’ Succotash! Another ASA Cartoon Meeting!
Author: Miron L Straf
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: CHANCE, v9 n1 (199601): 64-63
   
Urban Dictionary
suffering succotash
An exclamation of annoyance and surprise, made famous by the cartoon character Sylvester the cat.
its a “euphemism” for the curse phrase “suffering saviour”
Suffering succotash!
by mah jong March 09, 2004
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Suffering Succotash. ; A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate.
Author: Stephanie V W Lucianovic
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 2012.
Edition/Format:   Print book : English
 
YouTube
Daffy Duck - Sufferin Succotash
sent message
Published on Feb 21, 2015
Daffy Duck says Sufferin Succotash
 
YouTube
Sylvester Says Sufferin Succotash for 10 Hours
20fadhil: Revolution
Published on Nov 26, 2017
lol
 
OCLC WorldCat record
LOONEY TUNES GREATEST HITS 4 : sufferin’ succotash!.
Author: NOT AVAILABLE.
Publisher: [Place of publication not identified], DC COMICS, 2018.
Edition/Format:   Print book : English

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Friday, June 07, 2019 • Permalink


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