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 April 08, 2016
“Taxpayer: A person who resents that death and taxes don’t come in that order”

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” is an old saying. A variation is:
 
“Taxpayer: A person who resents that death and taxes don’t come in that order.”
 
The modern saying has been cited in print since at least 1944 and was popularized in the newspaper feature “Daffynitions” by Paul H. Gilbert.
 
   
Freakonomics
Quotes Uncovered: Death and Taxes
February 17, 2011 @ 1:30pm
by Fred Shapiro
(...)
This is usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in a 1789 letter that “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” However, The Yale Book of Quotations quotes “‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes,” from Christopher Bullock, The Cobler of Preston (1716). The YBQ also quotes “Death and Taxes, they are certain,” from Edward Ward, The Dancing Devils (1724).
 
2 March 1944, The Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, IN), “Up and Down the Main Drag,” pg 4, col. 1:
When you pound out your brain these nights trying to figure out your income tax, ease the strain by remembering the definition of a taxpayer—“a person who resents that death and taxes don’t come in that order.”
 
5 January 1946, Kingsport (TN) News, “Daffynitions” by Paul H. Gilbert, pg. 4, col. 3:
Taxpayer: A person who resents that death and taxes don’t come in that order.
 
24 May 1953, Seattle (WA) Times, “Daffynitions” by Paul H. Gilbert, magazine, pg. 12, col. 4:
TAXPAYER: A person who resents that death and taxes don’t come in that order.
 
23 November 1958, Seattle (WA) Times, “Daffynitions” by Paul H. Gilbert, magazine, pg. 13, col. 3:
TAXPAYER: A person who resents the fact that death and taxes don’t come in that order.
   
Google Books
14,000 Quips & Quotes:
For Speakers, Writers, Editors, Preachers, and Teachers

By E. C. McKenzie
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House
1990, ©1980
Pg. 124:
A taxpayer resents the fact that death and taxes don’t come in that order!
 
Google Books
Spending Your Way to the Poorhouse
By Tommy L. Gardner
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2004
Pg. 187:
A taxpayer resents the fact that death and taxes don’t come in that order.
 
Twitter
The Tax Factor
‏@TheTaxFactor
A taxpayer resents the fact that death and taxes don’t come in that order!
7:55 AM - 18 Oct 2013

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityGovernment/Law/Military/Religion /Health • Friday, April 08, 2016 • Permalink


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