A bowling alligator pun is:
Q: What do you call an alligator who goes bowling?
A: An alley gator.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1980.
24 July 1980, Lexington (KY) Herald, A Page Just For Kids, pg. C-4, col. 5:
What do you call an alligator who goes bowling? An alley gator!—Paul Ladwig, 9. Lexington.
21 April 1985, Newsday (Long Island, NY), Kidsday, pg. 47, col 3:
What do you call an alligator who goes bowling?
An alley gator.
-- David Fischer, Bayside
17 August 1986, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), Comic Section, pg. ?, col. 3:
What do you call an alligator that bowls?
An Alley Gator.
Google Books
Animal Jokes & Riddles
By Jeffrey S. Nelsen
New York, NY: Checkerboard Press
1991
Pg. 4:
What’s big and green and likes to bowl?
An alley-gator.
Google Books
Fabulous and Funny Clean Jokes for Kids
By Bob Phillips and Steve Russo
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers
1996
Pg. 87:
Myrtle: What do you call a crocodile that enjoys bowling?
Winifred: I have no clue.
Myrtle: An alley-gator.
28 March 1997, The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), “Just For Laughs,” HoursPlus sec., pg. 21, col. 5:
Q: What do you call a crocodile that likes to go bowling?
A: An alley-gator.
Rob Palute, age 10
Newark
Google Books
December 2001, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 62, col. 3::
Lyle: What do you call a crocodile that is an expert bowler?
Kyle: What?
Lyle: An alley gator. — Kyle Trawick, Conroe, Tex.
Twitter
miriam gundred
@mgundred
What do you call a crocodile that likes to bowl? An alley-gator!!! #PopsicleStickJokes
5:45 PM - 31 Mar 2010
Twitter
Roachpop
@calypto
What do you call a crocodile that likes to go bowling? ---An alley gator.
2:44 AM - 23 Sep 2010
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.
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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