The banana peel gag—laughing at someone slipping on a banana peel—was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One joke is:
Q: What do you call two banana skins?
A: A pair of slippers.
“A pair of slippers—The orange and banana skins” was a joke from the New York City humor magazine Puck in 1882 that was reprinted in many newspapers. “It takes two banana skins to make a pair of slippers” was a popular joke in 1903 newspapers.
14 October 1882, Boston (MA) Journal, “Current Notes,” pg. 2, col. 4:
A pair of slippers—The orange and banana skins.—Puck.
23 June 1903, The Evening News (San Jose, CA), pg. 5, col. 6:
It takes two banana skins to make a pair of slippers.—Chicago News.
Google Books
The Amazingly Simple Banana Diet
By Clifford Thurlow
London: Alma House
1995
Pg. 20:
What do you call two banana skins?
A pair of slippers.
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Puns of the Weak 02-28-03
Stan Kegel
2/28/03
(...)
What would you call two banana skins ?
A pair of slippers (Kid’s Jokes).
Google Books
101 Short and Hilarious Jokes for Kids:
Jokes They’ll Tell Again and Again
By Scott Allen
Delabarre Publishing at Smashwords
2010
Pg. ?:
What do you call two banana skins?
A pair of slippers.
Google Books
Food Jokes For Kids 10
By Peter Crumpton
PeteyRF Creative
2015
Pg. ?:
What do you call two banana skins?
A pair of slippers.
Twitter
Ariyana 😊
@ariiiiiii01
What do you get when you cross one banana peel with another banana peel?
A pair of slippers
7:38 AM - 3 Aug 2016
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:
•“Welcome to growing older. Where all the foods and drinks you’ve loved for years suddenly seem determined to destroy you” (4/17)
•“Date someone who drinks with you instead of complaining that you drink” (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP18 (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP17 (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/17)
More new entries...
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.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.