A “hot” dog riddle is:
Q: What do you give a dog with a fever?
A: Mustard. It’s the best thing for a hot dog!
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1978.
25 February 1978, Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer and News, “Mini Jokes,” The Mini Page, pg. 3, col. 1:
Nurse: I think my dog has a fever.
Doctor: You better get me some mustard.
Nurse: Why?
Doctor: Because I always put mustard on a hot dog.
—Serene Swift, Battle Creek
Google Books
1981, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. ?:
Moe: I think my dog has a fever.
Joe: Go get the mustard.
Moe: Mustard? Why?
Joe: Because it’s the best thing for a hot dog.—Kevin Earl, Delta, Colo.
Google Books
Lu & Clancy’s Secret Codes
By Adrienne Mason and Pat Cupples
Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press
1999
Pg. 40:
Joke: What should you give a dog with a fever?
Mustard. It’s the best thing for a hot dog.
Google Books
Over 1500 Fantastic Jokes
By Guy Campbell and Paul Moran
London, UK: Dean
2002
Pg. 76:
What do you give a dog with a fever?
Mustard, it’s the best thing for a hot dog!
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Weakly Jest For Kids 03-02-04
Stan Kegel
3/2/04
(...)
What do you give a dog with a fever?
Mustard. It’s the best thing for a hot dog! (Jane, 8)
Twitter
Oly Grocery Outlet
@OlympiaGO
Bad Joke of the Day: What do you give a dog wth a fever? Mustard - it’s the best thing for a hot dog!
9:05 AM - 24 Aug 2009
Google Books
Funny Animal Jokes For Kids
By Peter Crumpton
PeteyRF Creative
2015
Pg. ?:
What do you give a dog with a fever?
Mustard, it’s the best thing for a hot dog!
Google Books
Happy Smile:
Jokes for Kids
By Adam Smith
Lulu Press (Lulu.com)
2017
Pg. ?:
Q: What do you give a dog with a fever?
A: Mustard, it’s the best thing for a hot dog!
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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