The Big Apple: “What gets bigger the more you take from it?"/"The lower class.”

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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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.

This site is edited by Barry Popik.

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Entry from December 13, 2017

“What gets bigger the more you take from it?"/"The lower class.”

"What gets bigger the more you take from it?” is a popular riddle. “A pit” or “an excavation” or “a hole” has been the answer since at least 1824. “Love” was an answer from Dr. Frank Crane (1861-1928) in 1917.

A different answer was posted on Reddit—Jokes on December 14, 2017:

Q: What gets bigger the more you take from it?
A: The lower class.

Google Books
The Nic-nac:
Or, Literary Cabinet (Volume 2)
London, UK: Printed and published by T. Wallis
1824
Pg. 136:
What is that which becomes bigger, the more you take from it?
Pg. 151:
A pit.

Google Books
Christmas and the Year Round
By Frank Crane
New York, NY: John Lane Company
1917
Pg. 92:
THE SPENDTHRIFT OF LOVE
DON’T economize in love.

Love is the one exception. It is the one treasure that grows bigger the more you take from it.

18 September 1933, St. Cloud (MN) Daily Times and Daily Journal-Press, pg. 10, col. 1:
“Be a spendthrift in love,” said the late Dr. Frank Crane.

“Don’t economize in love.

“Love is the one exception. It is the one treasure that grows bigger the more you take from it.”

23 December 1945, The Independent-Record (Helena, MT), “Riddles,” pg. 12, col. 5:
What grows bigger the more you take from it?
Answer: An excavation.

29 October 1948, Lock Haven (PA) Express, “Daffynitions,” pg. 8, col. 5:
Hole: Something that grows bigger the more you take from it.

Twitter
Mary Garrett‏
@marysfreebies
Q: What gets bigger the more you take from it?
A: A hole.
4:26 PM - 3 Nov 2009

Reddit—Jokes
What gets bigger the more you take from it?
submitted December 14, 2017 by Ezra611
The lower class.

Twitter
Guess my name!‏
@itzmestarr
What gets bigger the more you take from it?
The lower class.
12:26 AM - 14 Dec 2017

Twitter
Mr. Drinks On Me‏
@Mr_DrinksOnMe
What gets bigger the more you take from it?
The lower class.
2:29 AM - 14 Dec 2017

Posted by Barry Popik
New York City • Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health • Wednesday, December 13, 2017 • Permalink