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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“Shoutout to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
“Thank you, ATM fees, for allowing me to buy my own money” (3/27)
“Anyone else boil the kettle twice? Just in case the boiling water has gone cold…” (3/27)
“Shout out to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
20-20-20 Rule (for eyes) (3/27)
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Entry from January 23, 2019
“Where do you find a down-and-out octopus?”/“On squid row.”

“On squid row” is a pun on the expression “on skid row.” “What happens to a guy who drinks like a fish?  He winds up on squid row” was printed in a 1981 joke book. “Where can vagrant fish be found? On squid row” was printed in many newspapers in 1984.
 
The usual form of the riddle has been cited in print since at least 2004:
   
Q: Where do you find a down-and-out octopus?
A: On squid row.

   
     
Google Books
Smokey the Shark, and Other Fishy Tales
By Charles Keller
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1981
Pg. 14:
What happens to a guy who drinks like a fish?
He winds up on squid row.
 
17 June 1984, Sunday Boston Herald (Boston, MA), “Junior Whirl” by Hal Kaufman, comics sec., pg. ?:
Where can vagrant fish be found? On squid row.
 
20 July 2004, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), “Just Joking,” The Bubble Gum Rapper, pg. 12A, col. 2:
Sarah: Where can you find a down-and-out octopus?
Mark: On squid row.
 
Twitter
Steve Volante
@ardentoctopus
http://ardentoctopus.mevio.com/ Where do you find a down-and-out octopus?
On squid row!
4:56 AM - 17 Apr 2009
   
24 December 2010, The Sun (London, UK), “Fishmas crackers” by Mike Kernan, pg. 61:
Where do you find a down-and-out octopus? On squid row.
       
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Really Silly Jokes:
Humour for the whole family

By Geoff Tibballs
London, UK Constable & Robinson Ltd
2011
Pg. ?:
Where would you find a down-and-out octopus?
On squid row.
   
Google Books
Sensible Nonsense.. Frank’s Comic Pack:
Humour Pack Series, Volume 1

By Frank Paul
BookBaby
2014
Pg. ?:
Where do you find a down-and-out octopus ? On squid row !
 
Thought Catalog
16 Silly Squid Puns That Are Inkredible
January Nelson
Updated October 17, 2018
(...)
2. Where do you find a down-and-out octopus?
On squid row.
 
Twitter
You Are Joking
@lahlahbean
Where do you find a down-and-out octopus?
On squid row.
#wednesdaywit
4:09 AM - 16 Jan 2019

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityStreets • Wednesday, January 23, 2019 • Permalink


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