“Dinner money” is money to buy dinner. The money itself is not dinner, but a popular riddle is:
Q: Why did the boy eat his cash?
A: Because it was his dinner money.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1982.
Google Books
The Ha Ha Bonk Book
By Janet Ahlberg
London, UK: Puffin Books
1982
Pg. ?:
Why did the boy swallow 25p?
It was his dinner money.
7 July 1998, The Sun (London, UK), “Fun Spot,” pg. 20:
Q: Why did a schoolboy swallow a 50p piece?
A: It was his dinner money.
Google Books
A Man Walks Into a Bar 3
By Jonathan Swan
London, UK: Ebury Press
2010
Pg. 235:
Why did the schoolboy eat the cash? It was his dinner money!
Twitter
Laugh Your Head Off
@lyhotweet
Why did the boy swallow 25p? It was his dinner money! #haha #jokes #comedy
5:54 AM - 22 Dec 2010
Twitter
The Rise
@TheRiseofficial
Ok another bad joke, Why did the school boy eat a £2 coin?
Because it was his dinner money!!
4:13 PM - 2 May 2011
Google Books
New Jokes4Kids Joke Book
By Paul Gwilliam
Lulu Press (Lulu.com)
2013
Pg. ?:
Why did the boy swallow £1?
It was his dinner money.
Twitter
Living Sarcasm
@SarcasmLiving
Why did the boy
eat his cash?
Because it was his dinner money!
6:39 AM - 13 Apr 2018
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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