“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A skeleton version is:
Q: Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
A: He didn’t have any guts.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1972 and has been printed on several images.
“Why did the skeleton cross the road?”/“To get to the body shop” is a related riddle.
Newspapers.com
7 October 1972, Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette, “Mini Jokes,” The Mini Page, pg. 3, col. 1:
Q. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
A. He didn’t have the guts.
Karen Strong—Brush Valley
10 February 1973, Progress-Bulletin (Pomona, CA), “More Mini Jokes,” The Mini Page, pg. 3, col. 4:
Q: Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
A: He didn’t have the guts.
Rebecca Pegdanganan, 9
Chaparral School
Claremont
19 November 1975, Austin (TX) American-Statesman, “Fun Time—The Riddle Box” by A. Leokum, pg. 39, col. 5:
Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
He didn’t have enough guts.
24 February 1977, The Morning Union (Springfield, MA), “Fun Time—The Riddle Box” by A. Leokum, pg. 55, col. 2:
Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
He didn’t have the guts.
Google Books
March 1996, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 57, col. 1:
Pee Wee: Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
Pedro: Beats me.
Pee Wee: Because he had no guts. — Tian Xie, Newton, Mass.
Google Books
Kids’ Nuttiest Jokes
By Mike Benny
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
2003
Pg. 11:
Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
It didn’t have the guts.
Google Books
The Super, Epic, Mega Joke Book for Kids
By Whee Winn
Grand Rapids, MI: Zonderkidz
2016
Pg. ?:
Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?
He didn’t have any guts.
International Business Times
Halloween Jokes 2017: 25 Funny Riddles And Trivia To Share With Kids
BY SUMAN VARANDANI @SUMAN09 ON 10/25/17 AT 7:48 AM
(...)
3. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? Answer: He didn’t have any guts.
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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