A chemistry riddle is:
Q: Why do chemists like nitrates so much?
A: They’re cheaper than day rates.
The “nitrate”/“night rate” pun has been cited in print since at least 1922.
Wikipedia: Nitrate
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO−3 and a molecular mass of 62.0049 u. Nitrates also describe the organic functional group RONO2. These nitrate esters are a specialized class of explosives.
7 April 1922, Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL), pg. 4, col. 2:
Heard in Congress.
Member of the Farmer Bloc: “Will this act make nitrates cheaper?”
Telephone Magnate: “Night rates are already cheaper than day rates.”
13 October 1924, Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette, “The Once Over” by H. I. Phillips, pg. 3, col. 3:
Johnson: I need a word pertaining to nitrates.
Harris: Night rates are about two cents a word cheaper than day rates.
4 February 1925, Austin (TX) Statesman, pg. 4, col. 6:
QUITE TRUE
Chemistry Professor: What can you tell me about nitrates?
Student: Well—er—they are a lot cheaper than day rates.—Illinois Wesleyan Argus.
Google Books
August 1926, Boys’ Life, “Think and Grin” edited by Frank J. Rigney, pg. 44, col. 2:
The Difference
CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR: What can you tell me about nitrates?
STUDENT: Well— er — they’re a lot cheaper than day rates.
Google Books
A Treasury of Science Jokes
By Morris Goran
Springfield, IL: Lincoln-Herndon Press
1986
Pg. 64:
Why do chemists use nitrates to make explosives? Because nitrates are cheaper than day rates.
Twitter
anotec
@olfactory
why do chemists like nitrates??,—-Because they are better than day Rates
11:02 PM - 10 Sep 2007
Twitter
k
@pfspleen
Q: Why do chemists like nitrates so much? A: They’re cheaper than day rates.
5:55 AM - 12 Mar 2009
Google Books
Teachers Joke and Story Book
Collected by Stanley Graham
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2016
Pg. ?:
Chemistry teacher: “What can you tell me about nitrates?” (sounds like night rates)
Student: “They’re a lot cheaper than day rates.”
Twitter
jolly dad jokes
@dadtellsjokes
Why do chemists like nitrates so much?
They’re cheaper than day rates.
7:15 PM - 13 Dec 2017
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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