There’s a difference, when a wife “makes soup,” between “preparing” the soup and “being in” the soup. A cannibal joke is:
Cannibal 1: Your wife makes great soup.
Cannibal 2: Yes, but I’ll miss her.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1959.
14 October 1959, The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland), pg. 8, col. 8:
Humour Noir
First Cannibal: “What delicious soup!”
Second Cannibal: “Yes, my wife makes excellent soup…I shall miss her.”
Google Books
Jokes:
Outrageous bits, atrocious puns, and ridiculous routines for those who love jests
By Paul Dickson
Illustrated by Don Addis
New York, NY: Delacorte Press
1984
Pg. 190:
“Yes,” said the cannibal after dinner, “my wife makes good soup, but I’m sure going to miss her.”
7 December 1986, Detroit (MI) Free Press, Magazine sec., pg. 31, col. 6:
YUK YUKS
L. Brook Patterson, Oakland County prosecutor
Two cannibals are having dinner. The first cannibal says, “Your wife makes great soup.”
The second cannibal answers, “Yes, but I’m going to miss her.”
Google Books
Milton Berle’s Private Joke File:
Over 10,000 of His Best Gags, Anecdotes, and One-liners
By Milton Berle
Edited by Milt Rosen
New York, NY: Crown Publishers
1989
Pg. 126:
The cannibal wiped his mouth daintily and said, “My wife makes great soup. But I’ll miss her!
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Puns of the Weak 05-09-03
Stan Kegel
5/9/03
(...)
“The cannibal wiped his mouth daintily and said, “My wife makes great soup but I’ll miss her.” (Milton Berle)
Twitter
Big T
@Big_T_Blues
One cannibal to the other: “your wife makes great soups.”
The other cannibal replied, “Yes but I’ll miss her”
7:30 PM - 26 Jan 2012
Twitter
Eddie Snipes
@eddiesnipes
One cannibal said to the other, “Your wife makes great soup.” “Yes,” said the other, “but I’m sure going to miss her.”
11:41 PM - 26 Apr 2013
Twitter
Marion Muscare
@MarionMuscare
Cannibal 1: Your wife makes great soup. Cannibal 2: Yes, but I am going to miss her!
6:59 AM - 5 Jul 2014
Twitter
♖Dr. Parson Peeves™♖
@ParsonPeeves
Cannibal 1 - “Your wife makes great soup!”
Cannibal 2 - “Yes. But I’m going to miss her when the leftovers are gone.”
5:35 PM - 12 Oct 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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