9/12/2023 0 Comments Storyo ponyPerhaps it is because I am a bit fearful that you may discover a sort of pervading tone of pessimism in this paper that I want to tell you this story about the two brothers-small boys-one of them a confirmed pessimist, and the other a thoroughly “blooming optimist.” Magruder of Hanover Safe Deposit Co., New York before the presentation of his paper … Continue reading State Safe Deposit Association), Volume 6, Number 5, (Introductory remark by Herbert T. The pony clue was a “small horseshoe” instead of manure, and there were two brothers receiving dissimilar gifts: 1917 May, Bulletin (N.Y. Magruder told an introductory joke before delivering a formal paper at a conference. In 1917 a New York banker named Herbert T. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order. “I think he brought me a pony, but he must have got away.” “Well, Santa Claus is all right,” he said. Rachel had a little diamond ring and Rebecca had a gold watch. “What you got?” was the first question as each examined the contents of the stockings. In the morning the three children were up early to find out what Santa Claus had left them. He went out into the street and got a piece of frozen earth that hadn’t been left there by an automobile, and he put that-deliberately took and put it in poor little Ikey’s stocking. “Oh, yes,” said Ikey, “Santa Claus will my father is an old friend of his Santa Claus is a nice fellow he will bring me something.”īy the way, I should tell you what a mean daddy the father was. The old man had licked Ikey the night before and told him that Santa Claus was no good and wouldn’t bring him anything. Three little children were hanging up their stockings. Mason, Illinois State Senator), Start, Quote, Column 2, Published … Continue reading In 1902 a state senator in Illinois addressed a banquet of business people in the advertising industry and presented the following narrative: 1902 January, Advertising Experience, Volume 14, Number 3, Agate Club Banquet of December 20th, (Speaker: William E. Also, the earliest instances located by QI used a different punchline. This high variability makes the story difficult to trace. Sometimes one child was featured, and sometimes the divergent behaviors of an optimistic child and a pessimistic child were contrasted. The telltale sign of a pony seen by the expectant child has varied, e.g., horse dung, a horse shoe, horsehair, and a bale of hay. Quote Investigator: There are many versions of this joke, and it has been evolving for more than one hundred years. Would you please trace this comical anecdote? also wrote a semi-autobiographical 1960 novel referencing the tale with the title: Safire connected the tale to Ronald Reagan who enjoyed telling a version, but I know that the Broadway playwright James Kirkwood Jr. New York Times language maven William Safire stated that the entire joke would be brought to mind for many readers by simply mentioning the punchline: 1984 March 11, New York Times, On Language: Punch-line English by William Safire, Quote Page A28, New York. His parents discover him enthusiastically shoveling the manure as he exclaims, “With all this manure, there must be a pony somewhere!” Yet, the child is not discouraged because he has an extraordinarily optimistic outlook on life. James Kirkwood Jr.? Ronald Reagan? Ken Kesey? Anonymous?ĭear Quote Investigator: There is a famous joke about a child who wakes up on Christmas morning and is surprised to find a heap of horse manure under the tree instead of a collection of presents.
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