During Christmas People Will Forget the Past With a Present

Gladys Parker? Don Marquis? Walter Winchell? Uncle Ezra? Phyllis Diller? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: A collection of Christmas season quips employ wordplay based on “past” and “present”. Here are two examples:

What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present.

At Christmas time youngsters want the past forgotten and the present remembered.

Remarks of this type have been attributed to humorist Don Marquis, cartoonist Gladys Parker, and comedian Phyllis Diller. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: This family of jokes is difficult to trace because the phrasing is variable. In January 1933 a one-panel cartoon called “Flapper Fanny Says” by Gladys Parker depicted a woman opening a present. The caption said the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1933 January 19, Public Opinion, (Caption of one panel cartoon: Flapper Fanny Says by Gladys Parker), Quote Page 12, Column 3, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)

Nothing smoothes out the past like a present.

This instance of the quip did not mention Christmas, but it contained the key wordplay elements.

In February 1933 the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” of New York printed an instance about birthdays with an anonymous attribution:^[2] 1933 February 24, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Reverting to Type by Art Arthur, Quote Page 12, Column 2, Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com)

… the latest bit of wisdom scribbled on the bulletin board at Connie’s Inn reads, “On her birthday every girl wants her past forgotten and her presents remembered”

In July 1934 Gladys Parker revisited this notion in her one-panel cartoon “Flapper Fanny Says”. Parker’s illustration depicted a woman tending the flowers on a trellis, and the caption said:^[3] 1934 July 3, The Canton Repository, (Caption of one panel cartoon: Flapper Fanny Says by Gladys Parker), Quote Page 3, Column 4, Canton, Ohio. (GenealogyBank)

Many a person will forget the past for a present.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In June 1935 the columnist Neal O’Hara of the “State Times Advocate” in Baton Rouge, Louisiana reprinted the line:^[4] 1935 June 17, State Times Advocate, Pull Up a Chair by Neal O’Hara, Quote Page 4, Column 7, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (GenealogyBank)

Bon mot snipped from somewhere with our trusty shears: “Many a person will forget the past for a present.”

In August 1935 a jewelry store in Crestline, Ohio printed an instance within an advertisement in the local newspaper:^[5] 1935 August 22, The Crestline Advocate, (Advertisement for Weber’s Jewelry Store), Quote Page 8, Column 6, Crestline, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)

An old saying reads:
“PEOPLE WILL FORGET the PAST for A PRESENT”

In May 1936 the “Thomson Review” of Illinois printed an instance without attribution as a banner headline at the top of the second page:^[6] 1936 May 7, Thomson Review, “Many People Will Forget The Past For A Present”, Quote Page 2, Column 2, Thomson, Illinois. (Newspapers_com)

“Many People Will Forget The Past For A Present”

In December 1940 a character in a radio broadcast employed an instance:^[7] 1940 December 27, The Circleville Herald, Radio Briefs, Quote Page 2, Column 7, Circleville, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)

RADIO BRIEFS
Uncle Ezra says that Christmas is a time when a woman wants her past forgotten and her present remembered.

In 1943 “Esar’s Comic Dictionary” printed this joke:^[8] 1943, Esar’s Comic Dictionary by Evan Esar, Entry: Christmas, Quote Page 49, Harvest House, New York. (Verified on paper)

Christmas —A widely observed holiday on which neither the past nor the future is of so much interest as the present.

In December 1946 a newspaper advertisement for a store in Rutland, Vermont employed this quip:^[9] 1946 December 20, Rutland Daily Herald, (Advertisement for Wilson’s store), Quote Page 6, Column 3, Rutland, Vermont. (Newspapers_com)

CHRISTMAS TIME
when the youngsters want the past forgotten and the present remembered!

Also, in December 1946 popular syndicated columnist Walter Winchell attributed an instance to humorist Don Marquis:^[10] 1946 December 26, The Scranton Tribune, Walter Winchell On Broadway, Quote Page 9, Column 1, Scranton, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)

Don Marquis once wrote: “What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present.”

Marquis died in 1937 several years before receiving credit from Winchell. Marquis wrote popular newspaper columns and books in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, but QI has not yet found a match for the quip within his works.

In 1950 columnist Hal Eaton of the “Staten Island Advance” in New York also credited Marquis, but he may have obtained this information from Winchell’s column:^[11] 1950 December 21, Staten Island Advance, Going To Town with Hal Eaton, Quote Page 8, Column 2, Staten Island, New York. (GenealogyBank)

“What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present.” (Don Marquis)

In 1959 “New Treasury of Stories for Every Speaking and Writing Occasion” compiled by Jacob M. Braude included a slightly modified instance attributed to Marquis. The phrase “a present” became “the present”:^[12]1959 Copyright, New Treasury of Stories for Every Speaking and Writing Occasion by Jacob M. Braude (Jacob Morton Braude), Topic: Christmas, Quote Page 69, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. … Continue reading

What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with the present.
— Don Marquis

In 1962 a newspaper in Binghamton, New York printed this instance without attribution:^[13] 1962 December 17, The Evening Press, Let’s Chuckle, Quote Page 1, Column 8, Binghamton, New York. (ProQuest)

Let’s Chuckle
One of the nicest things about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present.

In 1968 “20,000 Quips and Quotes” compiled by Evan Esar included the following:^[14] 1968, 20,000 Quips and Quotes by Evan Esar, Subject: Christmas Gifts, Quote Page 135, Doubleday, Garden City, New York. (Verified on paper)

What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with the present.
— Don Marquis

In 1980 “Mac’s Giant Book of Quips & Quotes” compiled by E. C. McKenzie included this item:^[15] 1980, Mac’s Giant Book of Quips & Quotes, Compiled by E. C. McKenzie, Topic: Christmas, Quote Page 79, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Verified with scans)

Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered.

In 1996 “A Dictionary of American Proverbs” included this item collected in North Dakota:^[16]1996 (1992 Copyright), A Dictionary of American Proverbs, Edited by Wolfgang Mieder, Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie B. Harder, Topic: Past, Quote Page 451, Oxford University Press, New York. … Continue reading

past (n.) 1. Many people will forget the past for a present.
Rec. dist.: N. Dak.

In 2002 a newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas credited an instance to comedian Phyllis Diller:^[17] 2002 November 30, Alington Star-Telegram, Senses of the Season (quotation appears as an epigraph at the top of the page), Quote Page 3E, Column 1, Fort Worth, Texas. (Newspapers_com)

“Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered.”—Phyllis Diller

In conclusion, based on current evidence Gladys Parker deserves credit for originating this family of quips in January 1933. The 1946 statement from Walter Winchell suggests the possibility that Don Marquis employed an earlier instance, but QI has not yet found a supporting citation before 1933.

Image Notes: Illustration depicting a set of five wrapped presents from OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay.