Proverb Origin: There May Be Snow On the Roof, But There’s Fire In the Furnace

Groucho Marx? Caroline Newnes? Louise Manning Hodgkins? Bert Lahr? Ted Ray? John Diefenbaker? Milton Berle? Anonymous?

Snow on the roof with a fire in the hearth

Question for Quote Investigator: The emergence of grey hair is inevitable as a person ages. Yet, most senior citizens are able to maintain their energy and vitality. A family of sayings uses figurative language to reflect this viewpoint. Here are two instances:

(1) There may be snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the furnace.

(2) Just because there’s frost on the windows, it doesn’t mean that the boiler’s gone out.

Would you please explore the provenance of this family?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This metaphorical framework has been expressed in many different ways which makes it difficult to trace. Below is an overview with dates:

1899: Snow on the roof but fire on the hearth (Written about some senior attendees of a meeting of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society held in Cleveland, Ohio)

1900: Snow on Baldy’s roof, but there’s a good warm fire inside (Spoken by a U.S. veteran at a meeting held in Vermont)

1902: Snow on the roof-tree, but there’s warmth and good cheer beneath (Written by Caroline Newnes in a New York periodical)

1932: Snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the furnace (Written in a Mississippi newspaper)

1934: Snow on the roof but there is plenty of fire in the furnace (Written by a reporter attending an American Legion meeting in Texas)

1945: Snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside (Attributed to comedian Groucho Marx)

1945: Snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside (Attributed to actor Bert Lahr)

1957: Snow on the roof doesn’t mean there isn’t a warm fire in the hearth (Spoken by wife of columnist Eric Nicol)

1950s: Frost on the windows, it doesn’t mean that the boiler’s gone out (Spoken by Ted Ray)

1968: Snow on the roof but that doesn’t mean that the fire in the furnace has gone out (Spoken by former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker)

1989: Snow on the roof doesn’t mean there’s no fire in the house (Joke book of comedian Milton Berle)

Below are selected citations with details in chronological order.

In 1899 the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church held their thirtieth anniversary meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. A report about the meeting used the metaphor to describe members who had been present at the first meeting and who had risen to become secretaries in the organization. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

She would lack tenderness of sympathy and depth of appreciation of historical life who did not greet with fresh gratitude year after year the faces and forms of our secretaries, especially those whose memories begin with 1869, and who confess that they look with dazed wonder and joy at the work whose foundations they laid in prayer and heroic effort. One is reminded in working with them of snow on the roof but fire on the hearth.

The report excerpted  above appeared in the periodical “Woman’s Missionary Friend” which was edited by Louise Manning Hodgkins, but it is not certain whether she wrote the passage. Thus, the author remains anonymous.

In 1900 a newspaper in St. Johnsbury, Vermont reported on a meeting of veterans. An unnamed veteran used the metaphor:2

Informal remarks were made by Gen. Smith and Captain Clark and were warmly applauded. General Smith is now in his 84th year, but is erect and vigorous, his hair is white, but his step is firm. As one veteran expressed it: “Well, there may be snow on Baldy’s roof, but there’s a good warm fire inside!”

In 1902 “The Smart Set: A Magazine of Cleverness” published a short story by Caroline Newnes which employed the metaphor:3

There may be snow on the roof-tree, but there’s warmth and good cheer beneath.

In 1932 a newspaper in Yazoo City, Mississippi attributed the saying to an unnamed person with grey hair:4

Several middle aged men were talking the other day about their respective ages and how young some looked and how old others looked for their ages. One of the party, far on this side of middle age but with grey hair remarked, “There may be snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the furnace.”

In 1934 the expression was employed by an attendee of an American Legion meeting held in Denison, Texas:5

Editor Olds journeyed to Denison with the gang the other night to hear and see National Commander Ed Hayes. He may be small in size gents, but he’ll make a hand at any Legion gathering. There may be snow on the roof but there is plenty of fire in the furnace.

In 1936 the Governor of Indiana Paul V. McNutt told an anecdote in which the saying was used by a waitress:6

Governor McNutt says a friend with a thick thatch of white hair was studying a menu card in a Chicago restaurant “What do you suppose an old man could eat?” he asked the waitress.

“Don’t mind the snow on the roof, kid” she replied briskly, “so long as there’s fire in the furnace.”

In 1938 the saying appeared in a Montana newspaper:7

“Mary,” he remarked to his wife, “it seems that I’m getting pretty gray.” “Don’t worry about that, John,” she replied, “I don’t mind snow on the roof as long as there’s a fire in the furnace.”

In 1945 a Hollywood gossip column attributed an instance to Groucho Marx:8

Groucho Marx told Ingrid Bergman the other day that he wants to play a romantic lead opposite her pictures. “But, Groucho, you have gray hair,” objected Ingrid. “Well,” snorted Groucho, “just because there’s snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside.”

Also, in 1945 a different Hollywood gossip column attributed an instance to actor Bert Lahr:9

Bert Lahr once told Ruth Chatterton he wanted to play a romantic lead opposite her. “But, Bert, you have gray hair,” objected La Chatterton. . . . “Well,” snorted Lahr, “just because there’s snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside!”

English comedian Ted Ray had a BBC radio show from 1949 to 1960. A wife character was played by Kitty Bluett up until 1954.10 A recent biography titled “Just a Regular Bloke: The Ted Ray Story” printed an excerpt from a radio script:11

KITTY: Go away, you silly thing! Flirting in the kitchen! I thought you were past that sort of thing.

TED: Listen — just because there’s frost on the windows, it doesn’t mean that the boiler’s gone out.

In 1957 a newspaper in Hamilton, Ontario printed an instance with the word “hearth”:12

“And because there’s snow on the roof doesn’t mean there isn’t a warm fire in the hearth.”

In 1968 former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker celebrated his 73rd birthday, and he employed the saying:13

“I’ve been in Parliament only 28 1/2 years,” said the former Conservative prime minister in an interview. He put heavy stress on the “only.” “There may be snow on the roof but that doesn’t mean that the fire in the furnace has gone out.”

In 1989 “Milton Berle’s Private Joke File” included the following item:14

An older man explains his interest in young women: “Just because there’s snow on the roof doesn’t mean there’s no fire in the house!”

In 1996 the saying appeared in the compilation “A Dictionary of American Proverbs”:15

Just because there’s snow on the roof, that doesn’t mean the fire’s out inside. Rec. dist.: U.S.

In conclusion, the earliest instance of this family of sayings found by QI appeared in “Woman’s Missionary Friend” in 1899 with the phrasing “Snow on the roof but fire on the hearth”. The editor of the magazine was Louise Manning Hodgkins, but QI does not know whether she wrote the article containing the saying. Also, earlier instances may be discovered by future researchers. The phrasing of the proverb has evolved over time, e.g., the fire has been located in “hearth”, “furnace”, and “boiler”.

Image Notes: Illustration of snow on the roof with smoke exiting a chimney from John Nzoka at Unsplash. The image has been cropped.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Nigel Rees who mentioned this saying in his October 2023 newsletter. Rees noted that the comedian Ted Ray used an instance with “frost on the windows”. This led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks also to researchers Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro who included this saying in “The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs”.

  1. 1899 December, Woman’s Missionary Friend, Volume 31, Number 6, The Meeting of the Executive Committee of 1899, Quote Page 192, Column 2, Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  2. 1900 September 5, The St. Johnsbury Republican, Honored Guests, Quote Page 2, Column 2, St. Johnsbury, Vermont. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  3. 1902 July, The Smart Set: A Magazine of Cleverness, Volume 7, Number 3, Under the White Flag by Caroline Newnes, Start Page 159, Quote Page 160, Column 2, Ess Ess Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  4. 1932 October 25, The Yazoo City Herald, Along Main Street by A. D. V., Quote Page 1, Column 2, Yazoo City, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  5. 1934 March 15, The Healdton Herald, American Legion and Auxiliary News, Quote Page 1, Column 4, Healdton, Oklahoma. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  6. 1936 November 29, The Kansas City Star, Random Thoughts, Quote Page 10D, Column 3, Kansas City, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  7. 1938 June 23, Fallon County Times, Other Papers Say (Acknowledge Lemon Leader), Quote Page 7, Column 2,Baker, Montana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  8. 1945 February 9, The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, Our Film Folk by Leon Gutterman, Quote Page 11, Column 2, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  9. 1945 March 2, The Albertan, Movie Notes, Quote Page 7, Column 5, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  10. 2023 October, The Quote Unquote Newsletter, Volume 32, Number 4, Edited by Nigel Rees, Section: The Boiler’s Gone Out, Quote Page 8 and 9, Published and Distributed by Nigel Rees, Hillgate Place, London, Website: www.quote-unquote.org.uk ↩︎
  11. 2023, Just a Regular Bloke: The Ted Ray Story by Anthony Slide, Chapter 4: Radio and Ray’s a Laugh, Unnumbered Page, BearManor Media, Orlando, Florida. (Google Books Preview) ↩︎
  12. 1957 July 16, The Hamilton Spectator, They Can’t Be Grey Hairs, Eric! by Eric Nicol, Quote Page 25, Column 3, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  13. 1968 September 18,  Toronto Daily Star, 73 today Dief never felt better, Quote Page 50, Column 3, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  14. 1989, Milton Berle’s Private Joke File: Over 10,000 of His Best Gags, Anecdotes, and One-Liners by Milton Berle, Edited by Milt Rosen, Section: Aging and the Aged, Quote Page 25, Crown Publishers, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  15. 1996 (1992 Copyright), A Dictionary of American Proverbs, Edited by Wolfgang Mieder, Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie B. Harder, Topic: Snow, Quote Page 550, Oxford University Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
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