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