Jean-Paul Sartre? George Carlin? Slavoj Žižek? O. O. McIntyre? Sewell Ford? Billy Wilder? Leo Rosten? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Philosophers, linguists, and humorists enjoy the following joke about tacit knowledge: A person enters a café and requests coffee without cream. After a delay the waiter returns and says “I’m sorry. We’re out of cream. Would you like to have coffee without milk?”
This joke has been attributed to the philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Slavoj Žižek. It also been linked to the humorists George Carlin and Leo Rosten. Would you please explore its provenance?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “The Mansfield News” of Mansfield, Ohio in January 1921. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
“Give me a cup of coffee without cream.”
“You’ll have to take it without milk. We haven’t any cream.”
That from Johnny Hines’ new Torchy comedy.
U.S. actor Johnny Hines was a star of the silent film era. He appeared in a series of short films about a redheaded office worker named “Torchy”. The film titles included “Torchy Comes Through” (1920), “Torchy in High” (1920), and “Torchy’s Millions” (1920). The films were based on a series of books by Sewell Ford which began with “Torchy”2 in 1911.
QI has not seen these films. Also, QI has not examined all these books; hence, QI has not verified the presence or absence of this joke. Thus, the creator of the gag remains anonymous, at this time.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading “Joke Origin: “Give Me a Cup of Coffee Without Cream” “You’ll Have To Take It Without Milk. We Haven’t Any Cream””