“I spent a year in that town, one Sunday”
“I spent a year in that town, one Sunday” is what someone from a big city might say about a small town. The quote has been cited in print since at least 1937 and has been credited to English novelist Warwick Deeping (1877-1950). It’s not known what town he was talking about.
New York City-born actor and comedian George Burns (1896-1996) is often given credit for the line. but there’s no evidence that he said it before Deeping.
Wikipedia: Warwick Deeping
George Warwick Deeping (28 May 1877 – 20 April 1950) was a prolific English novelist and short story writer, whose best-known novel was Sorrell and Son (1925).
4 June 1937, Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman, “Office Cat” by Junius, pg. 6, col. 1:
Don’t make them say: “I spent a year in that town one Sundav.”
8 April 1958, Anderson (IN) Herald, “Folklore” by William Wade, pg. 4, col. 9:
Warwick Deeping, the American novelist, has been quoted as saying “I spent a year in that town, one Sunday.”
1 July 1964, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “It Happened Last Night” by Earl Wilson, sec. 4, pg. 16, col. 3:
REMEMBERED QUOTE: “I spent a year in that town, one Sunday”—Warwick Deeping.
Google Books
The Comic Encyclopedia:
A Library of the Literature and History of Humor Containing Thousands of Gags, Sayings, and Stories
By Evan Esar
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1978
Pg. 649:
I spent a year in that town one Sunday.- Warwick Deeping
Google Books
The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
By Robert Andrews
New York, NY: Columbia University Press
1989
Pg. 290:
I spent a year in that town, one Sunday.
Warwick Deeping (1877-1950)
British author
Google Books
Man Walks into a Bar:
Over 6,000 of the Most Hilarious Jokes, Funniest Insults, and Gut-Busting One-Liners
By Stephen Arnott and Mike Haskins
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2007
Pg. 413:
I spent a year in that town one night.
Google Books
Make ‘Em Laugh & Take Their Money
By Dan S. Kennedy
Garden City, NY: Glazer-Kennedy Publishing
2010
Pg. 30:
I spent a year in that town one weekend.
Google Books
Tweet this Book:
The 1,400 Greatest Quotes of All Time in 140 Characters Or Less
By Sayre Van Young and Marin Van Young
Berkley, CA: Ulysses Press
2011
Pg. 157:
I spent a year in that town, one Sunday.
Warwick Deeping [also attributed to George Burns]