“Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time”

“Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time” is a saying about eating fast food in a car that has been printed on many images. “And remember, onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time” was written by American humorist Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) in her newspaper column on October 24, 1989.
 
Bombeck previously had written about “onion rings in the (car—ed.) upholstery” in a column on December 8, 1978.
   
   
Wikipedia: Erma Bombeck
Erma Louise Bombeck (née Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that described suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. Bombeck also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers. From 1965 to 1996, Erma Bombeck wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read twice-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.
 
8 December 1978, The State Journal (East Lansing, MI), “Child-raising ideas injurious” by Erma Bombeck, Pg. C-2, col. 1:
“Supposed you had a 17-year-old boy who wanted to borrow the car for an evening and when he returned it, there was mud all over the tires and fenders, onion rings in the upholstery and the gas gauge was on E?”
(...)
“Then you don’t feel the borrower should wash the car or vacuum the onion rings out of the car?”
 
“You are assuming that the onion rings were put there by the borrower. The age of the rings would have to be checked to see if they were old or new.” 
 
24 October 1989, Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR), “At Wit’s End: Fast food generation gets list of restaurant do’s and don’ts” by Erma Bombeck, pg. 5E, col. 4:
And remember, onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.
     
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Celebrate - Food - Daily
@Foodimentary
Food~Quote: “Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.”~Erma Bombeck   ~ found out the hard way Erma. ~
12:42 AM - 11 Jan 2009
 
Google Books
Eat the Year:
366 Fun and Fabulous Food Holidays to Celebrate Every Day
By Steff Deschenes
New York, NY: Running Press
2014
Pg. 204:
NATIONAL ONION RING DAY
“Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.” —Erma Bombeck
 
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Quote Of The Day Today:
  “Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.” - Erma Bombeck, 1979
7:57 AM - 21 Feb 2019