“The drunker I sit here the longer I get” (“Starkle, starkle little twink”)
“The drunker I sit here the longer I get” is some seemingly drunken nonsense that has been printed on gift items, such as T-shirts and beer mugs. The saying began as a final verse added to a drunken version of the poem “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and became popular in the early 1940s. These verses were cited in print in January 1943:
Starkle, starkle, little twink;
who the heck I are, you think?
I’m not under the alfluence of incohol,
although some thinkle peep I are.
I fool so feelish, don’t know who is me,
and the drunker I sit here the longer I be.
The authorship of the original version of “Starkle, Starkle Little Twink” is unknown.
10 March 1940, Sunday Times (Cumberland, MD), pg. 9, col. 3:
CATHERMAN’S SCHOOL
Starkle starkle little twinkle
Who the heck you are I thinkle
Up above the high so sky
Sparkle little twink.
9 October 1941, High Point (NC) Enterprise, “Walter Winchell On Broadway,” pg. 4, col. 6:
Via WAAT: “The drunker I stay— the longer I get!”
16 January 1942, Iola (KS) Register, “THis and That in Kansas” by Gordon Brown, pg. 3, col. 3:
Late, but not bad: From “M.C.” at Topeka comes this New Year’s greeting: “Mlston Lister, I have had tea mlny martoonies but I am not so much under the affluance of Inkahol as some thinkle my peep. But the drunker I stand here the longer I get.”
3 September 1942, The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH), “Rustling THru SPorts” with Russ Davies, pg. 12, col. 1:
The Postage Stamp relates that this little letter is currently going the rounds:
“Dear Chums,
I’ve only had tee Martooneys and I’m not as much under the affluence of inkohol as some thinkle peep. But the drunker I stand here, the longer I get. Soaping you are the hame.”
30 October 1942, Oakland (CA) Tribune, pg. 33, col. 1:
Bacchanalian Version
From the (illegible—ed.), an Army camp “house organ” Pilesburg (?-ed.) we glean this tid-bit, the effusion of an oiled gentleman who turned to verse:
“Starkle starkle little twink
Who the hell you are I think:
I’m not under the alcofluence of incohol,
Although some thinkle peep I am.
I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me;
The drunker I set here, the longer I get in be.”
(Try saying it rapidly.)
27 November 1942, Manitowoc (WI) Sun Messenger, pg. 1, col. 2:
Starkle, starkle little twink,
Whatinhell I are you think,
I’m not under the alfluence of incohol,
Altho some thinkle peep,
I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me,
The drunker I set here, the longer I be.
23 January 1943, San Diego (CA) Union, “Northeast Corner,” pg. B2, col. 6:
CONFUSED.
Starkle, starkle, little twink; who the heck I are, you think? I’m not under the alfluence of incohol, although some thinkle peep I are. I fool so feelish, don’t know who is me, and the drunker I sit here the longer I be.—Ima Awful Payne.
Old Fulton NY Post Cards
5 May 1943, The Herald Statesman (Yonkers, NY), “Colonel Joe Bush Says,” pg. 5, col. 5:
It’s gettin’ more and more difficult to obtain accurate information on the war and taxes and general conditions. We turned last night to the next chap at the bar and asked his opinion and this is what he said: “I fool so feelish; the drunker I sit here the longer I get.” Now, we ask you, is that cooperation?
14 May 1943, Dallas (TX) Morning News, ‘The State Press,” sec. 2, pg. 2,, col. 3:
Starkle, Starkle.
The Abernathy Review calls upon the U.S. Marine publication, Scuttlebutt, for the following contribution to the gaiety of the nation:
Starkle, starkle, little twink.
How the hell you are, you think?
I’m not under the alcofulence of incohol,
As some thinkle peep I am.
But I fool so feelish,
That the drunker I sit here, the longer I get.
Google News Archive
10 November 1947, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “Pittsburghesque” by Charles F. Danver, Daily Magazine, pg. 4, col. 2:
Well, How’s Here!
Overheard at the other end of the bar (by Attorney Frank Butler): “The drunker I sit here the longer I get.”
Google Books
Fourteen Islands in the Sun
By Charles Graves
New York, NY: Hart Pub. Co.
1968, ©1965
Pg. 20:
I fool so feelish, I don’t know
who’s me yet
But the drunker I sit here,
The longer I get.
Google Books
When You’re Up to Your Ass in Alligators:
More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire
By Alan Dundes and Carl R. Pagter
Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press
1987
Pg. 71:
This paragraph is a borrowing of the standard folk parody of"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” which goes as follows:
Starkle starkle little twink
Who the hell you are I think.
I’m not under the alcofluence of incohol
I’m not as drunk as some thinkle peep I am
And besides I only had tea Martoonies
Anyway I’ve all day Sober to sunday up in
I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me yet
But the drunker I stand here the longer I get.
The Daily News (Memphis, TN)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Speeding Yields More Tales
By Vic Fleming
(...)
My friend claims to have responded as follows: “Officer, I tell you what. I’ll do the ABCs for you if you’ll repeat after me: ‘Starkle, starkle, little twink./Who the heck you are I think./I’m not under the alcofluence of incohol/As some thinkle peep I are./Hey, drinktender, bring me another bar.’”
flickr
By heatherpix
This photo was taken on December 7, 2012.
Twinkle twinkle
“Starkle, starkle little twink
what the heck you are, I thnk
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
the drunker I sit here
the longer I get”
can’t recall the middle lines, but I expect someone will tell me !