“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it”

“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it” is a one-liner that has been attributed to Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980), a humorist who wrote many quips and quotes for publications such as the Saturday Evening Post. “The trouble with being punctual is there’s nobody there to appreciate it” was cited in a beer advertisement in June 1951, but probably appeared earlier in the Saturday Evening Post.
 
   
Squidoo
Franklin P. Jones (1908 - 1980) was a Philadelphia reporter, public relations executive and humorist. He wrote quips and quotes that entertained readers of major publications for years.
 
He was known nationally during the 1940s and 50s for his column “Put it this Way” in the Saturday Evening Post. “Put it this Way” set a record as the longest continuously published feature in the Saturday Evening Post.
 
He was an accomplished “paragrapher” - a writer who condenses humorous or thought provoking ideas into paragraph form. His quips and quotes were published (often anonymously) in numerous publications, including Reader’s Digest, the Wall Street Journal, Changing Times and Quote magazine.
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“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.”
 
Google News Archive
27 June 1951, The Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, IA), pg. 12, col. 2 ad:
STAR DUST
The trouble with being punctual is there’s nobody there to appreciate it.
—Col. Starbottle
(Star Beer—ed.)
 
3 July 1952, Evening World-Herald (Omaha, NE), pg. 14, col. 5:
Alone
Chicago Tribune.
The trouble with being punctual is that there’s usually nobody around to appreciate it.
 
18 April 1954, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), Walter Winchell column, sec. 3, pg. 2, col. 8:
F. P. Jones: The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.
 
Google Books
Treasury of Wit & Humor
Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association
1958
Pg. 83:
Franklin P. Jones: The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it. — The Saturday Evening Post
 
Google Books
Business Wit & Wisdom
By Richard S. Zera
Washington, DC: Beard Books
2005
Pg. 260:
The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it. —Franklin P. Jones
 
Google Books
New Treasury of Stories for Every Speaking and Writing Occasion
By Jacob Morton Braude
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1959
Pg. 326:
The trouble with being punctual is that there’s nobody there to appreciate it.
 
24 April 1973, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Line o’ Type‎,” pg. 12:
Another problem with being punctual Is that everyone thinks you have nothing to do. Sara C. Morris.
 
Google Books
And I Quote:
The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker
By Ashton Applewhite, William R. Evans III and Andrew Frothingham
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
1992
Pg. 359:
The trouble with being punctual is that there’s nobody there to appreciate it. — Harold Rome
 
Google Books
The Law of the Office:
A Guide to the Culture of Working Nine to Five
By Karen Farrington
London: Robson Books
2006
Pg. 67:
Jones, Franklin. P. (1887-1929).
“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.”