“Why did the potato cross the road?”/“He saw a fork up ahead.”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A potato version is:
 
Q: Why did the potato cross the road? 
A: He saw a fork up ahead.
 
The potato joke has been cited in print since at least 1984.
     
       
25 January 1984, Journal Star (Peoria, IL), “Etc.,” pg. B1, col. 1:
Why did the potato cross the road? Because he saw a fork up ahead.
   
1 February 1984, The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor-St. Joseph, MI), “Spud Humor,” pg. 5, col. 3:
Why did the potato cross the road? 
Because he saw a fork up ahead!
   
Google Books
The Great Potato Book
By Meredith Hughes and Thomas Hughes
New York, NY: Macmillan
1986
Pg. 73:
Question: Why did the potato cross the road?
Answer: he saw a fork up ahead.
 
7 April 1998, The Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), “Mr. Potato Head’s Legacy” by Susan G. Hauser, pg. A16, col. 3:
Q: Why dud the potato cross the road?
A: Because he saw a fork up ahead.
 
Twitter
Trevor McCombie
@McC1971
Why did the potato cross the road? He saw a fork up ahead.
5:09 AM - 19 Aug 2009
   
Google Books
Teacher’s Joke and Story Book
Collected by Stanley B. Graham
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2016
Pg. ?:
Q. Why did the potato cross the road?
A. He saw a fork up ahead.
 
Twitter
lorraine Jo King
@LahLahBean
#badjokethursday
Why did the potato cross the road? 
He saw a fork up ahead.
12:23 AM - 21 Jun 2018