"Why did the skeleton cross the road?"/"To…

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A skeleton version is:

Q: Why did the skeleton cross the road?
A: To get to the body shop.

The riddle has been cited in print since at least 1991 and has been printed on many images.

“Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?”/“He didn’t have any guts” is a related riddle.

Newspapers.com
16 June 1991, Sioux City (IA) Sunday Journal, “Kids’ Spot,” comic sec., Pg. ?:
WHY DID THE SKELETON CROSS THE ROAD?
TO GET TO THE BODY SHOP

Google Books
Kids’ Funniest Jokes
Edited by Sheila Anne Barry
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1993
Pg. 80:
Why did the skeleton cross the road?
To get to the body shop. BRIAN NEDJELSKI, 10

Google Groups: alt.drunken.bastards
NORTH AMERICAN PENPALS
Jaz
Nov 19, 1996, 3:00:00 AM
(...)
Boom Boom Jaz - Why did the skeleton cross the road?
—
Boom Boom Jaz - To get to the body shop..

Google Books
Best Riddle Book Ever
By Charles Keller
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1997
Pg. 38:
Why did the skeleton cross the road?
To get to the body shop.

Google Groups: alt.magic
Chicken jokes needed
Mattias Andersson
Feb 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM
(...)
Why did the skeleton cross the road?
To get to the body shop.

Google Books
July 1997, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 70, col. 1:
Fritz: Why did the skeleton cross the road?
Chris: Why?
Fritz: Because there was a body shop on the other side.
— David Dodson, Pikeville, N.C.

Google Groups: alt.ozdebate.jokes
HALLOWEEN JOKES! #2
Danno
Oct 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM
(...)
Q: Why did the skeleton cross the road??
A: To get to the body shop!
—From Martha

Twitter
kendra k
@kendrak
grape laffy taffy is gross.
why did the skeleton cross the road?
to get to the body shop.
11:37 AM · Dec 10, 2007·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Tim Landes
@TimLandesJr
Why’d the skeleton cross the road? To get to the body shop. Oh, laffy taffy.
11:29 AM · Mar 26, 2009·Twitter SMS

Twitter
Jimmy RevJim Olsen
@mybuddyjimmy
Why did the skeleton cross the road? To get to the body shop. #LaughoftheDay
8:28 AM · Oct 19, 2021 from West Des Moines, IA·Twitter for iPhone

“Why did the skeleton cross the road?”/“To get to the body shop.”