“Wick ends” can sound a little like “weekends.” “Does a trimmer in a candle factory ever work wick ends?” was published in a syndicated joke column in February 1953.
A riddle was printed in the Boston (MA) Sunday Herald on January 15, 1989:
Q: Why don’t candle makers work Monday through Friday?
A: They only work wick ends.
26 February 1953, The Daily Notes (Canonsburg, PA), “Noah Numskull, pg. 6, col. 1:
DEAR NOAH = DOES A TRIMMER IN A CANDLE FACTORY EVER WORK WICK ENDS?
DANIEL H. HUMMEL
WALNUTPORT, PA.
15 January 1989, Boston (MA) Sunday Herald, “Riddle Box,” comics sec., pg. ?. col. 1:
Why don’t candle makers work Monday through Friday?
They only work wick ends.
22 July 1990 Newsday (Long Island, NY), “Smiles,” Kidsday sec., pg. ?:
A candle factory. You only work wick ends. - Barbara Larkin, Syosset
8 August 1995, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), Smiley Anders column, pg. 1B, col. 1:
Waxing eloquent: Jack Oliver knows a guy who quit his job at the candle factory because they wanted him to work wick-ends.
Twitter
Lawrence Adams
@Lollyp0pp
Why do Chandlers only work two days a week? They only work wick-ends!
2:28 PM - 12 Nov 2010 from West Oxfordshire, England
Twitter
Francis Porkchop
@Flat_Francis
Back in the candle-game. Now I will have to work wick-ends. http://twitpic.com/5qoh51
4:56 PM - 15 Jul 2011
Twitter
doromo
@omonikee
#christmascrackerjokes Who has the easiest job in the world?
Candle makers, they only work wick-ends
12:15 PM - 25 Dec 2011
Twitter
AinslieCogswell
@AinslieCogswell
I used to work at a candle factory but I got fired because I wouldn’t work wick-ends.
2:22 PM - 25 Dec 2015
Twitter
Gary Love
@thecloverloves
Grandma said: “I got fired from the candle factory because I refused to work wick ends.”
5:13 AM - 14 Sep 2017
Twitter
Pat Craven
@Craven3557
I got fired from the Yankee Candle factory. I wouldn’t work wick ends.
1:40 PM - 16 Sep 2017
iNews (UK)
100 pun-based jokes that will make you laugh and cringe
by Alex Nelson Friday June 29th 2018
(...)
I got fired from the candle factory because I refused to work wicks ends!
Twitter
Paul Turner
@MoreBizWeb
I got fired from Yankee candle factory because I refused to work wick ends!
4:06 AM - 27 Apr 2018
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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