Reference for: Why be half safe?

[Moose Hatrack]

Somebody must know where the question "Why be half safe" comes from. I'm betting that it is an advertising slogan. Or is it a tag line from another show? Anyway, Jack and his writers sure liked it!

[JohnM]

A quick googling cites this quote by the wrestler Gorgeous George, presumably in the 1950s:

As part of his act, exhibition wrestler Gorgeous George would have the ring sprayed with disinfectant before a bout, a special mixture allegedly containing Chanel No. 5 -- although George claimed it was "Chanel No. 10," saying "why be half safe?

No idea if that's the origin or just another notable usage. Looks like the expression has been used in lots of different ways over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanel_No._5

[Moose Hatrack]

O'Google must have twice the search power of regular Google! All I got by Googling why be half safe was a bunch of references to an amphibious Jeep which crossed the Atlantic in the fifties. Gorgeous George himself was part of more than one punch line on the Benny program, wasn't he?
If I can figure out how, I'll switch to O'Google myself. After all... why be half safe?

[JohnM]

Google.ie is no better than .com. Didja put quotes around it? Recommended for phrases full of common words like "why" and "be"...

[Yhtapmys]

Somebody must know where the question "Why be half safe" comes from.

Arrid Deodorant. "Don't be half safe -- it's easy to be sure!"

Here's the slogan on a postage meter!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slogan-Meter-Use-Ar ... otohosting

Yhtapmys

[Moose Hatrack]

Personal hygiene IS excellent comedy. "Kitty, have you tried Sen-sen?" Thanks to both of you. Can't wait to get home and explain the reference to the wife and kids. And... I will certainly mess with quotes next time I O'Google.
That graphic on that envelope stamp is also interesting. I never knew (or thought about) how early deodorants were packaged and applied. Now that I know, I hope I can forget.

[Brad from Georgia]

Personal hygiene IS excellent comedy. "Kitty, have you tried Sen-sen?" Thanks to both of you. Can't wait to get home and explain the reference to the wife and kids. And... I will certainly mess with quotes next time I O'Google.
That graphic on that envelope stamp is also interesting. I never knew (or thought about) how early deodorants were packaged and applied. Now that I know, I hope I can forget.

I can remember when Arrid came as a creme in a white porcelain-like jar. Indeed, I remember when 5-Day Deodorant Pads were a great innovation because one did not have to dip fingers into goop to apply the stuff.

I'm not sure whether 5-Day Pads actually made you fully safe for five whole days, however.

[scottp]

Doesn't the line occur when the alarms are going off at Jack's vault, right after the "foghorn" sound? I THINK a foghorn sounding like "BEEE-OHHH" was used by Lifebuoy (again, personal hygene. B.O.= body odor.)
Corrections welcome.

[CBSTelevisionCity]

I have heard "DON'T BE HALF-SAFE!" in some of Spike Jones' 1940s RCA Victor recordings.

- William Carroll, Denham Springs, Louisiana