# Origin of quote - don't you believe it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162 "2008-11-04T22:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/1 "2008-11-04T22:53:01Z")
Does anyone know the origin of this quote, the words “d-o-n-'t y-o-u b-e-l-i-e-v-e i-t” in a deep booming voice. Used in a few cartoons: [Mouse Trouble](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RGIQGHBazg)(1944) [Big Top Bunny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRk_h7JHdHo) (1951) [The Missing Mouse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjxA9v3nmU) (1953) I get the impression that it’s a reference to some movie or radio show that would be familiar to audiences in the forties and fifties. Anyone know what it is? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/2 "2008-11-04T23:29:11Z")
Probably from : > **[Don't You Believe It (Short 1943) ⭐ 6.2 | Short](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143221/)** > > 11m | Approved but I cannot find a sound sample. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/3 "2008-11-05T00:17:48Z")
There was a series of popular radio shorts before the newsreel. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/4 "2008-11-05T14:56:25Z")
It probably influenced this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGerw6xPSxI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGerw6xPSxI) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/5 "2008-11-06T17:49:14Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > There was a series of popular radio shorts before the newsreel. I don’t follow what you mean. What was this series of radio shorts? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/6 "2008-11-06T18:10:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I don’t follow what you mean. What was this series of radio shorts? It was just like the newsreels, only made for radio. They ran on CBS - “The Columbia Broadcasting System.” I probably still have them around somewhere in .mp3 format - at least I did c. 2000. _Passing Parade_ had different themes from year to year – _Don’t You Believe It_ was similar to NBC’s long-running _Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/7 "2008-11-06T19:45:52Z")
So you actually have the recordings? And it contains that soundbyte? I’d be interested to hear some of those. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/8 "2008-11-06T20:29:01Z")
I’ll see if I can dig 'em up - I have a ridiculous amount of OTR on cd-r, but it’s not obsessively catalogued or organized - just boxes of discs. ---
**Author:** ![Crpetersen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@Crpetersen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crpetersen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/9 "2013-12-24T09:43:42Z")
‘Don’t you believe it!’ was a radio program back in the mid to late forties. This program was run by Toby Reed. I listened to a program of it… In the beginning of the show they list off a number of trivia type things, and say if you believe so and so … Don’t you believe it! then goes on to explain what really happened in a kind of documentary style. I myself was quite curious, knowing that Tom and Jerry and other cartoons were made during world War II at first I thought it might have been a reference to Winston Churchill telling the British not to fear and ‘don’t you believe it’ for the propaganda being sent by the German’s of that time. So look it up , could be fun - the radio show was called ‘Don’t you believe it’ I have seen reference to programs in 1946 and 1947 On a side note their chef sponsor seems to have been Almond Roca , a confection made by Brown & Haley , actually looked this up and they are still around today , the company originated in 1912. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-dont-you-believe-it/471162/10 "2013-12-24T12:08:41Z")
I love these left-field zombie answers…welcome **crpetersen** and please stick around! Random episode recap from the show: [http://otrrpedia.net/newsclips/00/222.gif](http://otrrpedia.net/newsclips/00/222.gif)