# What was the first use of the expression “honey, I’m home” in popular culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027 "2022-03-31T03:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MarkSh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MarkSh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkSh)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/1 "2022-03-31T03:14:08Z")
It’s something a man or woman says when returning to their perfect 1950s era sitcom house. What was the first novel or show or movie to use this line in this context? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/2 "2022-03-31T03:37:46Z")
No research or anything just throwing out the oldest TV show I can think of where this was said is I Love Lucy. But now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t remember a specific instance where it was said. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/3 "2022-03-31T05:01:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I don’t remember a specific instance where it was said. I think he specifically said “Lucy, I’m home”. and somewhat famously never actually said “Lucy, you’ve got some 'splainin to do!” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/4 "2022-03-31T10:31:46Z")
> [@MarkSh](#): > > It’s something a man or woman says when returning to their perfect 1950s era sitcom house. > > What was the first novel or show or movie to use this line in this context? By “this context”, are you specifically referring to the 1950s and to sitcoms? If so, then this line was probably never uttered in a movie, since movies aren’t generally sitcoms. (Though maybe I’m wrong and there were some series of pre-feature comedy shorts that featured the same cast of characters in the same setting. But even if so, I doubt they would have survived to the 1950s.) Novels also aren’t sitcoms, except if you really stretch the definition. Offhand I can’t think of any novel series that uses anything like the sitcom format. If you really want the earliest sitcom occurrence, you might want to look instead to radio series. I bet there were still radio sitcoms in the 1950s, and so the first “Honey, I’m home!” might have been uttered on one of them rather than on TV. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/5 "2022-03-31T12:26:21Z")
I love Lucy, The Munsters, Dick Van Dyke Show. Batman Returns, Selina Kyle said it every time she returned to her apartment. Honey I’m home, oh I forgot I’m not married. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0_zWfcMO_zU/maxresdefault.jpg "Batman Returns Scene: Selina Kyle's Apartment") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_zWfcMO_zU) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XcQlzNNRK1o/maxresdefault.jpg "The birth of Catwoman | Batman Returns") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcQlzNNRK1o) ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/6 "2022-03-31T14:23:10Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > If you really want the earliest sitcom occurrence, you might want to look instead to radio series. I bet there were still radio sitcoms in the 1950s, and so the first “Honey, I’m home!” might have been uttered on one of them rather than on TV. After reading this, I realized radio would be the way to go. The story needs to advance and hearing “Honey, I’m home!” would introduce the character the fastest. Television is more visual so Dick Van Dyke (for example) just had to open the front door. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/7 "2022-03-31T14:48:35Z")
“Father Knows Best” (NBC Radio, 1949) definitely used the expression. Anything earlier? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/8 "2022-03-31T15:02:25Z")
The phrase is so tied to old-fashioned sitcoms, that it was the title of [a 90s sitcom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_Honey,_I%27m_Home!) that featured a 50s television family supposedly transported into the real world, to try to riff on old sitcom tropes. I vaguely remember watching it and somewhat liking it. Julie Benz (of later Buffy/Angel/Dexter fame) was the 50s teenage daughter. Apparently, they had also cast future Backstreet Boy AJ McLean as a neighbor, but he was recast after they shot the original pilot and wasn’t on the show. But that just goes to show you how classic the phrase is, that it can be used as a show title to automatically associate it with old sitcoms. ETA: Apparently there was a British sitcom called “[Heil Honey I’m Home!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil_Honey_I%27m_Home!)” which starred Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun living next door to a Jewish couple, and was so controversial it was canceled after one episode. It was also a spoof on 50s sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/9 "2022-03-31T16:12:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The phrase is so tied to old-fashioned sitcoms, that it was the title of [a 90s sitcom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_Honey,_I%27m_Home!) that featured a 50s television family supposedly transported into the real world, to try to riff on old sitcom tropes. It’s also the title of a book about sitcoms. > **[Honey, I'm Home!](https://books.google.com/books?id=vL6GBI5JFKIC&newbks=0)** > > Gerard Jone's Honey, I'm Home! has been widely acclaimed as the premier primer on America's Morality Plays-the TV situation comedies that have chained us to our Barcaloungers ever since Lucy first bawled her way into our hearts. Recalling the best... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/10 "2022-04-01T19:14:34Z")
I wonder if _ **Blondie** _ (1938–1950) was the first filmed series to approximate the later TV sitcom focused on a typical American family? > **[Blondie (film series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_(film_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Blondie film series is an American comedy film series based on the comic strip of the same name, created by Chic Young. The series featured Penny Singleton as Blondie Bumstead and Arthur Lake as Dagwood Bumstead. Concurrently the film adventures were continued, with the same cast reprising their roles, in the Blondie radio series. > Columbia Pictures produced the films from 1938 to 1943, and popular demand brought them back in 1945. Columbia la... I can imagine Arthur Lake walking through the front door and saying “Honey, I’m home!” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/11 "2022-04-01T20:26:52Z")
Did the old radio shows include the phrase? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/12 "2022-04-01T23:09:15Z")
Dunno, I’ve never heard them. I did see a lot of the movies, though. They were shown on TV every Saturday or Sunday afternoon back in the early '60s, just like the Bowery Boys. I just don’t remember if Dagwood ever used the phrase. It was almost 60 years ago ---
**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:** [April 3, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/13 "2022-04-03T23:48:41Z")
Here’s an instance from 1938 > **[This Proud Heart](https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/This_Proud_Heart/3SQOAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Honey%2BI%27m%2Bhome%22&dq=%22Honey%2BI%27m%2Bhome%22&printsec=frontcover)** > > "In the 1930s, as her second marriage approaches, a brilliant and independent sculptor faces tensions between her art and everyday life in this novel by the author of The Good Earth. This Proud Heart narrates the experience of a gifted sculptor and... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/14 "2022-04-04T00:09:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Here’s an instance from 1938 > > [Google Books](https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/This_Proud_Heart/3SQOAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Honey+I%27m+home%22&dq=%22Honey+I%27m+home%22&printsec=frontcover) Hmmm. I think a bit more context would help here. 🤔 ---
**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:** [April 4, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/15 "2022-04-04T00:21:28Z")
That’s frequently true of Google Books snippets. [And here](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22i%27m+home+honey%22&sxsrf=APq-WBvQ-N47OXZ9wXQDKUMCU4iWMge1_g%3A1649031732382&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1916%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1916&tbm=bks)’s a possibility from 1916. Text this garbled is usually in two columns, and it’s reading across the rows. Hard to separate one column from the other here. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/16 "2022-04-04T00:45:35Z")
Just out of curiosity, has anyone at this site ever called out “Honey, I’m home!” as they walked through the front door after coming home from work? Or heard someone else do it? In real life, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/17 "2022-04-04T01:29:51Z")
Jokingly? Sure, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/18 "2022-04-04T16:00:10Z")
This is circa 1998, so probably not the earliest: > **[Honey, I'm Home by Jack Ziegler](https://condenaststore.com/featured/honey-im-home-jack-ziegler.html)** > > Honey, I'm Home Drawing by Jack Ziegler ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/19 "2022-04-04T16:03:40Z")
I’ve done it too. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027/20 "2022-04-04T16:06:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Just out of curiosity, has anyone at this site ever called out “Honey, I’m home!” as they walked through the front door after coming home from work? “I’m home,” yes, but not “Honey, I’m home.” I’m more apt to call my kids honey than my spouse. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-use-of-the-expression-honey-i-m-home-in-popular-culture/962027.md?page=2)