# Where Did the Meme "I Don't Do Windows" Come From?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 29, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658 "2008-09-29T02:31:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/21 "2025-11-09T16:03:09Z")
also, here’s a possibly relevant issue: the number of panes.
Modern windows in America are one single pane of glass.
So they can be washed easily with a rag or a squeegee, in a single swipe.
But in England, and older houses, windows were made of many, many little panes, each inserted between the ridges of a metal frame, like this:
> **[Tudor Style Windows | Beautiful Classic Leaded Glass Diamonds](https://www.stainedglasswindows.com/tudor-style-windows/?srsltid=AfmBOooARH27cx9uPbBAvZu1dW90oL_RdNIT2pCXPMJUdxTtR9z8nq_L)**
>
> Classics like Tudor Style Windows still create an enviable look that will persist for years to come. Beautiful Classic Diamonds glass windows.
So washing the window is MUCH more difficult–it means scrubbing a hundred separate panes, when dirt collects in the corners each pane.
---
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/22 "2025-11-09T17:22:02Z")
The folks who live across the street from me use a cleaning service once a week. The service does not do windows. As previously mentioned they would have to use ladders and a very long squeegee.
My Ma has 2 large big bay windows in her house (this is the house I grew up in). From time to time I will clean them for her. I concur it’s quite a pain in the ass.
---
### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/23 "2025-11-09T22:15:05Z")
> [@Misciel](#):
>
> FWIW, I just asked Claude AI the same question. At first, it had no idea what I was referring to. Then, when I mentioned sitcoms, it produced the following answer.
> [@](#):
>
> “Ah, that makes sense! This was indeed a sitcom trope, particularly in American TV from the mid-20th century… "
If AI doesn’t tell you _specifically_ which sitcoms, then it’s likely just telling you what it “thinks” you want to hear.
---
### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/24 "2025-11-09T22:27:25Z")
> [@pkbites](#):
>
> The folks who live across the street from me use a cleaning service once a week. The service does not do windows. As previously mentioned they would have to use ladders and a very long squeegee.
I have a weekly cleaning done, but I learned a long time ago to not pay for the project (cleaning the house) but by the person-hour instead. The first cleaning service I ever hired was great, for a few months, but they then started spending less and less time on our house while getting the same agreed upon amount of money. After that, I only hired people who agreed to work for x person-hours for y amount. At my current place, we agreed on 4 person-hours, which is at least 1 person-hour more than a competent crew would need to clean our house properly. They use that extra time to do things that a normal cleaning service (including them) would only do during a deep clean, such as removing and cleaning light fixture globes, cleaning the top of interior doors, removing and cleaning vents and registers, and yes, even our windows. They seem to rotate through those side tasks, so all of those things are cleaned at least a couple of times a year.
---
### Author:  [@Misciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misciel)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/25 "2025-11-09T23:18:13Z")
Oh, I absolutely agree! Still, it’s an interesting idea as a long-standing trope that gets reinvented every now & then…
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/26 "2025-11-09T23:31:54Z")
Google N0gram Viewer shows a blip around 1900, then you get a low simmer starting in the 1930s, but it really took off in about 1973. The Jeffersons started in 1965, so the rise in use predates that show.
> **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=don%27t%2Bdo%2Bwindows&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=true)**
>
> Google Ngrams: don't do windows, 1800-2022
The earliest use that shows up in Google Books is in the 1979 play _The Latest Mrs. Adams: A comedy-mystery in two acts_ by George Tibbets.
The AI on Google seems to think it originated in the 1960s, which is consistent with the N-gram result.
---
### Author:  [@Misciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misciel)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/27 "2025-11-10T00:58:04Z")
The Jeffersons started in 1975, BTW. But I believe that I saw it in “Bewitched” (1964-72) as well…
---
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/28 "2025-11-10T03:38:30Z")
The first press account I could find was from 1972, and it was said by none other than. . . Flip Wilson. Actually, it was part of a Valentine’s Day rhyme:
_My sister don’t do windows.
My momma don’t do floors.
If you’re willing to be my love,
Honey, I’ll do yours._
The next press accounts I could find were from 1975 relating some dialog from “Maude.”
Personally, the first time I ever heard it was in 1973, uttered by Sammy Davis Jr. in an ep of “The NBC Follies.”
---
### Author:  [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/29 "2025-11-11T05:40:29Z")
I spent a couple winters cleaning windows when I was landscaping. There are a few trade specific tools, applicator/brush, razors, squeegees, buckets - all of which you would get from a janitorial equipment supplier.
The biggest thing I see though is you have to clean the outside first. That may require a ladder and/or extension handles, and appropriate clothing. I don’t see it as practical for someone who is so focused on interior cleaning. Most windows don’t need cleaning that often either. Cleaners usually have a set of tasks they do every visit and then put aside some time for tasks that may be more involved but are not regular. Those tasks still have to fit around the regular cleaning. Cleaning windows, especially the exterior portion doesn’t fit into it that well. It makes a lot of sense for specialized service.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/30 "2025-11-11T11:39:07Z")
Here’s a case from 1971, and in the right context
### [Newsweek - Volume 77, Issues 18-26 - Page 73](https://books.google.com/books?id=HuPjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22don%27t+do+windows%22&dq=%22don%27t+do+windows%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&printsec=frontcover&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0lZeKgeqQAxXuIEQIHUbOFi04FBDoAXoECAwQAw)
[books.google.com › books](https://books.google.com/books?id=HuPjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22don%27t+do+windows%22&dq=%22don%27t+do+windows%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&printsec=frontcover&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0lZeKgeqQAxXuIEQIHUbOFi04FBDoAXoECAwQAw)
1971 · Snippet view
**Found inside – Page 73**
… _ **don’t do windows** _ , I don’t do ironing . " " What do you do ? " asked Mrs. Arroyo . " I do dust- ing . " " I do dusting , too , " said Mrs. Ar- royo , terminating the interview . As the woman left she fired back , " I don’t like working …
I’m pretty sure I heard the phrase in the 1960s, but I can’t find any examples online
---
### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658/31 "2025-11-30T15:54:36Z")
A woman I used to work with–she is Black, significantly–quit an office job (she had a clerical position) on the spot because her clueless White supervisor offhandedly asked her to clean her (the supervisor’s) window. “Do you have any idea how much racial baggage there is in that request?” I didn’t press her for details, but clearly, this is something with some history to it.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-meme-i-dont-do-windows-come-from/465658.md?page=1)