Don’t take a good joke for Grant-ed.
Most people have heard the joke “who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” but New Yorkers and tourists at the famous Morningside Heights landmark this week couldn’t agree what the punchline is.
The obvious answer is the so-obvious-it-can’t-be-correct “Grant” as in Civil War general and former US President Ulysses S. Grant. But maybe it’s also “Grant and his wife” — or no one at all.
“Actually, he’s entombed. He’s not buried!” said S.F., who was visiting the tomb on the Upper West Side on July 23, the 140th anniversary of Grant’s death.
“It’s Grant and his wife, Julia,” S.F. added. “I don’t know whether his dog is in there or not.”
“Definitely not Grant, but somebody,” joked Abdullah Hashimi, 19, who was visiting the tomb from nearby Columbia University on July 23, the 140th anniversary of Grant’s death. “Just because it’s Grant Tomb, it could be anybody!”
Lifelong New Yorker Pat Sopak, 75, said the punchline has changed over the years — to maximize it’s punch.
“It’s too weird. It’s obvious,” Sopak said. “It’s constantly updating.”
Grant was a Republican from Ohio, but lived in the Big Apple for several years. The former Union Army hero’s 1885 funeral was reportedly attended by 1.5 million at a time when the city’s entire population was 2 million.
But the 150-foot-tall monument in Riverside Park didn’t open until April 27, 1897, after a fundraising effort by the Grand Monument Association.
Today it attracts about 110,000 visitors per year and is run by the National Parks Service.
Park Ranger Miranda Allen said she’s asked about “who’s buried in Grant’s tomb” nearly everyday. She attributed its origins to “You Bet Your Life,” the Groucho Marx-hosted quiz show from the 1950s and said it was written as an easy question for Marx’s contestants who might need redemption.
“However, they didn’t consider the semantics of the question when they wrote it. So, when you’re asked ‘who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?’ it’s easy to assume, well, it’s Grant. Sometimes we’ll get ‘well, actually it’s Grant and his wife.’”
Allen said the joke’s on them though — the correct answer really is “no one.”
“Because in order to be buried, you have to be in the ground.” Allen said. “And given that this is a mausoleum, since the remains are in sarcophagi, so they’re actually above ground. So no one is buried in Grant’s Tomb.”
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