The recent explosion of plum memes on social media — specifically, references to William Carlos Williams’s famous poem “This Is Just To Say,” which you probably studied in ninth grade and still remember — is not a random occurrence.
But if you’re feeling confused, worry not, fellow internet traveler. While it’s true that millennial humor has been shamed here and there for its apparent tendency toward Dadaist nonsense, layers of built-in meme-savviness, and bleak absurdism ...
The stranger cries out for someone, anyone, to explain what twitter means but we keep talking about baby shoes and plums and when he's at his lowest we just start chanting about orbs. He is a broken man
— Edcrab (@Edcrab_) November 30, 2017
... the rise of the “This Is Just To Say” meme has a couple of logical, easy-to-understand precursors that even those most wearied and burdened by referential internet jokes can appreciate.
Let’s take a look at them!
The “This Is Just To Say” plum meme has its roots in an Ernest Hemingway “baby shoes” meme
I know, I know, it’s Friday, and you weren’t expecting to be saddled with one highbrow literary reference, much less two. But pay attention, because this is Internet Culture at its coolest.
As a refresher, here is the text of “This Is Just To Say,” which Williams published in 1934:
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
It’s a good poem! But it’s not the only element present in the jokes about plums that are currently dominating Twitter. Instead, we must start with Ernest Hemingway’s famous “six-word novel,” which spans all of a single sentence:
For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.
But surprise! Hemingway actually didn’t originate this story, and may not have ever written it at all, even though it lives on in meme form in his name. Sorry to crush your dreams, but as it turns out, we’re just getting started.
The cultural fascination with “baby shoes, never worn” has been part of America’s communal lexicon for about a century. The idea of the “six-word story” is a recurring, romanticized idea, and it’s kept the original concept of the Hemingway-attributed baby shoes tale alive. Essentially, “baby shoes” was a 20th-century meme, before the concept took that name. And the more recent evolution of flash fiction and social media, specifically on Twitter, has furthered the story concept’s clout online.
Twitter, after all, required very short and pithy statements until very recently, which helped keep this particular six-word short story as a running gag on the platform for ages. The meme’s expansion is uniquely tied to Twitter and the succinctness of its original 140-character limit.
It’s not really accurate to say that baby shoes has always been a Twitter meme in the usual sense. Rather, it’s been a persistently reoccurring phrase and joke across the platform. But it recently got several boosts into the forefront of our collective consciousness, starting with this tweet from June:
This Is Just To Say
— Adam O'Fallon Price (@AdamOPrice) June 8, 2017
I have eaten
the baby shoes
that were
for sale
Forgive me
they were delicious
so small
and never worn
This tweet combines the “baby shoes” idea with the Williams poem — the first prominent instance of such that I’ve been able to locate. Though it would take a few months for them to be reunited once more, that glorious moment has now arrived.
The brevity of the six-word “story” made the “baby shoes” meme the perfect meme for Twitter in its former 140-character state (RIP). But then Twitter began experimenting with allowing longer tweets in September, and ultimately committed to a controversial expansion to a new 280-character limit.
What to do with “baby shoes” in a world no longer restricted to short tweets?
Well, this:
Hi so I'm calling about the baby shoes? Are they still available? Great! I just had a baby and, you know, haha, baby needs a new pair of shoes! Anyway, so are they, like, NEVER worn? Or just, like, near mint? OK, great. Like, can I ask why—like, your baby didn't like them, or di
— J. Robert Lennon (@jrobertlennon) September 27, 2017
Thanks to the tweet above, the baby shoes meme was resurging by October:
Doctor doctor
— John Cage Match (@Boringstein) October 28, 2017
Gimmie the news
I've got an
Unworn pair
Of baby shoes
This viral concept would be echoed repeatedly as Twitter users tested out their new expanded character limits:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn. They are blue and white, quite cute. These shoes will fit small feet, like newborn baby feet. Smell fresh and good, too. We got tons of gifts when our kids were born; never got around to using these. Our family is really lovely and quite happy.
— Ryan D Gantz, UGH (@sixfoot6) November 7, 2017
FOR SALE: Baby shoes. Never worn. Still in the box. The box is covered with dust but the baby shoes are wrapped in plastic. The plastic isn't for sale. It's not a package deal. I don't want to part with them but -never mind someone just bought them.
— Sam Grittner (@SamGrittner) November 8, 2017
140 Characters: For sale. Baby Shoes. Brand new. Never worn.
— Fariha (@Fay_Alif) November 10, 2017
280 Characters: https://t.co/Ch2JfuFt2z
Re-enter the plums, which take full advantage of Twitter’s new 280-character limit
Remember that very first tweet from early summer that combined the baby shoes meme with “This Is Just To Say”?
On October 10, a variant of that tweet made the rounds and went even more viral:
I have eaten
— Contentrepreneur (@BobbyPines) October 10, 2017
the baby shoes
that were in
the icebox
and which I
mistook for
shoe-shaped plums
Forgive me
they were so small
and never worn
And lo, the combination baby-shoes-and-plums meme began to spread — but this time, the plums overtook the shoes. By mid- to late-November, there were plums everywhere:
There once was a poet who ate
— Jeremy Noel-Tod (@jntod) November 20, 2017
The breakfast right off of your plate.
'Apologies, chums,'
He said, 'but those plums
In the icebox were barely in date.'
THIS IS JUST TO SAY
— Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston) November 25, 2017
I have taken
a pass
on Time Magazine’s
Man of the Year
which
they were probably
going
to give me.
Forgive me
an interview
and major photo shoot
would take
so long
and probably
is no good
but
I thanked them
anyway
my name is dan, and this is just to say
— Dan Abromowitz (@AnnDabromowitz) November 27, 2017
I ate your icebox plums in a major way
now I'm falling asleep
— thom (@thwphipps) November 27, 2017
and she's eaten my plums
now he's opened the icebox
and she's taking a plum
now I'm looking for plums
And my stomach feels sick
now it's all my head
So sweet and so cold now
a little bit of cold plums in my life
— thom (@thwphipps) November 28, 2017
a little bit of icebox by my side
a little bit of breakfast is what you need
a little bit of forgiveness, what I seek
a little bit of delicious, thats those plums
a little bit of sweet plums all night long
a little bit of cold plums here I am
And I find it kinda funny
— Diana (@logicbutton) November 29, 2017
I find it kinda sad
That your breakfast for tomorrow
Was the plums that I just had
This is Just to Say
— Jeremy Noel-Tod (@jntod) November 29, 2017
I retweeted
the-plums-
that-were-in-
the-icebox tweet
which you have
probably
already
seen
forgive meme
IM COMING OUT OF MY FRIDGE
— jomny sun (@jonnysun) December 1, 2017
AND I AM FEELING QUITE FULL
I HAVE EATEN YOUR PLUMS
THEY WERE SO SWEET AND COLD
Lest you fear that the “baby shoes” meme has been abandoned, rest assured that it persists, even if it’s not as obviously prevalent. It’s also still being remixed with the reigning champ.
Now this is a story all about how,
— Avery Edison (@aedison) November 25, 2017
Just six little words can bring you down,
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there,
I'll sell you two baby shoes that show no signs of wear.
This Is Just To Say
— thom (@thwphipps) November 28, 2017
I have sold
the baby shoes
that were in
the baby shoe place
and which
you were probably
saving
for your baby
Forgive me
they were sellable
so small
and so never used
And the most recent development in the shoe-plum saga is that the two memes have even been joined by a third contender, another 20th-century modernist poet who’s ready to play:
the love song of j alfred prufrock pic.twitter.com/pA91r4X30L
— american fandal (@evilmallelis) November 27, 2017
I, for one, welcome our new millennial literary overlords from an entire century ago. I’m writing my “13 ways of memeing a blackbird” contribution as we speak.