where does the expression keeping up with the joneses come from
Keeping up with the Joneses The phrase originates with the comic strip Keeping Up with the Joneses, created by Arthur R. "Pop" Momand in 1913. The strip ran until 1940 in The New York World and various other newspapers. The strip depicts the social climbing McGinis family, who struggle to "keep up" with their neighbors, the Joneses of the title. The Joneses were unseen characters throughout the strip's run, often spoken of but never shown. The idiom keeping up with the Joneses has remained popular long after the strip's end.[1][2][3][4][5]
Jones (Animal Farm) In the second chapter, an exiled Jones now lives at the Red Lion Inn, where is feeling sorry for himself and commisserating with sympathetic and perplexed farmers (and more drinking). One day, the animals are at work when they see several humans on Animal Farm, not only their former masters but some neighboring farmers such as Frederick and Pilkington, and all agree that Jones and his farmhands are attempting to recapture the farm. He is defeated by Snowball's tactics. Many of the men are frightened by the organized animal defense, and the animals suffer only one death. Frightened, Jones flees the farm for good.