Wealth & Money Quote by Marty Allen

Marty Allen’s line lands because it flatters and insults the same guy in one breath. “Works like a horse” is praise that’s already dehumanizing: the ideal male provider reduced to a draft animal, valuable precisely because he can be ridden hard and kept useful. Then Allen pivots to the “girls” waiting at the “bridal path,” a phrase that sounds wholesome and singsong until you realize it’s basically a sales funnel. The romance isn’t a whirlwind; it’s a trap door with lace on it.

The intent is classic mid-century nightclub comedy: take a culturally approved script (men grind, women marry) and twist it just enough to expose the transactional wiring. The joke depends on a wink of misogyny and a wink at misogyny. “Girls anxious to take him” implies predation, but the target isn’t only women; it’s the whole economy of masculinity that equates love with payroll. The man isn’t chosen for charm or character, but because his labor can be converted into security, status, maybe even a nicer fridge.

Context matters: Allen came up in an era when breadwinner marriage was treated as common sense, divorce carried stigma, and women’s financial options were narrower. The joke plays to a room that recognizes the bargain and laughs to keep it from feeling bleak. Its cynicism is the point: if you’re exhausted from being “a horse,” it’s comforting to imagine at least someone wants the stable. The punchline is that they want the hay.