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The jocular phrase not tonight, Josephine is explained as follows in The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Second Edition (London & New York: Routledge, 2015), edited by Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor [page 555, column 2, & page 556, column 1]:
—The reference is to Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Emperor of the French as Napoléon I from 1804 to 1815, and to Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), his first wife from 1804 to 1810:
not tonight, Josephine! a catchphrase used by a man to defer his sexual duties to a wife or lover; hence, applied to any postponement. Originally a quotation, apocryphally attributed to Napoleon dashing his mistress’s hopes. In its current sexual context there is obviously a reliance on jocularity of delivery to deflect any serious subtext. Familiar from a music hall poem: “I’ll tell you in a phrase, my sweet, exactly what I mean: / … Not tonight, Josephine” (Colin Curzon, “Not Tonight, Josephine”). UK, 1960
However, the origin of not tonight, Josephine remains obscure. The British author of detective stories and light verse Peter Cooper (1929-2007), who used the pen name Colin Curzon, did not coin this phrase, since it was in use before he was born. And the texts containing the earliest occurrences of not tonight, Josephine that I have found provide no clue as to its origin; these texts seem to indicate that the phrase was already well established and was originally applied to any postponement.
—Cf. also the phrase pas ce soir, Josephine.
The earliest occurrences of the jocular phrase not tonight, Josephine that I have found are as follows, in chronological order:
1-: From The Rome Daily Sentinel (Rome, New York, USA) of Saturday 2nd April 1904 [page 4, column 5]:
—Note: The nature of this item is unclear; it is perhaps an advertisement:
NOT
TONIGHT, JOSEPHINE,YOUR
GAS RANGE
WILL BE UP IN THE MORNING.
2-: From the Shreveport Journal (Shreveport, Louisiana, USA) of Monday 10th June 1907 [page 6, column 5]:
—Note: Obviously, there are typographical errors (cf., below, photograph): at least one line is missing between “possible he now has” and “ers may close”, and several words may have been jumbled:
President L. R. Powers of the Monroe team was in the city today with the view of fastening onto some of the Pirates, which he had learned were to be dismissed, but it might be well to state that the president returned from the Queen City empty handed. He was looking for an infielder, an outfielder and a pitcher, but the best that he got was a hazy promise. Manager Fisher showed him a telegram wherein he was offered $200 for a Pirate twirler, but inasmuch as Sir Thomas is not in the habit of giving players away the offer was spurned. In case Fisher is successful in closing one or two deals he now has up his sleeve it is possible he now has ers may close a deal or two but not tonight, Josephine.
3-: From a review of a music-hall programme presented at the Argyle Theatre, Birkenhead, published in the Birkenhead and Cheshire Advertiser and Wallasey Guardian (Birkenhead, Cheshire, England) of Wednesday 16th March 1910 [page 4, column 3]:
Will Musgrave, the popular character comedian, has a certain winner in his latest song, “Not to-night, Josephine.”
4-: From The Houston Post (Houston, Texas, USA) of Sunday 12th June 1910 [page 28, column 6]:
DECLINED.
The American Remedy company has sent us a sealed and confidential letter offering to sell us a rubber hand, which they have dignified with the name NATIONAL SCALP LOOSENER, all for the remarkably low sum of three plunks; promising us that the same will cause hair to grow on our bald head. We hardly expect to be believed when we say that we have never invested a penny in hair grower of any kind. We like to be bald. We love our wife and would scorn to hurt her feelings by undoing the work of seventeen years on her part. Besides that we are thinking of other things we could do with three plunks. It costs us less’n that to go fishin’. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of the thoughtful company but we must say: “No—no, not tonight, Josephine.”
5-: From a review of The Girl and the Man, a musical comedy presented at the Riverton Park Rustic Theater, Portland, published in the Portland Sunday Telegram (Portland, Maine, USA) of Sunday 10th July 1910 [page 8, column 4]:
The Girl and the Man is another of the Matthew Ott shows and like all the rest this one carries a superb chorus of singing and dancing girls, who add in no small degree to the pleasure of the evening. The musical numbers are many and pretty and especial mention should be made of Miss Mynne’s Base Ball song and Sandy’s catch number, Not Tonight, Josephine.
6-: From a review of At Home and Abroad, a burlesque show performed by The College Girls company at the Gayety Theater, Minneapolis, published in The Minneapolis Morning Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) of Wednesday 26th October 1910 [page 5, column 3]:
Among the song hits of the piece are “A College Widow Am I,” “I’m the Popular Boy,” “Gee Whiz, I Wish I Could Swim,” “College Boy,” “Not Tonight Josephine,” “My Home Town” and “Music Man.”
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