After consulting my bookshelf for the correct details, I can report the following.

In 1969, the book Thank you for the Giant Sea Tortoise was published, containing answers to competitions from New York magazine. One of the competitions was for meaningless proverbs, and these were among the entries that were published:

You can't straighten a snake by pulling it through a straw.

Old goats make good wineskins.

Not every firstborn becomes king.

You can make a pigskin wallet out of a sow's ear.

A short man on horseback can look down on a tall man on the ground.

While three wise men can pull a troika, a fool can be eating kasha.

The stars do not wait for the king's birthday to shine.