Clik here to view.
Rabies, Pain and Confusion - Why I Scream, You Scream and We All Scream for...
Language Tortured. - Why is the inscription generally found in confectioners’ shops of ‘Water Ices and Ice Creams,” like a person attacked with hydrophobia - because when ‘Water I sees, I screams.’...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Polo on the Baseball Grounds - the Irony of Baseball at the "Polo Grounds"
Four separate stadiums known as the “Polo Grounds” played host to the New York Giants baseball team during their tenure in New York City. Of those four stadiums, only the original “Polo Grounds”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It was mean, now it's easy - a history of "like taking candy from a baby!"
The simile, “like taking candy from a baby,” has been used idiomatically for more than a century, as a benchmark of how easy it is to accomplish something. The idiom first appeared regularly in sports...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cocoa Nibs, Coffee Nibs, Licorice Nibs and His Royal Oriental Nibs - Racism...
NIB . . . A very small piece or quantity of anything. The English Dialect Dictionary, Volume 4, M-Q, London, H. Frowde, 1903.NIBS . . . An important or self-important person - usually in the phrases...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cockshy, Aunt Sally, Roly Poly and Doll Racks - a Dodgy History of Carnival...
“Professional Baby Doll Racks” advertisement, Wholesale Catalogue, N. Shure Co., Chicago, 1913. On the left is Shure’s No. 118 Baby Doll Rack; on the right, No. 99, the “Chicago Special.”i The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spitballs and Licorice - a History of the "Licorice Ball"
There was once a “freak” pitch called the “licorice ball.” It was banned from baseball (along with several other “freak” deliveries) even before the spitball.The earliest reference to a “licorice...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bender Like Billiken - the Idolatrous Origin of SLU's Nickname
The mascot for the St. Louis University sports teams is a Billiken. Although obscure now, the Billiken was a worldwide phenomenon and household word a century ago when the name became attached to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
du Chaillu, Fremiet and Gemora - Going Ape over early influences on King Kong
King Kong became an instant classic upon release of the original film version in 1933. Critics praised the display of technical advances that allowed for novel special effects which, for the first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cable Surfing and Kites - Fun and Games on the Streets of San Francisco -...
Kids these days just don’t know how to have fun. What with the cell-phones, the video games and the social mediums, no one can find time to go outside and play anymore (or at least that’s one...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blue Bottles, Green Bottles and Flies - a History of Ninety-Nine Bottles of...
The American song, “Ninety nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” dates to at least 1945. The British, children’s counting song, “Ten Green Bottles Hanging on the Wall,” dates to at least 1933. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Birds, Bottles and Flies - the Early History of "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer...
In a previous post, I surveyed the history of the American song, “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” and the British song, “Ten Green Bottles Hanging on the Wall.” Both songs were apparently...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gladstone and Taxes: "Death Tax" or "Estate Tax" - which one is the euphemism?
According to Merriam-Webster online, an “estate tax” is “a tax . . . on a property owner’s right to transfer the property to others after his or her death.” And a “death tax” is “a tax arising on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Songs - Counting Down the History of...
Sep. Winner 1868.In its simplest, most familiar form, the song, “Ten Little Indians,” appears to be an innocent children’s counting song. One little, two little, three little Indians,Four little, five...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snoop Dogg, Snoopy and the surprisingly long history of "Snoopy" dogs (and cats)
Snoopy - 1938 Calvin Broadus, Jr. borrowed his rap moniker, Snoop Dogg, from the name of the dog in Charles Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy. His mother gave him the nickname as a young boy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Groundhog Day and Ice Cream Scoops - a History of Ice Cream Scoops from A-Z...
On Groundhog Day 1897, Alfred Lewis Cralle received a patent for a mechanical ice cream scoop. Fittingly, he was from western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), not far from Punxatawney, the home of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chinese Food, Staplers and Oysters - Unboxing the Mani-fold History of the...
In February 2023, an international incident involving a surveillance balloon from China prompted some anonymous twitter user to post this meme of a Chinese take-out box suspended by a balloon. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Squirting Flowers - a Surprising History
If slipping on a banana peels is the most hilarious thing ever, the second most hilarious thing ever may be the squirting flower boutonniere. Banana peel humor is old - dating to at least the 1850s,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rewriting Pulp Fiction - an Unabridged History of Paper Cups
“To the victor go the spoils.” “History is written by the victors.” To the extent these maxims are true in global political history, they may also hold true along the trivial margin of pop-culture...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wash Racks and Automobile Laundries - a Cleaned and Polished History of the...
Car wash culture arguably reached its apotheosis with the 1976 release of the classic film, Car Wash, and its soundtrack album featuring Rose Royce’s funk classic, Car Wash. The film portrayed a day in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Arrested Baseball Developements- the Battle for Sunday Baseball in New York City
On Sunday, April 24, 1904, the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. The win left the Superbas with a record of 5-4; the loss left the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Banana Split Personalities - Who Invented the Banana Split?
In Quentin Tarantino’s classic film, Pulp Fiction, John Travolta, as hitman Vince Vega, explains the “funniest thing about Europe” to Samuel L. Jackson, as hitman Jules Winnfield. At McDonalds In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Tale of One City, Two Teams and Two Leagues - Did the Original Mets Become...
From 1880 through 1882, an independent, professional team called the New York Metropolitans (or “Mets”), played in New York City. Their founder and manager, James Mutrie, is credited with bringing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Two Gallon" Top Hats and "Ten Gallon" Cowboy Hats - a Voluminous History of...
Ride ‘im Cowboy!Oh, the ten-gallon hat is a wonderful thing,Both to wear on the head and to chuck in the ringAnd at coming conventions let delegates sing,Ride ‘im cowboy! Let bold Lochivar gallop out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ji-Ji-Boo 2 - the Etymology of Jigaboo (an Addendum)
“Ji-Ji Boo (the Sensational Dance Tune),” 1922.i The word “Jigaboo,” in reference to a black person, traces its origins to the song, “Rings on My Fingers, or Mumbo Jumbo Jijjiboo J. O’Shea,” first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"All Dressed Up and No Place to Go" - a Tricked-Out History of the Expression
The expression, “all dressed up with no place to go,” has been part of American pop-culture and language since at least 1910, although it may have been in use earlier. The earliest example I have found...
View Article