Brooklyn Bridge, Grant's Tomb, Shyster & more (from NY TIMES full text)

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   This continues my plugging words into a new toy, the NEW YORK TIMES full
text database.

BUY/SELL THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
   15 February 1920, pg. E14.
   "...buys the Brooklyn Bridge."
(Referred to as an old line, but it's the first mention in THE NEW YORK
TIMES--ed.)

WHO'S BURIED IN GRANT'S TOMB?
   17 August 1938, pg. 21.
   21 August 1938, pg. 54.
(Again, referred to as an old line, but's it's the first mention in THE NEW
YORK TIMES.  This pre-dates Groucho Marx and his YOU BET YOUR LIFE--ed.)

SHYSTER
   17 October 1855, pg. 4.
   "We are not quite sure of the etymology of the word shyster..."
(Many hits are here, but no help for Gerald Cohen.  The April 1874 "shyster"
citations involve a libel case in Chicago, and a possible origin of "shyster"
in John Wentworth's CHICAGO DEMOCRAT.  I had spotted these articles in
another newspaper, and they're originally from the CHICAGO TIMES--ed.)

TRANSMARINE "AMERICAN" GRUB
   8 June 1942, pg. 14.
   "Pure Yankee and precious are Red Flannel Hash, beloved of Maine
fishermen, Jagaree and RInktum Tiddy.  Of the various Pandowdies choose the
Empire State.  Shine, names of gold, Tarheel Dabs and Bops, Wolverine
Snickerdoodle, Hopping John of Florida, Elephants' Ears of all the Middle
West, Bear Paws of Nebraska, last and best of all, Love and Tangle, dear to
Hoosiers.  If the gods haven't made us poetical, the cookbooks should."
(Wolverine Snickerdoodle?--ed.)

TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO HASH-HOUSE GREEK
   5 September 1971, pg. XXI.
   "...you may ask for _hoagies_ in Birmingham, _grinders_ in Hartford,
_heros_ in New York, _rockets_ in Cheyenne, _torpedoes_ in San Diego,
_Italian sandwiches_ in Louisville, and _Cuban sandwiches_ in Miami.
(There is an interesting word list here, although most of the terms, such as
"Adam and Eve on a raft," were long out of use by 1971.  Worth a look, even
though my COMMENTS ON ETYMOLOGY article and prior ADS-L posts on lunch room
slang mention most of the terms--ed.)

DELICATESSEN
   27 March 1875, pg. 3.
   "...Caesar ministered to the living in the form of sausages, sauerkraut,
and other _delicatessen_."
   16 March 1884, pg. 3.
   "A fire broke out at 12:15 a.m. yesterday in the delicatessen store of
August Kaarstedt, on the first floor of the five-story tenement house No. 205
Tenth Avenue."

BEANERY
   16 November 1884, pg. 14 headline.
   "'Beaneries' in Fulton Market."
   1 April 1883, pg. 13.
   "...a Bowery 'beanery'--as the vulgar term those shocking little
restaurants where you can get a dinner of eight courses for something like 25
cents."
(Mariani has 1887--ed.)

COMFORT FOOD
   7 December 1985, pg. 32.
   "Mashed potatoes are a comfort food for which most children have a ritual,
whether using them to disguise disliked foods or combining them with
favorites.
   23 May 1966, pg. 38 ad.
   Think thin...Lose weight...learn about ammunition foods, comfort foods and
emergency foods.
(From THE THIN BOOK BY A FORMERLY FAT PSYCHIATRIST, by Theodore Isaac Rubin.
Is this 1966 use of "comfort food" related to the above, or is it just a
coincidence?--ed.)

COLD CUTS
   23 July 1867, pg. 2.
   "...a very good collation of cold cuts, pastry, fruit, pies, coffee, &c."
(John Mariani wrote that "The first printed reference to the term appeared in
1940"--ed.)

ROQUEFORT SALAD DRESSING
   13 January 1915, pg. 6 ad.
Roquefort dressing (...)
_Wesson Oil_
(See archives.  This is perhaps slightly earlier than what I had for
"Roquefort"--ed.)

LONDON BROIL
   1 Novewmber 1934, pg. 24 ad.
Gallgher's
52nd St., just west of Broadway
London Broil (...)

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL
   3 December 1928, pg. 162.
   "...his blue plate special, with meat course and three vegetables, is
purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the last ten years."
   27 May 1926, pg. 23. ad.
The famous old
Sea Grill
Lobster and Chop House
141 West 45 Street
Blue Plate Specials
(OED has 1940 fpr "blue plate special," from Sinclair Lewis.  Damon Runyon's
book BLUE PLATE SPECIAL is from 1934.  The 1928 citation above refers to Max
Garfunkel's popular Max's Busy Bee, which should be in the ADS-L
archives--ed.)

SHORE DINNER
   18 September 1887.
   "...'A shore dinner'--as that appetizing phrase is understood among the
cultivated epicures of Norfolk, Va."
   3 August 1873, pg. 3.
   "The shore dinner is the meal at which a majority of the visitors to Rocky
Point sit down."
(Mariani has 1890 for "shore dinner."  See the ADS-L archives for more
articles on "shore dinner"--ed.)

SPEAKEASY
   22 July 1889.
   "...unlicensed saloons or 'speak easies,' as they are called on account of
the necessity of the patrons being guarded in their conduct and
conversation..."
(From "Pittsburg."  I think I posted an 1889 "speakeasy" from that city's
newspapers from when I visited there--ed.)

MANHATTAN COCKTAIL
   27 November 1885, pg. 8.
   "...when men about town were asking for Manhattan cocktails."

CHOCOLATE FONDUE
   8 September 1957, pg. SM46.
   "...the chocolate fondue, made with bread crumbs, that is less delicate
than a souffle but not nearly so sturdy as a bread pudding."
(Mariani states that "chocolate fondue" was introduced by Beverly Allen on
July 4, 1964.  The next NYT citation of 21 October 1966, pg. 71, was probably
influenced by that.  Nevertheless, this 1957 citation must be recorded as
earlier--ed.)

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE, LOBSTER A LA NEWBURG
   7 October 1892, pg. 5.
   "Miss Parloa lectured in the afternoon on 'Lobster a la Newburg,' Welsh
rarebit, and chocolate mousse."
(The first hit for Lobster Newburg--ed.)

LEBKUCHEN
   23 February 1901, pg. 3 ad.
Macy's   Both sides 14th Street, 6th Ave.
(...)
Nurnberg Lebkuchen
(Mariani cites 1906--ed.)

CALZONE
   20 September 1944, pg. 19.
   "One of the variations on the pizza is calzone a la napoletana, the
filling for which consists of a mixture of hot cheese, eggs, Italian ham and
parsley."
(Mariani has "1950s"--ed.)

TAPAS
   22 March 1939, pg. 12.
   "Bars sell orange juice and dishes called 'tapas' made of vegetables."
(Slightly earlier than the "tapas" I recently found in an article on Spain in
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC--ed.)

SMORGASBORD
   28 April 1889, pg. 19 headline.
   "The Smorgasbord."

GYRO
   4 September 1971, pg. 23, headline.
   "The Gyro, a Greek Sandwich, Selling Like Hot Dogs."
(An interesting article and the first NYT hit, although I posted an earlier
"gyro" from Chicago's Parthenon Restaurant--ed.)

SOUL FOOD
   18 May 1964, pg. 40.
   "She fed me soul food--real good steak, corn bread, potatoes."

KEY LIME PIE
   14 July 1940, pg. 121.
(The first cite of "lime pie," from Key West, Florida.  Jesse Sheidlower had
asked about it--ed.)

PECHES MELBA
   14 July 1907, pg. SM5.
(First cite for this--ed.)

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI
   23 May 1937, pg. 142.
(First cite for this.  "Actors Eat--Oh Yes!" on 6 February 1910, pg. 8,
mentions Caruso and Tetrazzini, but not the dishes that would later be
associated with their names--ed.)

MAI TAI
   7 May 1961, pg. XX12.
   "...Mai Tai drinks..."
(The article is "Holidays in Hawaii."  It's not clear what establishment is
referred to for the drink--ed.)

SINGAPORE SLING
   23 January 1929, pg. 15.
   "It may be presumed that the gin-slings and the 'stingers' for which
Singapore is famous are still powerful."

BYOL
   11 April 1926, pg. 1.
   "...'B.Y.O.L.' which means 'bring your own liquor.'"

ESPRESSO
   2 February 1940, pg. 3.
   "The coffee-loving Italians drink with obvious relish their first
'espresso' in five months."

IRISH COFFEE (literally)
   14 January 1940, pg. X3.
   "'There's only one thing worse than Irish coffee,' he says.  'American
tea.'"