Red Devil & Hot Dog in NY Times; Soup for a Bum: Mudslide (cookie)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>I like this bit of slang I found today in this old publication of the New
>York Sun newspaper. "Put the bag on"?
>...
>...
>FACTS ABOUT NEW YORK
>New York: The Sun Printing and Publishing Association
>Fifth edition
>1927
>...
>Pg. 10: Park Row
>Johnny Meehan, the bearded proprietor of Dolan's, had a wide acquaintance
>among politicians. As the waiters shouted their orders, "beef and!" &c.,
>Meehan sliced up the corned meat and dished out the beans (10 cents for
>the combination). Frequently he paused to get some friend, perhaps Thodore
>Roosevelt, then Police Commissioner, or the Mayor, who had just arrived to
>"put the bag on," as the waiters would say.

I think "put the bag on" = "put on the feed bag" = "eat"/"begin eating".
"Feed bag" = "nose bag", a bag of feed attached to a horse's head so that
the animal can eat (from the bag) without any assistance.

-- Doug Wilson