[Ads-l] "Ants on a log" -- Request from a freelance writer

Sun Jul 21 19:10:37 UTC 2019

Here is a solid match in 1906. The joke is told by an unnamed Irish
wit and retold by a railroad manager named James E. Hurley. (Probably
the same Hurley specified in the 1922 citation.)

Date: April 10, 1906
Newspaper: The Weekly Kansas Chief
Newspaper Location: Troy, Kansas
Article: The Convention
Quote Page 4, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt - please double check for OCR errors]
James E. Hurley, general manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe,
told the following story at the convention: "These fellows remind me
of the time when I lived on the Mississippi river. A great many saw
logs came down the stream every spring.

One day I was watching the procession of logs and an Irish friend of
mine who sat by me, said: 'Jim, do you mind the number of sawlogs that
come down every spring?' I said I did, and he asked: 'Do you notice
that there are about a thousand red ants on each log?" I told him that
I had noticed that fact, and he added: 'And Jim, every little red ant
thinks he is steering the log.'"

[End excerpt]

Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 2:29 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Great work by Barry whose analysis begins with a 1915 citation.
>
> Here is a partially matching precursor in 1902 based on the same
> metaphorical framework. The domain is political activism. There are a
> group of ants (political activists) on a floating platform. The ants
> have no real control over the movement of the platform. This differs
> from the 1915 citation because the platform is a ship and not a log.
> Also, the illusion of control is not mentioned.
>
> Date: April 8, 1902
> Newspaper: Richmond Dispatch
> Newspaper Location: Richmond, Virginia
> Article: Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention (continuation title)
> Start Page 10, Quote Page 11, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
> Comment: Ellipsis is in the original text
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> This is their platform: "Anti-Roosevelt-Booker Washington dinner... On
> that platform they are huddled like a parcel of ants on a floating
> ship in time of high water. They don't seem to know or care which way
> they are drifting.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Barry's citations jump from 1915 to 1943. Here is a pertinent citation
> in 1922. The same metaphorical framework is used, and the domain is
> political activism. The ants (political activists) are on a floating
> log. The log rolls uncontrollably. Individual ants maintain an
> illusion of control.
>
> Date: January 31, 1922
> Newspaper: The Topeka Daily Capital
> Newspaper Location: Topeka, Kansas
> Article: Kansas Day Crowd Mills Thru Lobby of National Hotel Like
> Militant Ants on Floating Log
> Author: Morse Salisbury (K.S.A.C. Journalism student)
> Quote Page 7, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> Article was clipped by someone else in 2017.
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9916336/the_topeka_daily_capital/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "The gang here in the lobby of the National on Kansas day always
> reminds me of the story J. E. Hurley, former general manager of the
> Santa Fe related to illustrate his impressions of the first Kansas day
> crowd he saw," said Joe N. Dolley, bank commissioner during the Stubbs
> administration, yesterday morning.
>
> "Hurley sat for some three hours watching the milling crowd. Finally
> he observed to me, "This bunch inspires me to believe that Kansas
> politicians have heeded the advice of Solomon to learn from the ant.
> These fellows look like a bunch of ants I once saw floating down a
> swollen stream on a log. The log rolled over and over, throwing some
> of the ants into the water at each revolution. However, they would
> scramble on top again, and mill around wildly, each a trifle more
> self-important than the other, as if they were telling the world how
> they made that log roll over'."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 1:02 PM Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Dear ads-l members,
> >
> >
> > I've received the request below concerning "ants on a log" (a type of food
> >
> > I had never heard of before); the request led to an initial response from
> >
> > Barry Popik on his invaluable website barrypopik.com
> >
> > (https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/ants_on_a_log_floating/
> >
> > The writer's email to me appears below my signoff.  Can anyone help her
> >
> > with any additional information?  Her article promises to be an interesting one.
> >
> >
> > Gerald Cohen
> >
> > Missouri University of Science & Technology
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Mara Weinraub <mara.weinraub at gmail.com<mailto:mara.weinraub at gmail.com>>
> > Sent: Friday, July 19, 2019 3:45 PM
> > To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> > Subject: Media Inquiry: Ants on a log origin
> >
> >
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> >
> >
> > Barry Popik recommended I reach out to you. I'm researching an article
> >
> > on the origin of the "ants on a log" for an article in Food52.
> >
> >
> >
> > From my research the "ants on a log" (the snack) first appeared in print
> >
> > around 1959. But I'm interested in learning about the origin of the phrase
> >
> >  beyond food. I spoke with researcher at Cornell and he said the phrase
> >
> > seems to have currency in America as a way of describing a group of people
> >
> > undergoing change while having the illusion of being in control. "I've seen
> >
> > one article attribute the phrase to Mark Twain, but it seems more likely to
> >
> > have been a common simile."
> >
> >
> >
> > If you have any insight or leads, I'd very much appreciate it.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your time and consideration,
> >
> >
> >
> > Mara Weinraub
> >
> > Freelance Writer
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org