[Ads-l] antedating "cloud nine" "cloud seven"

[Peter Reitan]

Not relevant to its origins, but perhaps to making the expression more 
widely known.

In 1950, there was a short-lived radio show broadcast out of Chicago, 
which later went national on CBS, called "Cloud Nine.

"'Cloud Nine,' the CBS Friday evening replacement, could be pleasant 
fantasy relief from all the grim peering into an atomic future.  With 
gentle whimsy, the 'Cloud' roams a world of romantic adventure."

The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 21, 1950, page 6.


Description and link to listen to one episode here:
https://www.otrcat.com/p/cloud-nine

"Cloud Nine, not unexpectedly from the name, is pure fantasy. The 
beginning and end of each episode has a ghostly, supernatural feel to it 
not unlike The Mysterious Traveler or The Whistler. Our hero walks into 
the bar every week to wait for the mysterious host who will take him to 
Cloud Nine. He never recognizes his host at first, but he always shows 
up and together they ride the express elevator to Cloud Nine. Upon their 
arrival on Cloud Nine the host interviews our hero to see what has been 
on his mind, and then recommends a destination that relates to the 
thoughts. The host then calls out commands to the crew of Cloud Nine, 
which can travel through space and time."

------ Original Message ------
From: "Dan Goncharoff" <thegonch at gmail.com>
To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
Sent: 11/12/2020 11:56:14 AM
Subject: Re: antedating "cloud nine" "cloud seven"

>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: antedating "cloud nine" "cloud seven"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Google Books has a snippet from the journal Electrical West dated 1936 (but
>unverified):
>
>FOUND INSIDE =E2=80=93 PAGE 25
>Trouble is they start rebuilding up on cloud nine instead of digging down
>into the muck and dirt of humanity to bed rock and starting the foundations
>on hard fact.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CBut I thought you just said that it was the=
>  human
>weaknesses of men that made ...
>
>Electrical West was founded in 1895, so the dating is not unreasonable, and
>the journal was also from San Francisco.
>
>DanG
>
>
>On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 7:31 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>  OED: 1959, 1956.
>>
>>  1942 _San Francisco Chronicle_ (Dec. 25) 1H: The party would have certain=
>ly
>>  heard a loud Brooklyn cheer from  up on cloud nine.
>>
>>  1943 _San Francisco Chronicle_ (Apr. 29)  1H:  Discharged from the Navy
>>  because his plasma pressure was somewhere up on cloud seven.
>>
>>  The underlying metaphor is "high." Hence "elated."
>>
>>  JL
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth=
>."
>>
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>>
>
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