"Carded"--not heard before 1968 in NYC

[A. Maberry]

When I turned drinking age (21) in Portland OR a few years back "carded"
was the only term used, as it was during high school (1966-1970). It
seemed especially appropriate in Oregon at that time. Oregon drivers'
licenses were flimsy pink, it think, cards which were pretty easily
doctored to make the person appear older than actual fact, not that I or
anyone I knew would have done such a thing. They had no photographs and
unless an 18 year old was claiming to be 40, were not much proof of age.
So, the OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission) issued what we called, not
surprizingly OLCC cards, which were plastic photo ID cards proving the
bearer to be of legal age--sort of a license to drink.  Since your license
was little or no proof, bartenders, grocery clerks etc., had to see your
"card" not your license. Hence, in Oregon at least, one was always carded.

Allen
maberry at u.washington.edu

 On Thu, 24 May 2001, Gerald Cohen wrote:

>     Mark Odegard  writes (5/24/01) that "carded" arose in 1971 or
> shortly afterward in connection with lowering the voting and then
> drinking age to 18. This jibes with my never having heard the term
> while I lived in NYC (until 1968).
>      My parents owned a combination grocery store and small restaurant
> with a bar
> in mid-town Manhattan. At least occasionally young men would come to
> the bar and asked to be served liquor, and if there was any doubt
> about their being 21, the bartender would ask for proof of age. In
> all the time that I heard my parents tell about those incidents and
> in all the time I spent working or eating in the store, I never heard
> the terms "carded" or "proofed." It was simply asking for proof of
> age or some variant of this.
>
> ---Gerald Cohen
>
> >Date:         Thu, 24 May 2001
> >From: Mark Odegard <markodegard at HOTMAIL.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Carded vs Proofed
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> >The 26th Amendment (18-year-old vote) was ratified in 1971. Shortly
> >thereafter, there was a general lowering of the drinking age to 18 (which
> >has since been undone). This was when something like half the country was
> >under 25 if I recall correctly; we were exporting huge numbers of teenagers
> >to stop bullets in 'Nam.
> >
> >I first heard 'to card', 'carding' about the time most states experimented
> >with letting 18-year-olds drink.
> >
> >As I think about it, an under-18 is harder to tell from an under-21, if only
> >because of they way they dress. At 21, you can graduated from college,
> >working, starting a family; at 18, you're still a party-animal wannabe.
> >
> >This is about the time we needed the verb 'card'. ...
>