Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (2003)

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THE SPUR (EL PASO HIGH SCHOOL)

   I looked through the yearbook of El Paso High School, THE SPUR, from 1924-1942.

1924, THE SPUR (No page number):
   The floowing well known expressions may have some connection with these people:
They Satisfy...
Keeps the Hair Down...
Gillett's Safety Baby Raiser (sic)...
Herpicide Hair Tonic (GOING, GOING, GONE)
Your Nose Knows...
It Floats...
His Master's Voice...
Is There a Little Fairy in Your Home?...
Eventually, Why Not Now?...
Brains, Brawn, Beauty...
The Skin You Love to Touch...
Form Fit...
Better Be Safe Than Sorry...
Your Credit Is O. K. ...
The Cream of the Corn...
Thompson's Kid Curlers...
You Furnish the Girl, We Furnish the Home...

1932, THE SPUR:
(Drawing of a pushcart reading:  HOT DAWGS, JOY BAR, HOT TAMALES.)

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OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD & DRINK

   It's been no secret that I've been researching food and drink.  I've given it away to whoever wants it--DARE, Merriam-Webster, Random House, OED.  I plan to compile it into a book.
   I spent my own money (I've never made any money at all; my expenses are not reimbursed) to go to Texas, where I posted scholarly information on the taco, fajita, migas, menudo, tostada, son-of-a-gun stew, pecan pie, mile high pie, Sloppy Joe, Kentucky fried chicken, rugelach...
   The Culinary Historians just sent me an announcement that Andrew Smith will lecture on November 8th on "Talking Turkey: History of the Turkey in America."  Who is Andrew Smith?  Why:

He is the General Editor for the University of Illinois's Food Series and the Editor-in-Chief of the "Oxford Encyclopedia on American Food and Drink," scheduled for publication by Oxford University Press in 2003.

   A competing book.  News to me.  Neither the author nor anyone at Oxford told me about it!
   I've researched virtually the entire field singlehandedly in my spare time away from parking tickets.  How can Smith write the book without using my work?
   What's he going to say about the "hot dog" or the "taco" or:

smoothie, ice cream soda, sundae, egg cream, cappuccino, espresso, gyro, Greek salad, Caesar salad, Palace Court salad, combination salad, Thousand Island dressing, Ranch dressing, Roquefort dressing, hero sandwich, hoagie, grinder, poor boy, submarine sandwich, club sandwich, Reuben sandwich, French dip sandwich, beef 'n' weck, spiedini, mostaccioli, peanut butter and jelly, pizza, apizza, chiffon pie, blackbottom pie, butterscotch pie, Dutch apple pie, black walnut cake, mongole soup, wonton soup, egg rolls, fortune cookies, dim sum, chow mein, chop suey, Chinese chews, take-out, beef Wellington, beef Stroganoff, monkey bread, anadama bread, elephant ears, knish, bagel, Bloody Mary, Margarita, Manhattan, Southside, pine colada, soup to nuts...

   Does he plan to use all of my work free of charge?  Or will I get a line of credit for writing the entire book for him?  Or does he plan on getting everything wrong?