"nickel"--Douglas Wilson's speculation

[Paul Ivsin]

Some confirmation and a minor correction:

Clark Griffith was both manager and owner of the Washington Senators.
According to his profile on the Baseball Online Library, he did have a
connection to vaudeville dating back to his years as a player in 1893:

...
When the [Oakland] Oaks' owners, in mid-season, did not come up with back
pay owed the players, Griffith organized his teammates to strike. Needing
employment, several of them, including Griffith, audaciously found work as
itinerant vaudevillians in San Francisco's Barbary Coast district. When the
owners found enough money, the greasepaint was abandoned and the season was
completed.
...

http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/baseball/bol/ballplayers/G/Griffith_Clark.html

However, it should be noted that the 1913 Senators (led by Walter Johnson)
were far from bad.  They finished second in the American League with a 90-64
record.

Griffith would eventually sign a one-legged player to the Senators, so his
theatrical flair appears to have been deeply ingrained.

Paul

...
Paul Ivsin
paul at ivsin.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Cohen" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 9:29 AM
Subject: "nickel"--Douglas Wilson's speculation


>     Douglas Wilson's speculation seems to be very much on the right
> track, viz. that "nickel" in the 1913 quote may be short for "nickel
> theater." I would just clarify it a bit: "nickel" seems to be used
> below as a synonym for "vaudeville-type comedy" (the vaudeville
> theaters may very well have charged an entrance fee of a nickel).
>
>     So in the quote below, Ban Johnson (president of the American
> League) is saying that sideline comedy (= "nickel") would be very
> appropriate for the Washington team, whose  playing was supposedly so
> bad it was a joke. As for  Clark Griffith, he was either the manager
> or owner of the Washington team (I don't have the Baseball
> Encyclopedia handy).
>
>     Thanx for the assist.
>
> ---Gerald Cohen
>
>
> >Date:         Wed, 26 Sep 2001
> >From: "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> >Subject:      Re: Query: 1913 "nickel"
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> >My naive speculation is that "nickel" is short for "nickel theater" or
so.
> >Mathews' "Dictionary of Americanisms" shows several citations for "nickel
> >theater", "nickel show", "nickelodeon" from 1908-1914.
> >
> >-- Doug Wilson
>
> >>
> >>   Would anyone have any idea of the meaning of "nickel" in the quote
> >>below? I draw a complete blank.
> >>     The quote appears in the newspaper _San Francisco Bulletin_, Feb.
> >>26, 1913, p.16/2; "Baseball Talk Heard in Sundry Leagues":
> >>
> >>"Clark Griffith wants the lid lifted on sideline comedy in baseball.
> >>Ban Johnson contends that nickel should provide an outlet for surplus
> >>comedians such as those of the Washington club."
> >>
> >>That's the entire item.
> >>---Gerald Cohen
>