Ragtime (1897); Ferris Wheel (pre-1893); Traffic Jam (1901)

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RAGTIME

   I can't find my wonderful "ragtime" post in the old archives.  It
discusses the origin of "ragtime" in Missouri, about 1889.

   21 November 1897, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 11:
   ...and May Irwin as the "Ragtime" Doozer.

   21 November 1897, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. WM8:
   I confess, cheerfully and, in fact, rather proudly, that I do not know
what the word "ragtime" means (unless it has something to do with the P/ R/
monogram displayed in basement windows,) but I am sure I have had nearly
enough of that kind of time.  Still, what else in the way of dramatic
interest has the celebrated American actress, whose return to town is the
chief topic of this week, to depend upon?  Her own personal attractions are,
indeed, large.  Her singing voice is ample and agreeable enough to suit tunes
in other time besides "ragtime"--though such stuff as the song about the
ocean and the mother-in-law, which she throws in for good measure among the
divertissements of "The Swell Miss Fitzwell," could not be made endurable by
the  voice of Patti.
   But Miss Irwin since she became a stat performer has depended so much on
the new kind of "nigger" melodies, and identified herself so closely with the
new crop of folk-lore and dialect poetry supposed to have been generated and
developed in the period of transition south of the obliterated Mason and
DIxon's line, that without them her shows or entertainments would lack
"distinctive features."

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FERRIS WHEEL

   The Ferris wheel, was, as everyone knows, invented by George Washington
Gale Ferris for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
   Ferris--an engineer from Pittsburgh--had gone to school at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, In Troy, N.Y.  I remember the celebration of the
100-year anniversary of his graduation.
   A Troy web site says that Ferris modeled the thing after a local "water
wheel" in Troy.  (Google for "Ferris wheel" and "water wheel.")  What
hogwash!
   Today, in my unsuccessful "salt water taffy" search, I read HESTON'S HAND
BOOK--ATLANTIC CITY (Revised Edition 1892) by A. M. Heston.  Opposite page
107 is a photo of a huge wheel.  It was not then called a "Ferris" wheel, but
there's no doubt that's what it is.
   Atlantic City was "America's playground" even back then.  However, rest
assured, RPI people, Ferris had NEVER heard of the place, and invented his
wheel after looking a whole lot at water wheels!
   So what was it called?  A roundabout?  OED doesn't help us.  From pg. 111:

   Then for a card party, a hop, a promenade on the boardwalk, a visit to the
merry-go-round, the round-about or other beach attractions, or a little
lingering near the music at one of the gardens.

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TRAFFIC JAM

   I checked the database.  Keep in mind that "traffic jam" is like "pizza
pie."  "Jam" alone is enough.
   1910, huh?  That NEW YORKER correction should be coming along any issue
now.

   16 June 1901, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 10 headline:
   TRAFFIC JAM ON THE BRIDGE.

   10 February 1905, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 9 headline:
   TRAFFIC JAM HELD TRAINS.

   10 September 1907, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 16:
   The wagon carrying it was bumped into by trucks, and was caught in traffic
jams, but not a dollar of the one hundred thousand, all packed in handy
bundles, was disturbed.

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MISC.

CAT  SUIT--Yes, BATMAN and his Cat Woman.  I certainly remember that.  But
this is the first time I remember a tennis outfit being called this.

88--It's a wide receiver's number in football.  It was made popular in the
late 1970s and early 1980s by wide receivers Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and Drew Pearson of the Dallas Cowboys.  The number "12" on a jersey
would mean a quarterback, such as Terry Bradshaw or Roger Staubach.  Other
associations are clearly not intended.  Would you be stealing, for example,
from the Mel Brooks movie THE TWELVE CHAIRS?  From TWELVE ANGRY MEN?  Gimme a
break!

MORE/BIGGER BANG FOR THE BUCK--No one remembers my December 1953 citation for
these, posted last year and found in the ADS-L archives?