Tuna (1866?); Gerritsen Collection Online

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   CALIFORNIA DREAMING:  I can almost taste those "California Roll" and "Taco" cites in the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

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TUNA

   Andy Smith asked about "tuna" and if I could beat 1881.
   I've been reading books on Mediterranean travels since coming back from Malta.  See A VOYAGE TO CADIZ AND GIBRALTAR, UP THE MEDITERRANEAN TO SICILY AND MALTA IN 1810 & 1811 (London: F. Harding, 1815) by Lt. Gen. Cockburn, in two volumes.  Volume Two, pages 292-295, has a chapter called "The Tunny Factory."
   The NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN'S LETTERS AND DIARIES database has:

"Why we had some very nice Aku (tuna), it tasted so good,--we all enjoyed it going to bed that night really _maona_ (stuffed)."
Letter from Kaleleonalani, Queen of the Hawaiian Islands, February 14, 1866
In THE VICTORIAN VISITORS: AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM 1861-1866 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1958), pg. 351.

   I have to check the original.  That "(tuna)" could have been added much later by the editors, but "Aku" is still useful.
   The NEW YORK TIMES had lots of "tuna" hits before 1881.  To reduce it, I added "fish."  Still, I didn't find a pre-1881 "tuna."  I got the same bad "matches" that I got on "jazz" and "dude."  Fred Shapiro can re-check if I missed a good hit...I think the "tuna" matches were really "tons."

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GERRITSEN COLLECTION ONLINE

   What we have here is a fine collection with a bad search engine.
   THE COOK is here.  So is MISS BEECHER'S DOMESTIC RECEIPT BOOK (1846) and THE CAROLINA HOUSEWIFE (1851).
   I limited it to the years 1800-1918.  I typed in "jazz."  377 hits!  I looked at the "matches."  Not one was "jazz."
   I limited it to the years 1800-1910.  I typed in "hot dog."  32 hits.  Most weren't even in English sources.  I don't know why it considered any of these as "hot dog" matches.
   Bad search engine!  Bad!
   I'll try it a little more, but I'm going crazy.