Yannigan continued; note slang "turkey"

[Gerald Cohen]

    I'm presently trying to track down a few references to the
loggers'/vagrants' term "yannigan bag" and am preceding on the
assumption that the obsolete baseball term "yannigan" (inexperienced
player, esp. in spring training) in fact derives from that bag.

    I find a possibly striking parallel to this in slang "turkey" (bad
play), originally short for "turkey show," probably deriving from the
itinerant "turkey troupe" which in turn probably derives from the
loggers'/itinerants' term "turkey" (a bundle or hold-all).

    If this pans out, at least some "yannigans" (rookies) would have
shown up in spring-training camps with their yannigan bags--marking
them instantly as newcomers to the professional game. So,
carpet-baggers were named for their carpet bags, the turkey troupes
were probably named for their "turkeys" (bundles/hold alls), and now
it seems that the yannigans (rookies) might have been named for their
traveling bags.

    In 1995 I published on article on "turkey" and will now reprint
part of its abstract; the 2nd paragraph is the most relevant one:

        "...Theatrical _turkey_ is traceable to burlesque theatre,
but here a problem arises: we find reference both to _turkey shows_
and _turkey troupes_.  Which one came first?  Were the turkey shows
so called because they were performed by turkey troupes?  Or were the
turkey troupes so called because they performed turkey shows?  And
whichever came first, why was _turkey_ used?

    "Since no convincing explanation exists for the origin of _turkey_
in reference to a show, I will conjecture that _turkey troupe_ is
original.  Note a now largely obsolete meaning of _turkey_, viz. a
bundle or hold-all carried by lumbermen and (by extension) other
itinerant workers, vagrants, etc.  The turkey troupes were of course
continually on the move, and they were apparently named for the
symbol of itinerancy, the turkey (bundle/hold-all).

    "That bundle/hold-all/bag was probably called a turkey because of
its bulky, round shape.

        "In the mid-1920s _turkey (show)_ was extended from a
strictly burlesque context to the legitimate theatre -- a development
apparently due to an unusual streak of bad quality that hit the
legitimate theatre in Syracuse at that time.  The road shows were
derided in Syracuse as 'turkeys,' with clear reference to the
itinerant (fly-by-night, grossly incompetent) turkey troupes of
burlesque vintage.  From Syracuse the extended use of _turkey_ 'third
rate production (in the legitimate theatre too)' spread to New York
City and hence into standard slang. ...--- quoted from: "Material for
the study of slang _turkey_" . in: Studies in Slang, part 4. edited
by Gerald Leonard Cohen. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. pp.
100-119; the quoted portion just above is from p. 100.

---Gerald Cohen