Southland

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:35 AM -0500 6/12/03, Joan Houston Hall wrote:
>The earliest citation DARE has found so far for "Southland," meaning
>Southern California, is from 1988.  I'm sure it goes back at least to the
>sixties; can any of you westerners give dated recollections of the use of
>the term?  Actual early citations would also be very welcome.
>
I can't give a cite, but just the distinct recollection that
"Southland" was already current when I moved to LA in 1966.  I found
it hard to accept, since "Southland" had always designated 'Dixie' to
me before then.  I recall it being used mostly in news headlines, not
ordinary colloquial usage; in this respect it differs from, say "Bay
Area".  (A similar journalese designation might be "Chicagoland".)

Larry