Gay Nineties (1926); For All the Tea in China (1929)

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GAY NINETIES

   The NEW YORK TIMES citation that I'd posted was close, but it's a little earlier in the WASHINGTON POST and earlier still in the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR.
   Nothing new on "gay"=homosexual.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
  SOUTHAMPTON SEES AMATEUR CIRCUS.; Fancy-Dress Riding and Driving Party a Success -- To Be an Annual Affair.; Special to The New York Times.; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Jul 19, 1926; pg. 8, 1 pgs

  WIVES OF TOMORROW; Modern, But Lonesome.; By FRANCES M'DONALD; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jun 12, 1926; pg. 11, 1 pgs

  Possibilities of Biography in the Teaching of History; Condition Is Changing; H.E.W.; Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file), Boston, Mass.; Feb 11, 1926; pg. 11, 1 pgs
("Most of our texts give but little account of the general life of the 1840s or the 1890s--the 'fabulous forties' or the 'gay nineties.'")

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FOR ALL THE TEA IN CHINA

   OED has "all the tea in China" from Eric Partridge's slang dictionary (1937).  Dictionaries never coin words.  Partridge says it's Australian.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
  DOWN the FAIRWAY; by DAVE HERMAN; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jun 11, 1933; pg. 21, 1 pgs

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; BY BERT E. COLLYER; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Dec 31, 1929; pg. 16, 1 pgs

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; By BERT E. COLLYER; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Dec 19, 1929; pg. 18, 1 pgs
("..._MICKEY D._ will go for all the tea in China this aft down at Kenney Park.")

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; By BERT COLLYER; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Dec 3, 1929; pg. 18, 1 pgs
("A majority of the stables are loaded to the guards with horses ready to run for all the tea in China,...")

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; BY BERT. F. COLLYER.; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Sep 2, 1929; pg. 6, 1 pgs
("The good word from Dade Park is _ELOISE_, which will run for all the tea in China in the sixth cant.")


(Didn't horses in the 1920s run for "the Big Apple"?  They were also running for "all the tea in China"?  Why?  Have you ever seen a horse drink tea?...Perhaps this was slang associated with horses than ran at Havana's Oriental Park?--ed.)