Hell-for-Breakfast (1909, 1922); Hell-to-Breakfast (1889)

Wed May 21 22:21:52 UTC 2003

HELL FOR BREAKFAST

   DARE has 1930 for "hell-for-breakfast."  There are many variants, such as "hell-to-breakfast" and "hell-bent for breakfast," and there's also "hell-for-leather" and "hell-bent for election."
   The phrase pre-dates Count Chocula cereal.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
  HOW A DRIVER'S LICENSE IS OBTAINED; Trials Which Would-Be Operator of a Motor Vehicle MustUndergo in New York.PROTEST FROM THE COURTSCity Magistrates and State OfficialeUrge That the Whole System Be Changed.; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Oct 29, 1922; pg. 47, 1 pgs
("But should it be a man with a brand-new taxi, or a driver qualifying for motor delivery, the chase may be a very merry one, for the experienced driver starts out at a speed known by pious New Englanders as 'hell for breakfast.'")

(AMERICAN PERIODICAL SERIES)
 Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1868-1935), San Francisco; Mar 1909; Vol. Vol. LIII, Iss. 0
  POP JOLLY'S MIRACLE; BY R. C. PITZER; pg. 235, 4 pgs
(Pg. 235:  "So there he were, comfortable as any old-fashioned saint, an' stuffin' his stomach hell for breakfast.")

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HELL TO BREAKFAST

   DARE has citations from 1928, 1939,and 1942 under three definitions.  It appears that famed Louisville Courier-Journal editor Henry Watterson either coined or popularized this phrase.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
  SEEING AMERICA LAST; Notes on That Business Called Booking, Which Persists Despite Everything ; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Jan 18, 1931; pg. 109, 1 pgs

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; BY HERT F. COLLYER; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jan 6, 1930; pg. 14, 1 pgs

  COLLYER'S COMMENT on the SPORT of KINGS; BY HERT E. COLLYER; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Dec 25, 1929; pg. 14, 1 pgs

  SINCLAIR FULL OF FIGHT; Says Suit for Annulment of Teapot Dome Lease Will Be Sharply Contested Wants a Trial; Wall Street Journal (1889-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Mar 13, 1924; pg. 2, 1 pgs

  HENRY WATTERSON.; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Feb 15, 1920; pg. E2, 1 pgs
("...to use his own phrase, everybody 'from hell to breakfast'--greets and heartily congratulates Colonel WATTERSON.")

  The Tale of Ten Thousand Dogies; THE TALE OF TEN THOUSAND DOGIES; by Herbert Quick, Herbert Quick; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Aug 18, 1918; pg. FM7, 2 pgs

  Display Ad 15 -- No Title; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jun 27, 1918; pg. 9, 1 pgs

  Display Ad 17 -- No Title; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jun 20, 1918; pg. 9, 1 pgs

  WINTERBOTTOM COULD FIND NO POKER IN NEW ORLEANS; Veteran Player, However, Takes a Whirl at Faro and Has Curious Adventure With the Chief of Police, Who Proves Friendly.; By DAVID A. CURTIS; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Mar 10, 1918; pg. ES3, 1 pgs

  ONE-EYED MAN QUITS POKER; MEETS DOWNFALL IN FARO; Necessity of Moral Principles Is the Lesson Drawn by Old Man Greenlaw From Strange Story Told by Buck Hawkins, but Mr. Pepper Has Another Interpretation.; By DAVID A. CURTIS.; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Nov 11, 1917; pg. 22, 1 pgs

  POKER; One Eye Is Still Free to Rake in the Coin, Despite the Sheriff's Gunning Trip, While Blaisdell's Ruse Only Gets Him Into Trouble. Old Man Greenlaw Distressed.; By DAVID A. CURTIS.; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Apr 29, 1917; pg. S3, 1 pgs
("If thats so, Joe'd foller him f'm hell to breakfast, bein's he onc't set out.")

  BILLY SUNDAY RAPS NUPTIAL; Turns from Church "Knockers" to Give His Views on Men Who Seek Petticoat Protection. FINDS WORK FOR WOMEN Tells Them to Join the Red Cross-- Dancing, Drinking, and Card Playing His Pet; New York Times (1857-Current, New York, N.Y.; Apr 13, 1917; pg. 7, 1 pgs

  Society Women Useless, Says Sunday; 'Dress and Feasts All They Live For'; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jan 17, 1915; pg. 13, 1 pgs
("You wait; I'll rip that dance business from hell to breakfast and back again.")

  OVERDOSE of CONSCIENCE; Greenhut Tells of Fatal Case.; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Aug 26, 1906; pg. SM4, 1 pgs

  HAIL BERKMAN AS CHIEF; Frick's Assailant Is Welcomed by Anarchists of New York.; Special to The Washington Post.; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Jun 18, 1906; pg. 1, 1 pgs

  Article 8 -- No Title; The Washington Post (1877-1954), Washington, D.C.; Nov 11, 1889; pg. 4, 1 pgs:
   WRITING for the _Courier-Journal_ on the morning after the late election, Colonel Watterson said, "It is a Democratic cyclone from Cape Cod to Kalamazoo; from Alpha to Omega; from hell to breakfast;" a statement the clearness of which is attributed by the malevolence of Western journalism to the influence of the exhilarating spring water of the fine old State of Kentucky.