Roach Coach (1985 for catering wagon)

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ADS-L (again)

    I'd put a prefix in the subject line, but I don't think that matters.  Everyone knows what I post.
    Unlike what Scott believes occurs in the posts of mine that he deletes, I try to find additional information as best as I can.  "Dulce de leche" was not simply a "raw data" antedating.  "TGIF" was a "raw data" antedating (Raw data! Horrors!), but only because it's been discussed before.
   Again, I believe that some people think the problem is simply me.  If all my posts go away forever, and I were to disappear completely, and the function of the ADS mission that I perform would just disappear with me, life would be so much better.
   Just this week, I renewed my ADS membership.  I was told I'd save $2 if I renewed early.  I wrote to tell them the $2 is an ADS donation.
   And a few days later...just amazing.

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ROACH COACH

   "Roach coach" is not in the CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SLANG.  I do not know what the HDAS is planning for "roach coach."
   It's the "dog wagon" of California.  I was asked to check the LOS ANGELES TIMES (now at July 1940).  "Roach coach" is not in the ProQuest Historical LA TIMES so far.
   There are 3,090 Google hits for "roach coach."
   Both "gedunk truck" and "ptomaine wagon" are mentioned in an article below.  "Gedunk truck" has 4 Google hits.  "Geedunk truck" has 15 Google hits.  (The term is probably mock-German, from the old "Harold Teen" comic strip.)  "Ptomaine wagon" has only 3 Google hits.
   The early "roach coach" hits here involve airplanes (passengers flying "coach").  The 1975 citation below probably doesn't involve food wagons.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS--WASHINGTON POST)
      Display Ad 146 -- No Title
              The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).       Washington, D.C.: Jul 26, 1975.                   p. E4 (1 page) :
DIG 2 DIFFERENT FAMOUS ROCK BANDS
(...)
TO REACH: SET YOUR ROACH COACH ON
I-95 south...

      Display Ad 198 -- No Title
              The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).       Washington, D.C.: Jul 27, 1975.                   p. 140 (1 page)

      Classified Ad 4 -- No Title
              The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).       Washington, D.C.: Apr 26, 1983.                   p. C12 (1 page)

      THE SHUTTLE EVERYBODY IS NOBODY ON THE EASTERN POWER TRIP
       By David Remnick Washington Post Staff Writer.       The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).       Washington, D.C.: Oct 6, 1985.                   p. H1 (3 pages)
Pg. H10:               _Shuttle Nicknames_
Roach Coach.
Cattle Car (courtesy Jacob Javits).
Glamor Glider.
Bagel-less Bomber.
Late Show.
Waiting Room.
Flying None.

      Fay and Her Roach Coach, Breezing Along
       By Barbara Carton Washington Post Staff Writer.       The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).       Washington, D.C.: Oct 10, 1985.                   p. D1 (2 pages) :
(First page--ed.)
   For the last three years, she has driventhe traffic-clogged highways of Tysons Corner, dispensing snacks and lunches from "my roach coach."
   A roach coach is actually a food service truck, but neither the drivers nor the customers address it by its formal name.  And when Shannon speaks of hers, it's happily, with affection--as in, "You ought to taste what a fine cup of coffee my roach coach can make," or, "Today, this old roach coach is pretty much breezing along."


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS--NEW YORK TIMES)
      All Aboard for the 'Cattle Car'
       By VICTOR PERERA.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Jan 24, 1971.                   p. XX1 (2 pages) :
(First page, start of article--ed.)
   PUERTO RICANS themselves call it the "cattle car" because of its reputation for overcorwding from the old days.  Snobbish stewardesses refer to it as the "roach coach" because they expect the passengers to be unclean.  A San Juan travel agent indelicately calls it the "vomit comet"--an allusion, I imagine, to the great number of babes in arms of inexperienced travelers aboard the plane.

      On film sets, no one works until the 'roach coach' arrives. So how good is the food?
       By ERIC ASIMOV.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: Nov 30, 1997.                   p. ST1 (2 pages):
_Lights!  Camera!_
_Grilled Salmon!_  (See "Lights! Camera! Action!" recently posted here--ed.)
(First page, third column--ed.)
   A day's work cannot begin until the catering van, called the "roach coach," rolls up.


(OCLC WORLDCAT)
Title:
Biker babes
Author(s):
Trucker Wally.
Publication:
Lenexa, KS :; Laughing Hyena Tapes,
Year:
1990
Description:
1 sound cassette :; analog.
Language:
English
Series:
Truckstop comedy ;; v. 25
Standard No:
Publisher: 2025; Laughing Hyena Tapes; TC2025; Laughing Hyena Tapes; LCCN: 94-771389
Abstract:
Presents Trucker Wally performing his adult comedy routine.
Contents:
Liar size rubbers -- Biker babes -- Already broken freight -- Driver weight loss systems -- Bad ass truckers -- Bob's roach coach -- Radar detector detector -- Tanker load locks -- Frequent fueler points -- Sidewinder sporting missles -- Diesel mechanics school -- Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.


(PROQUEST NEWSPAPERS)
      Yuppie Catering Truck:  A Yuppie Version of the Catering Truck is Rolling into California Office Parks
       Garcia, Edwin.       Chicago Tribune.       Chicago, Ill.: Jul 15, 1992.                   p. EVENING:
(...)
A yuppie version of the catering truck is rolling into California office parks, offering a full veggie menu of pastas, granola and carrot juice that are low in fat, low in sugar, low in salt. "There are plenty of roach coaches in the area, so it's not so foreign for people to come up to the truck to get something to eat. What's new to them is getting something healthy," said Laurene Powell, 28.

Powell and her business partner, John "J.J." Mullane, 29, are Stanford University MBA grads who founded Terravera as an "appetizing alternative" to the typical "roach coach" company. Their Earth Cruiser, a large white van outfitted with a candy-striped canvas awning, has been serving about 100 meals daily since it was mobilized last month.


      The Food Is Fine but It Isn't the Place You'd Pick for a Picnic
       Tony Perry.       Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Los Angeles, Calif.: Jul 8, 1992.                   p. 1:
(...)
The dining establishment is called Tacos Mexico, which provides breakfast and lunch to hundreds of garbage truck drivers (municipal and private) and an occasional trash-hauling homeowner.

   It may be San Diego's most exclusive open-air dining experience. Certainly it is the most aromatic.

   It begins with a catering truck, like hundreds that ply San Diego work sites. Yes, but this is no ordinary roach coach, ptomaine wagon or gedunk truck.

   "With most of these trucks, you just get something to fill your stomach up," said Henry Brown, a driver for the city's Refuse Collection Division. "With this truck, they take time in preparing the food. We appreciate that."


      Desert troops cluster bomb the language
       Peter Copeland, Scripps Howard News Service..       Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Chicago, Ill.: Jan 24, 1991.                   p. 5


      For new slang in desert, it's still a military snafu
       PETER COPELAND.       Houston Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext).       Houston, Tex.: Jan 24, 1991.                   p. 15
      EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA - ``Desert cherries'' in ``Kevlars'' fly the ``Sand Box Express'' to the ``beach'' and soon are complaining about ``Meals Rejected by Ethiopians'' if they can't find a ``roach coach'' run by ``Bedouin Bob.''

    In English, that would be new troops wearing helmets made of bullet-proof Kevlar taking military transport to the desert and complaining of the Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) field rations if they can't find a Saudi food stand.

    American soldiers here are inventing a new desert lexicon, although they don't always agree on what the words mean.

    For the Army, the ``Scud Buster'' is the Patriot air-defense system that has been knocking down Iraqi Scud missiles.

    But for the Air Force, the only real ``Scud Buster'' is the F-15E Strike Eagle jet, which doesn't just target the ``Scud puppies'' but goes after the launchers inside enemy territory.

    Army grunts traditionally aren't so fond of the Air Force, but now the ``zoomies'' are heroes because they're weakening Iraq before a ground war has to begin.

    Some ``ground pounders'' wearing ``chocolate chip cookie cammies'' even talk of an ``Adopt-a-Pilot'' campaign and cheer when the jets roar overhead.

    As usual, the Marines come in for the roughest treatment on the nickname front, and the ``jarheads'' dug in on the Kuwait border are called ``self-propelled sandbags.''

    Even within the services there are rivalries, such as the distinction between the airborne Army soldiers who jump out of airplanes and the ``Legs'' - soldiers who don't. (...)