TGIF (1941, in Columbus, Ohio)

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   A new car commercial uses "TGIF."  The driver takes the car to work, and
we first see "TGIM."  Then TGIT, TGIW, and the rest follow.
   See "Thank God" in the archives.  The following is from an Ancestry.com
search...A TGI FRIDAYS just opened near me at 56th Street and Lexington, so
that's your food connection.
   Merriam-Webster doesn't give a year.  OED doesn't have anything?
   It's Columbus Day,  and it appears that "TGIF" comes from Columbus, Ohio!
I never knew that Columbus discovered Ohio, but that's another story.


   13 November 1941, MARION STAR (Marion, Ohio), pg. 19, col. 4:
_OHIO STATE'S TGIF CLUB_
_SET FOR HOMECOMING_
   By CHUCK McKENNA
   COLUMBUS, Nov. 13--I thought I'd heard of everything in the way of booster
clubs, alumni organizations and the like, but this city, home of the Ohio
State univeristy Buckeyes, and correctly called the Brooklyn of the football
world, has come up with one that tops them all.  It's the "Thank God It's Friday"
club, composed entirely of undergraduates here at State.
   This unique organization holds its weekly meeting from 5 to 6 every Friday
afternoon in a campus hangout called Ben's Tavern, that is a throwback to the
days of the Student Prince at Old Heidelberg with its huge organ in the place
of a "juke box," and the nightly singing of old favorites in the stead of
swing music.  The High Priestess and major domo of this weekly reitual is the
organist, Betty Terry, a lovely lady who is worshipped by the students of Ohio
State for the part she plays in their ceremony each Friday.
   Every member of this strange group firmly believes that if they were not
to meet each Friday preceding an Ohio State foootball (Col. 5--ed.) game evil
surely will befall State the following day.  It was my privilege to attend
their meeting last Friday, prior to the Ohio State-Wisconsin game and before they
were through darn if they didn't have the writer believing their meeting was
just as important as the daily practice sessions held by Coach Paul Brown.
   A typical meeting of the TGIF club goes something like this.  From three
to four o'clock on Friday afternoon, the members (almost every undergraduate
belongs) flock to the tavern and when the zero hour approaches standing space is
at a premium.  Ben, the jovial proprietor, usually has to lock the doors to
conform with local fire regulations the crowd is that large.  Promptly ar four
o'clock Miss Terry assumes her place at the organ and the familiar strains of
the State song "Fight the Team" start the meeting with a bang.  Then through a
series of fraternity songs that include at least one for every one of the 72
fraternities on the Buckeye campus.
   Midway in the festivities there is a short intermission that lasts for ten
minutes and after which the stirring march the "Buckeye Battle Cry" is sung
to start the second half of the meeting.  To end this strange hexing ceremony,
as it is sometimes called, the members assembled rise with the first chords of
their beautiful alma mater song, "Carmen Ohio."  As the alma mater is being
sung you can feel the pride in the voices of these loyal students as they tell
of the glories of Ohio State.  To them this a fitting climax to their unique
ritual and a guarantee of victory on the gridiron the following afternoon.
   Chances are if Bob Zuppke, great football coach of the University of
Illinois team that meets the Buckeyes in a game that has been designated by Ohio
State Alumni as being the homecoming game of the 1941 season, hears of this
strange club he will be all for (Col. 6--ed.) kidnapping Miss Terry and prevent
the sacred TGIF club from meeting this Friday afternoon, thereby insuring an
Illini victory over Coach Brown's warriors.  Knowing "Zup" as a mentor that never
misses a trick, the doughty sons of Ohio State had better keep a close watch
on their lovely organist the remainder of this week lest disaster creep into
the "hallowed temple," wherein lies the power and the glory and the secret of
success of Ohio State University's football team.  The place is better known as
Ben's Tavern.

   23 September 1954, CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM (Elyria, Ohio), pg.(illegible), col.
3:
   A sign, "Welcome home, Don," and a beer bottle containing the letters,
"TGIF" were hung on the front door of their home.
   "TGIF," explained the family, referred to Dixon's favorite moptto while a
student at Syracuse university and stood for the undergraduate party cry,
"Thank God, It's Friday!"

   4 August 1955, BENNINGTON EVENING BANNER (Bennington, Vermont), pg.1, col.
8:
   RELAX at the
BENNINGTON CLUB'S
         COOL
   TGIF Club
Friday at 5 P. M.
Free Snacks