Blooper (1925, 1926) -(an antedating)

[Sam Clements]

Barry,

I just did ancestry.com from 1925-1910.  There was NO antedating of the
baseball useage you found in 1926, nor was there any hint of a "mistake" on
radio.

There WAS a 1924 hit for the meaning of a radio set that interfers with
normal radio broadcasts.   It was from the Appleton(WI) Post Crescent, Nov.
8, 1924, page 8, column 4:

   <  A blooper is an owner of a regenerative set who operates it in such a
manner as to cause whistles or howls in neighboring receiving sets, in other
words he causes the set to radiate.>

It seems almost too coincidental that the "blooper" radio set appears in
1924, and a "blooper" in baseball appears about 1926.  There almost
certainly should be a connection.

SC
----- Original Message -----
From: <Bapopik at AOL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 11:59 PM
Subject: Blooper (1925, 1926)


>    The HDAS has 1937 for the baseball "blooper."  It has 1947 for an
embarrassing mistake, in radio or television.
>    Perhaps this will give me mention on William Safire next
"Bloopies"--but probably not.
>
>
>       TIGERS SCORE FOUR IN SEVENTH TO BEAT SENATORS IN OPENER, 4-1
>        ROBERT RAY.       Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File).       Los
Angeles, Calif.: Sep 2, 1925.                   p. B1 (2 pages):
> Pg. 2:  _"BEEFING" PARTY_
>    The Senators bunched around Ump Schmidt for a little "beefing" party,
but nothing in the way of punches took place.  In fact, it was none other
than Mr. Eckert, himself, who provided the next punch, a one-base "blooper"
rap over the drawn-in Solon infield that brought both O'Shea and Whitney
over the rubber and clinched the tilt.
>
>       LAZERRE'S FORTY-THIRD HOMER TIES COAST MARK
>        ROBERT RAY.       Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File).       Los
Angeles, Calif.: Sep 12, 1925.                   p. 9 (2 pages):
> Pg. 1:  Piercy hurled a magnificent game holding the Tigers to one hit, a
blooper single by Jackie Warner in the sixth frame, for eight frames.
>
>       WARFARE ON BLOOPERS IS NOW WAGED
>               Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File).       Los Angeles,
Calif.: Feb 14, 1926.                   p. B9 (1 page):
>    Warfare against bloopers is declared!  With the terrific demonstration
of blooping fresh in the minds of all listeners who attempted to receive
foreign stations during the International Radio Week tests just concluded,
the campaign announced by the Radio Digest should meet with instant success.
> (...)  ...to reduce radiation or blooping to a minimum.
>
> (All other cites until 1939 appear to be from sports.  I'll keep
checking--ed.)
>