Jerker (1874); "Kick Me" sign (1875); Ketcham, Cheatham & Skinner (1874)

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JERKER

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Presumably the ancestor of "soda jerk".----------_The Times_ (Trenton NJ), 4
Sep. 1889: p. 3(?), col. 2:<<NOBODY KNOWS / When the girls will stop flirting.
/ .... / When thestreets will be kept clean. / When the local fishermen will
stop lying. /.... / When soda jerkers will give a full gla[ss] for a nickel. /
....>>------------ Doug Wilson


I just came across this in a long article about drinks.

13 February 1874, EVENING TELEGRAM (NY), pg. 3, col. 1:
Beer drinking is quite a different business. It requires a still more ample
management, although greater space. A stand for the kegs, a small counter or
bar for the barkeeper, a few waiters to serve the beer at the tables, and a
"jerker," whose business it is to fill the glasses in such a way as to make the
keg hold out the longest on his side of the account, constitute the entire
working of the saloon. The "jerker" is the only "skilled" laborer about the
concern, and he bears about the same relation to the beer saloon that the "mixer"
does to the first class car. (...)
--_Cincinnati Commercial_.

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PLEASE KICK ME

KICK ME + SIGN--26,500 Google hits, 15,500 Google Groups hits

I just came across this. Who knew it was that old?


1 April 1875, THE DAILY GRAPHIC (NY), pg. 230:
_All Fools Day_
("PLESE KIK ME" is a sign attached to someone's back in one cartoon--ed.)

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KETCHAM, CHEATHAM & SKINNER

DEWEY + HOWE--63,600 Google hits, 6,480 Google Groups hits

"Dewey, Cheatham & Howe" is the famous law firm name. Perhaps Fred Shapiro is
collecting these.


13 October 1874, THE DAILY GRAPHIC (NY), pg. 747:
"BY THEIR SIGNS SHALL YE KNOW THEM."
(...)
(Photo of "KETCHAM, CHEATHAM & SKINNER, ATTORNEYS"--ed.)

Much more fitting is the firm name next in order, of Ketcham, Cheatham &
Skinner. Any one who does not believe it is welcome to go to law for proof, and
out of his "contingent remainder," if he has any, he can forward his penitent
confession of faith (postage paid) to THE DAILY GRAPHIC office.