Bennies (slang term for Benzedrine)

[Tom Dalzell]

On 13 November, 1945, Jack Kerouac wrote in a letter to Allen Ginsberg:
"I feel an indescribable need to talk to you.  Not because I'm high on
Benny, and alone in the cursed kitchen, but as a matter of mood."
 (Pages 99-100 of Kerouac's letters, vol. 1).

Tom Dalzell

Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

>On Wed, Dec 22, 2004 at 04:51:13AM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
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>>On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 03:59:13 EST, Jerry E Kane <Jerryekane at AOL.COM> wrote:
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>>>When I saw the post bennies, I immediately thought of the slang term bennies
>>>(or uppers, circa 1950's for Benzedrine tablets) used by people to get a
>>>euphoric temporary high and to ward off sleep.  The drug was very popular
>>>among beatniks.
>>>
>>>
>>That was my first thought too, given all the drug terminology that's been
>>floating around the list.  OED2 has a first cite of 1955 for "bennies"
>>(from _Amer. Speech_), but Newspaperarchive turns up a 1947 syndicated
>>column by Earl Wilson:
>>
>>  Syracuse (NY) Herald Journal, Nov 4, 1947, p. 2, col. 1
>>  A new thrill to the Greenwich Village stay-up set is canapes filled
>>  with benzedrine (also known as bennies or bee-bees).
>>
>>MWCD11 gives 1945... does HDAS have it that far back?
>>
>>
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>No, HDAS has 1949.
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>JTS
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