Antedating of 'pazazz' (1913)

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

In a related vein, there's humorous "comme il spazaza" (1912, I believe), and "Bazazaville" (humorous; mythical place; 1913); the latter is in the newspaper _San Francisco Bulletin_ (baseball article), and the former is either there or in the _S. F. Chronicle_.  I'll check when I have access again to my notes.
 
 Meanwhile, in Sam Clements' quote below, the books and inkwell would most likely have been thrown at someone's face, although my first reaction was that "pazazz" here looks like a humorous euphemism of 
"ass." Might there be additional attestations of "pazazz" that could clarify just what's going on?
 
Gerald Cohen
 
   -----Original Message----- 
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Sam Clements 
Sent: Thu 1/1/2004 1:26 PM 
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Subject: Antedating of 'pazazz' (1913)

But not the meaning you think.

Using newspaperarchive.com, from the Ft. Wayne(IN) News, May 31, 1913, page
??(it's the 12th page available for this date in the database, column 2:

    <<"Isn't it a pity," we were saying, "that one has to be indoors this
kind of weather........"
   "Ou-o-oo!" came from the Average Young Man, and he piled a few books and
an inkwell or so within handy reach and went on.  "The next guy that pulls
that hoary wheeze on me gets these right in the pazazz.  I've been hearing
that the whole day and it's about as welcome as a rainy holiday.  Where's
your fetching up?">>

Since the word was sortta new, people used it in different ways.

This story was under a picture/cartoon of the A.Y.M. being bitten by "the
love bug."(which looks like a bird).

Sam Clements