"Scam"--1963 "origin unknown" (1959)

Sun Jun 6 22:58:34 UTC 2004

SCAM

_Couple slam adoption "scam" lawyer_
--NEW YORK POST, 6 June 2004, pg. 12 headline

(ADS-L ARCHIVES, 30 September 2003)
Barry,
I really enjoy your contributions to the list. One word you might be 
interested in antedating is scam, which only goes back to 1963 in OED and elsewhere.
All the best,
Brian   

   All right, the LOS ANGELES TIMES digitization is up to 1963, and it's time 
to work on "scam."
   There is an ocean of bad hits, usually for "seam" or "scum" or "slam" or 
"scan."  All the tricks were tried--limiting the time span to a few years 
before 1963, adding the words "carnival" or "carny" or "slang," and using the forms 
"scamming" and "scammer."
    However, limiting the time period from 1950-1963 still yields 2,245 
ProQuest "hits."
    Maybe it's a secret acronym for Santa Claus?  We still dunno.  Wait for 
the CHICAGO TRIBUNE digitization.  How are the WESTLAW criminal cites for 
"scam," "scamming," and "scammer"?

(MERRIAM-WEBSTER)
Main Entry: 1scam     Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: skam
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1963
: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation <an insurance scam>    

CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SLANG (1998)
by Jonathon Green
Pg. 1033:
scam n. {1960s+] ... [? SE _scheme_}

(OED)
SCAM (noun)
slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
[Origin obscure.] 
  1. a. A trick, a ruse; a swindle, a racket. Also attrib. 
  1963 Time 28 June 48/2 He..worked..as a carny huckster... ‘It was a full 
scam.’ 1971 Harper's Mag. Feb. 89 A gambling house is a sitting duck to every 
con man or outlaw who comes through; he is invariably convinced that he has a 
scam that you have never seen before. 1972 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 2 July 19/6 It 
was necessary to the success of the latest ‘scam’ that it be worked in 
places where $25 chips were constantly in play. 1975 J. F. BURKE Death Trick (1976) 
iv. 64 Hustling of any kind he could live with in his hotel, dope-dealing, 
selling ass, almost any scam, even burglary. 1976 M. MACHLIN Pipeline v. 58 
Gamblers, pimps, whores, conmen, and scam artists of every persuasion were drawn 
to the scene like sharks. 1978 M. PUZO Fools Die xii. 131 The bribe-taking scam 
had been going on for nearly two years without any kind of hitch.

    b. spec. A fraudulent bankruptcy (see quot. 1966). Also attrib. 

  1966 Wall Street Jrnl. 9 Sept. 1/1 (heading) ‘Fat Man’ Scolnick & ‘scams’
... They're known as ‘scam’ operators, promoters who set up ostensibly 
legitimate businesses, order large amounts of merchandise on credit, sell it fast 
and strictly for cashand then go ‘bankrupt’, leaving their creditors unpaid. 
1968 J. M. ULLMAN Lady on Fire (1969) xiv. 181 ‘The main plan's to go 
bankrupt... The suppliers will be stuck with unpaid bills for millions. There's a name 
for that’ ‘Scam game,’ Forbes said. 1974 N.Y. Times 8 July 26/1 Organized 
crime is stealing millions of dollars from the public through planned fraudulent 
bankruptcies, called ‘scams’ by the underworld.

    2. A story; a rumour; information. 

  1964 Guardian 8 July 7/6 ‘People want the 1930s all over again: a thousand 
naked chorus girls dancing in a pink smog under crystal chandeliers on a 
revolving staircase on an Alp.’.. ‘Didn't someone tell us once that Hollywood went 
bust with that scam?’ 1966 Amer. Speech XLI. 281 Lowdown, scam, the word, 
information. 1972 W. MCGIVERN Caprifoil (1973) viii. 137 There's been a security 
break... He's scheduled a press conference... The scam is he's going to break 
what we know on Spencer. 1972 J. WAMBAUGH Blue Knight (1973) i. 28, I paid 
them [sc. informers] from my pocket, and when I made the bust on the scam they 
gave me, I made it look like I lucked on to the arrest. 1976 New Musical Express 
17 Apr. 10/2 No, still no scam on Donny and Marie.

(OED)
SCAM (verb)
slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
 [Origin obscure: cf. prec.]     intr. and trans. To perpetrate a fraud; to 
cheat, trick, or swindle. Hence scamming vbl. n. (in sense 1b of SCAM n.). 
  1963 Time 28 June 48/2 My boss was scammin' from the public, and I was 
scammin' from him. 1966 Wall Street Jrnl. 9 Sept. 1/1 ‘Scam’ originally was a 
carnival term meaning ‘to fleece the public’. 1974 Whig-Standard (Kingston, 
Ont.) 9 Apr. 4/1 Scamming..is a form of criminal bankruptcy in which a front man 
buys out a legitimate firm and then uses the credit rating of the firm to buy 
large quantities of merchandise. Ibid. 4/3 Scamming, he said, ranks second only 
to bookmaking in financial importance to criminals. 1977 New Yorker 30 May 
96/2 Local citizens..try to avoid being scammed by the familiar tergiversations 
of city politicians.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
On Language; Stings and Scams Downhill Mondegreens 
By William Safire. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Mar 2, 
1980. p. SM3 (1 page) :
   "Scam" has a simpler history.  The word was spawned at carnivals, where 
games of chance were rigged to fleece customers.  Some say it may have come from 
"scamp's game"; others point to the word's possible origin as a variant of 
"shame," but that's all guesswork--no precarny citations have been found.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS) ("scamp's game")
No hits

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM) ("scamp's game")
No hits

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS) ("scam" and "scamp")
    1.  AFFAIRS IN ENGLAND.; The Revolutionary Barenet A Clouded Horizon The 
Question of National Education Literary Gossip The Metropolitan Theatres. A 
STORM BREWING. LITERARY GOSSIP. THE LONDON THEATRES. 
>From Our Own Correspondent.. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, 
N.Y.: Dec 9, 1871. p. 2 (1 page) 

    2.  Classified Ad 33 -- No Title
The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: Nov 10, 
1973. p. C44 (1 page) 

    3.  Classified Ad 13 -- No Title
The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: Dec 13, 
1973. p. C27 (1 page) 

    4.  Classified Ad 19 -- No Title
The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.: Sep 11, 1974. p. 
C29 (1 page) 

    5.  Display Ad 92 -- No Title
The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.: Mar 26, 1977. p. 
D39 (1 page) 

    6.  Display Ad 110 -- No Title
The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.: Apr 29, 1977. p. 
C25 (1 page) 

    7.  On Language; Stings and Scams Downhill Mondegreens 
By William Safire. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Mar 2, 
1980. p. SM3 (1 page)   

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM) ("scam" and "scamp")
24 hits, none relevant

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM) ("scam" and "carny")
No hits

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS) ("scam" and "scheme")
    29. Make New Fall Chair Covers
The Washington Post (1877-1954). Washington, D.C.: Nov 3, 1938. p. X13 (1 
page) 

    30. Cheaters Beat the New Las Vegas; A Gang Cheats Casinos In the New Las 
Vegas 
By WALLACE TURNERSpecial to The New York Times. New York Times (1857-Current 
file). New York, N.Y.: Jun 26, 1972. p. 1 (2 pages)  

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)("Scam" and "slang") (45 hits, most all of them 
bad--ed.)
Nevada State Journal - 8/31/1968    
...in a column: "Speaking of SLANG, the SCAM restaurant in L.A. got its 
name.....game of chance" Could Be, Could Be But SCAM happens to be the initials of 
the..
Reno, Nevada Saturday, August 31, 1968  807 k       
Pg. 4, col. 4, "On Broadway" by Walter Winchell:
   Item in a column:  "Speaking of slang, the Scam restaurant in L.A. got its 
name from an expression used to describe a dishonest carnival game of 
chance."...Could Be, Could Be...But Scam happens to be the initials of the co-owners: 
Steve Crane and Al Mathis.

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM) ("scamming")
Chronicle Telegram - 9/10/1965  
...more popular con games this season is "SCAMMING." The players get hold of 
some.....have deserted for new, challenging SCAMMING situations. A travel 
agency was..
Elyria, Ohio Friday, September 10, 1965  763 k   
Pg. 26, col. 3:
_SOUND, ESTABLISHED FIRMS BILKED_
_AS SCAMMERS LEAP TO THE KILL_
by Cyrus Barrett, Jr.
(...)
   DEAR FURPO:  One of the more popular con games this season is "Scamming."  
The players get hold of some company with a good established credit rating 
and start buying merchandise or materials for resale.  Upon delivery, they dump 
it at quick sale prices.  Suppliers, closing in for their money, find they 
simply were not quick enough.   The new owners have deserted for new, challenging 
scamming situations.  (...)  With adroit minds, scammers seem to jump from 
business to business like Rubio winning the Grand National steeple chase.

Manitowoc Herald Times - 9/10/1965  
...have deserted for new, challenging SCAMMING situations. A travel agency 
was..
Manitowoc, Wisconsin Friday, September 10, 1965  882 k      

Sheboygan Press - 9/10/1965     
...more popular con games this season is "SCAMMING." The players get hold of 
some.....have deserted for new, challenging SCAMMING situations. A travel 
agency was..
Sheboygan, Wisconsin Friday, September 10, 1965  662 k      

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS) ("scamming")
    1.  Classified Ad 19 -- No Title
New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jul 27, 1951. p. 22 (1 
page) 
(BAD HIT?--ed.) 

    2.  Bankruptcy Expert Gives Advice After Adjudicating 5,000 Cases; 
Retiring Referee Advocates Rehabilitation Chance for Potential Failures Retiring 
Bankruptcy Referee Advises 
By ISADORE BARMASH. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jul 
4, 1965. p. F1 (2 pages)  
Second page (Pg. 18, col. 5):  The F. B. I. chief cited in particular a 
rising trend known as "scamming," a practice of deliberately planned banlruptcy for 
gain that has grossed its perpetrators $200 million a year nationally.

(WWW,NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Times Recorder - 6/30/1959  
...Each week it's another get-rich-quick SCAM filled with bold-face lies..
Zanesville, Ohio Tuesday, June 30, 1959  142 k      
(BAD HIT!  IT MENTIONS M*A*S*H ENDING ITS TELEVISION RUN!--ed.)

Van Nuys News - 7/30/1959   
...young compirs or occasional campirs "SCAM" bag. Complet. with htad flap 
and..
Van Nuys, California Thursday, July 30, 1959  443 k     
(A "SCAM BAG" IS INTRIGUING, BUT IT'S A "SCOUT BAG."  OY VEY IS MIR!--ed.)

Reno Evening Gazette - 12/1/1959    
...in the red under-ear, is the straight: SCAM, all ght. But there's more 
than one..
Reno, Nevada Tuesday, December 01, 1959  509 k   
Pg. 18, col. 3:
_Now Santa Claus Must Attend School to Catch the Spirit of Christmas_
   LOS ANGELES (AP)--Hang on Virginia, this thing is even bigger than we 
thought.
   All that jazz about the pudgy little joy-monger in the red underwear is 
the straight scam, all right.  But there's more than one.  We've found a place 
where they crank 'em out faster than second lieutenants.
  A kind of Santa Claus Candidates' School where they produce three-day 
winter wonders.
   The Volunteers of America have this Christmas program.   

Newark Advocate - 11/24/1960    
...little joy-rr.onger in the red is the SCAM, ai right. But there's more 
than..
Newark, Ohio Thursday, November 24, 1960  655 k 
Pg. 45, col. 1:
   Hang on, Virginia, this thing is even bigger than we thought.
   All that jazz about the pudgy little joy-monger in the red underwear is 
the straight scam, all right.  But there's more than one.  We've found a place 
in Los Angeles where they turn them out faster than you could harness a 
reindeer.
   The Volunteers of America have this good-cheer program.  They send out 
Santa Clauses to stand by red and white chimneys on the street and ring bells, 
tacitly inviting the passing public to drop a little something in the chimneys.  