origin of "wuss" or "wussie" ??

[Sam Clements]

And just to amplify WHY I think this could be legit---
I was born in VA in 1944.  I lived in Northern VA from 1947-1966.  Never
heard the term 'wussie.'  I moved to Akron, Ohio in 1971.  Never heard the
term before I married my(then) wife in 1981.  She was from a family that had
Pa/German roots, but lived in Akron since the teens.  She constantly used
the term "wuss" to mean a wimp.  I had never encountered it, not even in my
living here in 1971-1981.

SC


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Clements" <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 11:07 PM
Subject: origin of "wuss" or "wussie" ??


What I offer may have NOTHING to do with the word "wus, wuss, wussie" that
seems to have entered the language in the late 1960's/early 1970's to mean a
person who is a wimp.

I buy things for a living.  Today, someone came in with some stamped
envelopes/first day covers, etc.  There was one that caught my eye and I
pulled it and brought it home.  It MAY solve a puzzle.  Or not.

The cover is dated 1954.  It was issued to commemorate a stamp exhibt in
Reading, PA.  The images on the cover concern the Pennsylvania Dutch, and
their expressions.  I'll list them verbatim from the cover.

"When we try to talk too fancy like, it don't come out so good.  But in
plain old Pennsylvanina Dutch, things sound just like they should." /
''Chakie is such a little wutzie."(picture of a Pa-Dutch kid who appears to
be a 'goody-goody'/ Sarah's spritzin' the grass."(picture of a
Pa-Dutch-clothed girl watering the grass/ "When the little red house comes,
the train is all."(two Pa-Duch kids watching a train go by(caboose=red
house?)/ "Chrissley's tooth ouches him."Pa-Dutch kid with bandage wrapped
around his head, containing bad tooth.)

Does the "Chakie is such a little wutzie" mean "Jackie is such a wussie"
???????

That's my reading of it.   Any ideas here?

What does/did 1950's Pa-Dutch "wutzie" mean???

Sam Clements