Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin

[Wilson Gray]

On Sep 5, 2004, at 12:56 PM, Sam Clements wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Most cites I can find from the 1940-49 period say the NY police cars
> were
> simply green and white.
>
> SC

Larry probably had Left-Coast police cars in mind. And, of course, in
the old B&W gangster movies, even NYC police cars appear to be black
and white.

-Wilson Gray

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 11:41 AM
> Subject: Re: Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin
>
>
>> NYC police cars these days are sky-blue and white. In the forties and
> fifties (and perhaps from the beginning)  they were dark green, black,
> and
> white.  So far as I know, they were never referred to as "black and
> whites."
>>
>> JL
>>
>> Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Laurence Horn
>> Subject: Re: Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----
> -----
>>
>> At 11:41 AM -0700 9/4/04, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> I can remember eating these cookies in NYC in the mid-'50s. They
>>> were called "black-and-whites" then. Another kind of
>>> "black-and-white" was a chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream.
>>>
>>> JL
>>
>> and ideally one was not trying to eat the former or drink the latter
>> while sitting cuffed in the back of the third kind of
>> "black-and-white".
>>
>> Larry
>>
>>> Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
>>> Subject: Black-and-White, Half-Moon, Harlequin
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----
> ----
>>>
>>> BLACK-AND-WHITE--not in DARE
>>> HALF-MOON--not in DARE
>>> HARLEQUIN--not in DARE
>>>
>>> I'm adding the "black-and-white" to my web site.
>>>
>>> DARE doesn't pay me this huge salary for nothing.
>>>
>>>
>>> (PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
>>> Anne's Reader Exchange
>>> Paul H., Wheaton.. The Washington Post (1974-Current file).
>>> Washington,
> D.C.:
>>> Nov 29, 1979. p. E23 (1 page)
>>>
>>> 'Look to the Cookie': An Ode in Black and White
>>> By WILLIAM GRIMES. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,
>>> N.Y.:
> May
>>> 13, 1998. p. F1 (2 pages)
>>> First page:
>>> The black-and-white has been around forever. Herb Glaser, the baker
>>> at
> Glaser
>>> Bake Shop on First Avenue near 87th Street, said that as far as he
>>> knew,
>>> Glaser's has been making them ever since it opened 96 years ago.
>>> "When I
> was
>>> growing up, I'd have two of them for dessert every day," Mr Glaser
>>> said. "I was a
>>> fat kid."
>>>
>>> Technically, the black-and-white is not a cookie but a drop cake. The
> batter
>>> resembles the batter for a cupcake, with a little extra flour so
>>> that the
>>> dough does not run all over the place when it is dropped, dollop by
>>> dollop, on the
>>> baking cheet. "The trick is to add enough flour so the batter holds a
> shape,
>>> but not so much that the cookie becomes dry, which is a common
>>> problem
> with
>>> the black-and-white," Mr. Glaser said. Once baked, it is iced with
>>> chocolate and
>>> vanilla fondant frosting.
>>>
>>>
>>> What's Black and White And New York as Seinfeld?
>>> Florence Fabricant. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,
>>> N.Y.:
> Aug
>>> 4, 1999. p. F2 (1 page)
>>>
>>>
>>> Smart Cookies; Why black-and-whites have assumed deep cultural
> significance.
>>> Mollv O'Neill. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.:
>>> Jan
> 28,
>>> 2001. p. SM39 (12 pages)
>>> Pg. 39:The black-and-white, that frumpy and oversize mainstay of New
>>> York
>>> City bakeries and delis, has not endured by dint of its taste. Unlike
> other
>>> edible icons, like New York cheesecake or bagels, there is no such
>>> thing
> as a
>>> delicious black-and-white cookied. They are either edible or
>>> inedible. Fresh-baked
>>> and home-baked are the best.
>>>
>>> Pg. 50:Outside New York, cookies with black-and-white icing are
>>> cookies
> with
>>> black-and0white icing. In Boston, where they are called half-moons,
>>> and
> in the
>>> Midwest, where they are known as harlequins, they are considered
>>> ordinary
> and
>>> have been around, say most bakers, "forever."
>>>
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>>
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