Alternate origin story for "graveyard shift"

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of James Callan
> Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 10:04 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Alternate origin story for "graveyard shift"
>
>
> I would've been skeptical of this story even if the tour didn't repeat
> the "Thomas Crapper invented the toilet" story. In fact, the first time
> I took the Underground Tour, I had to double-check that the term "skid
> row" originated in Seattle -- and was pleased to discover that that, at
> least, was true.

What evidence do you have that that the first "skid row" was in Seattle?
Certainly, the predecessor term, "skid road", did not originate there. The
OED has an 1880 cite for "skid road" from the Adirondacks. "Skid row"
doesn't appear until 1931.

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net