Fresh Fish

[George Thompson]

For "fresh fish" = a new convict, HDAS (2a) has 1871, 1887, &c.; OED
has 1871 for this sense, lacks "stale fish"

        If a new prisoner arrived at night he was put into the
room . . . , and the instant he entered, his arrival would be
signalized by the words "fresh fish". . . .   If, however, the person
arrived, happened to have been there before, the signal was changed
to "stale fish". . . .
        California Police Gazette, April 10, 1859, p. 1, col. 4 & 5




George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.