Butter and Egg Man (1891)

Sun Jan 23 07:09:19 UTC 2005

The FYI column in the City Section of the Sunday New York Times  discusses an 
old, outdated term--"butter and egg man."
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This was not coined by the George S. Kaufman play of 1925. It is said to  
come from Texas Guinan in 1924.
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Guinan probably very definitely influenced the slang use of "butter and egg  
man," but the "butter and egg man" had been named that since at least the  
1890s.
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Also, the second citation in the HDAS ("1925 in DA: A couple of big butter  
and egg men from Verona, New Jersey") should probably be 1926, not 1925. OED 
has  1926 for it.
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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
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_GENERAL  BUSINESS TOPICS._ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=321915612&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=11064620
97&clientId=65882) 
Los Angeles Times (1886-Current  File). Los Angeles, Calif.: Jun 22, 1895. p. 
5 (1 page) 
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The butter and egg men will also insist on the return of their crates and  
cases, or will charge for the same.
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_Display  Ad 4 -- No Title_ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=19&did=386538601&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106462
319&clientId=65882) 
Chicago Daily Tribune  (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Jan 1, 1911. p. 6 (1 page) 
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Maybe you didn't look in the basement before you leased your flat. Maybe  you 
don't know or care anything about this heating subject. It means more to you  
than your butter and egg man--a blamed sight more. (...)
KEWANEE BOILER COMPANY
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_BUTTER  AND EGG MEN WILL QUIT SOUTH WATER STEET; BIG MARKET TO BE MOVED TO 
THE NORTH  SIDE Fruit and Vegetable Men May Locate on a Pier. _ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=42&did=370222372&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VTyp
e=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106462388&clientId=65882) 
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Sep 21,  1919. p. A13 (1 
page) 
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_FIGHT  H. C. L.; Butter and Egg Men, Who Met Here to Try to Cut Prices. _ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=43&did=370295012&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=10&VI
nst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106462388&clientId=65882) 
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Nov 4, 1919.  p. 6 (1 page) 
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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
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     _Lincoln Evening News _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=W0CtXEq/mhWKID/6NLMW2vlfAIE1tu5eysOEjyS5uuLHrKB7KkA88kIF+CsZYmrz)  Friday, 
September 11, 1891 _Lincoln,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:lincoln+butter+and+egg+man+AND)  _Nebraska_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:nebraska+butter+and+egg+man+AND)       
...evanog. Rlcbardeotat the  BUTTER AND EGG MAN from Eagle, attempted to  
cross.....ind Injured about the legs, while his BUTTER jars  AND their contents 
were..
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     _Bismarck Daily Tribune _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=wSCs6S0EhDCKID/6NLMW2kq7kgeRNpFFVdv51sRxqTd+C/D8AbE0ug==)  Friday, April 
08, 1892 _Bismarck,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:bismarck+butter+and+egg+man+AND)  _North Dakota_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:north_dakota+butter+and+egg+man+AND)       
...to attend the national the  BUTTER AND EGG MAN i meetmc of  
railroad.....homes. B. ureaeer. orders at WANTED- A MAN of push  AND energy to a branch..
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     _Iowa Citizen _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=/TuInQ3tu5uKID/6NLMW2gFwP6hU2tCe/5734+KWc+bJAadI/QMUOUIF+CsZYmrz)  Friday, April 01, 
1892 _Iowa City,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:iowa_city+butter+and+egg+man+AND)  _Iowa_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:iowa+butter+and+egg+man+AND)       
...Gafford traveled for  his a BUTTER-AND-EGG MAN at MAN-  ning. His parents 
are.....March Abner N. a young traveling  MAN from shot AND killed Mabel 
Stevens..
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     _Lima Times Democrat _ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=9cbxNIiVHYuKID/6NLMW2ur2+NtA79WmuUFZbtE3ddzJP1nJbieLS0IF+CsZYmrz)  Wednesday, 
December 05,  1894 _Lima,_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:lima+butter+and+egg+man+AND)  _Ohio_ 
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:ohio+butter+and+egg+man+AND)      ...them to memory.  
The BUTTER AND EGG MAN is rarely  ever known in a.....known in our town for 
years. It is a  MAN affairs who is spoken of  AND..
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(OED)
 butter-and-egg man U.S. slang, a  wealthy, unsophisticated man who spends 
money freely;
1776  _WITHERING_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-w3.html#withering) 
 Bot.  Arrangem. (1796) III. 552 Toadflax,  Snap dragon, *Butter and Eggs. 
1880 _JEFFERIES_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-j.html#jefferies)  Gt. 
Estate 83  In shady woodlands the toadflax or butter-and-eggs is  often 
pale,a sulphur colour. 1926 _H. C. WITWER_ 
(http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-w3.html#h-c-witwer)  Roughly  Speaking 229 A couple of big  *butter and  egg 
men from Verona, New Jersey. 1927 Daily Express 31 Aug. 8/7 ‘Butter and egg man
’ is  an American slang expression practically equal to our term  ‘greenhorn’
, that is, a man of money who spends lavishly and is an  easy prey of the 
gold-digger and other unscrupulous persons. 1948 Antioch Rev. Spring 105 The ‘
butter-and-egg’ man who startles the foreign lecturer with blunt  questions.


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(NYPL CATNYP)
    Title Roughly speaking, by H.C. Witwer.   Imprint New York, London, G.P. 
Putnam's Sons,  1926.