Lemonade, made in the shade (1904); Church steeple & people

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 01:17:27 -0500, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

>>At picnics you will sometimes hear the children say:
>>Lemonade,
>>Made in the shade,
>>Stirred with a spade,
>>By an old maid.
>
>Is this the inspiration for "[somebody] has got it made in the shade" =
>"[somebody] has got it made"?

That's what is suggested by the HDAS entry for "have it made [in the
shade]", which lists in square brackets the exact quote that Barry gave
above but with the source as "1896 in Botkin _Treas. Amer. Folk._ 789".


--Ben Zimmer