"pickle-puss"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 22:36:35 -0400, Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM> wrote:

>Hey!  You mean I might be right, here?  :)

Hard to say without hearing some of those early Mel Allen shows. He might
have had a regular bit where Walter Tetley called him "puzzle-puss" or
"pickle-puss". The keepers of "The Walter Tetley Web Page" might know:

http://wtwp.freeownhost.com/contents.php3

(On the web, everyone gets a tribute page... this one was set up by "Rocky
and Bullwinkle" fans, since Tetley went on to do the voice of Sherman on
"Peabody's Improbable History".)

--Ben Zimmer


>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Benjamin Zimmer" <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Monday, July 04, 2005 10:33 PM
>Subject: Re: "pickle-puss"
>
>
>> On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 22:13:25 -0400, Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>> -----
>>>> 1936 _Washington Post_ 12 Mar. 16/8 Pickle-Pussed Jock [sc. boxer
>>>> Jock McAvoy] will be a slight favorite in the betting.
>>>> -----
>>>>
>>>> The jocular name in the Mar. '35 _Post_ also appears in a boxing
>>>> article, though not by the same writer ('35 is Bill McCormick, '36 is
>>>> Jack Miley).
>>>
>>>So, the writers of boxing article listened to Fred Allen on the Radio.
>>>He had been on the air for about 4-5 years at this point.
>>
>> Looks like Fred Allen had a number of "-puss" nicknames...
>>
>> -----
>> Los Angeles Times, Feb 23, 1936, p. C10/2
>> It is Walter's [sc. child actor Walter Tetley] dulcet voice you hear
>> mouthing such things as "Listen, Puzzle-Puss," when speaking to Mr.
>> Fred Allen, a radio comedian of some merit.
>> -----
>> Los Angeles Times, Oct 15, 1937, p. 14/2
>> Fred Allen, sometimes called Long Puss, is able banjoist, plays for own
>> amazement mostly, did vaudeville and film short sketches.
>> -----