rube (1891)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

OED has 1896 for "reub", 1899 for "rube" (= 'country bumpkin').  Barry
Popik already noted an 1894 Boston Globe article on circus slang that has
"rube":
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0503B&L=ads-l&P=R2559

This cite is from an 1891 Globe article entitled "Beautiful Slanguage:
Dictionary of Words and Phrases Used by Players and Others Connected With
the Stage."

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1891 _Boston Globe_ 11 Jan. 10/2 A "rube" is a brief term for a country
theatre-goer for whom the "show is too rich for his blood," or too good in
other words.
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--Ben Zimmer