"Bargaining Chip" Again

[Fred Shapiro]

The following comes up with a search for "bargaining chip" in the Dallas
Morning News archives:

At a well-timed moment, Walter Reuther plans to throw all his chips on the
bargaining table, and tell Ford executives that they must either grant
pensions of $100 a month to his eligible men--or face an immediate strike
of all Ford plants.
        Dallas Morning News, Aug. 23, 1949, sec. 2, p. 3

This is earlier, I think, than any other known example of the "bargaining
chip" metaphor, but still leaves the mystery: what is the bargaining table
referred to? is it a poker game or something else?

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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