jasbo/jazbo (was Re: 1913 "jazz")

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 19:28:17 -0400, George Thompson wrote:

>Interesting words are:
>jasbo (jazbo, jazzbo, jazz bo) before Los Angeles Times, August 17,
>1914.  Someone here proposed that "jasbo" was derived from the rustic
>first name "Jasper", then became assimilated to "jazz" and the meaning
>changed from 'blockhead" to "jazz fiend"  I like this proposal, and
>must check the archives to see who offered it.

Some cites from earlier in 1914 have been found. The earliest I've come
across uses "the Jasbos" as the name of a bowling team, so it's hard to
know what the meaning might have been:

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Newark Advocate (Ohio), Feb 17, 1914, p. 3/4
In a ten-pin match last night on Wilson's alleys, the Imperials won from a
team called the Jasbos by 263 pins.
-----

A cite for "jasbo" in the "bozo" sense from 3/10/1914 was first discovered
by Sam Clements (and then independently by Barry Popik and Doug Wilson):

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http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0308A&L=ADS-L&P=R3823
>From the Edwardsville(IL) Intelligencer, March 10, 1914, a comic strip,
which has 4 panels.  The first starts out "I knew a Jasbo once who read
about a chap getting paid $5000 damages for being struck by an auto and
thinking it was easy money.  He tried it.  Waited until he saw an
expensive looking car........and accidentally stepped in front and ...."
-----

Barry also found a Chicago Tribune cite from 3/22/1914 where "Jasbo" is
mentioned as a nickname for "a huge Ethiopian":
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0406B&L=ADS-L&P=R778

Next comes the LA Times cite from 8/17/1914:

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http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0308A&L=ADS-L&P=7842
LATimes database has, from August 17, 1914, section III, p. 2, cols. 4-5:
Mucho Peppo.  BIG LEAGUE NEXT HOWDY.  Road Race Special Promises Plenty
Live Stuff.  Phoenix Contest Fans Stand for Most Anything.  Many Sportmen
Desire First Reservation on List.  [headline]  The Howdy Special which
annually makes the run across the desert to Phoenix at the time of the
Phoenix road race, promises to be a record-breaking Jasbo party this year.
 [...]
-----

I found another cite from the LA Times later that same month, and if I'm
not mistaken it's the first known appearance of the "jazbo" spelling. Like
the earlier cite, it's in Al. G. Waddell's road-racing column, though the
context is actually a political gathering (attended by amateur racers?):

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Los Angeles Times, Aug 28, 1914, p. III3/4
"With the Muffler Open" by Al. G. Waddell.
The smell of gasoline and slaughter pens don't mix well, but here goes, O.K.?
Frank Hauser gave a party,
The Jazbos were all there:
It was really quite some party,
With sausages for fair.
That's about all there is to it. The door of the ancient adobe annex was
pried open and the commanding officer of the East Ninth-street beef
choppery fed a platoon of hungry friends for political reasons mostly.
-----

Waddell reverted to the "jasbo" spelling in later columns:

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Los Angeles Times, Sep 24, 1914, p. IV3/4
"With the Muffler Open" by Al. G. Waddell.
The Phoenix Jasbos are preparing for the invasion of the "Howdy Special."
-----
Los Angeles Times, Oct 6, 1914, p. III3/3
"With the Muffler Open" by Al. G. Waddell.
Olin is out on the new course with a bunch of Jasbos in a touring car --
mayperhaps a Grant, looking the high centers the double O way.
-----

It seems like "Jasbo" was a self-deprecating nickname, appropriate for
amateur sportsmen (bowlers in Newark, OH and racers in Phoenix and LA).


--Ben Zimmer