Hen Coop (the women's page?)

[Wilson Gray]

"Hen coop" sounds rather blendish to me. "Hen house"? Yes. "Chicken
coop"? Yes. But "hen
coop"? No way! Of course, I'm willing to admit that the usage of the
urban city slickers of NY may differ from that of the rural hayseeds
of East Texas. ;-)

-Wilson

On 5/31/06, Bapopik at aol.com <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Hen Coop (the women's page?)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I just added "hen coop" to my web page, but the Google ads have  nothing to=20
> do with women. "Hen Coop" was the women's page of the NY Evening  Journal in=
> =20
> 1898. See the WSJ story below (Google News).
> ...
> HDAS has "hen coop" from only 1900, and the only definition is "Stu., a =20
> women's domitory." Can't we do better than Dialect Notes?
> ...
> HDAS has "henhouse" from 1889 (1785 in brackets), but again it means either=20=
> =20
> "women's residence" or "women's prison."
> ...
> Was "hen coop" ever newspaper slang for women's page writers?
> ...
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE NEWS) =20
> 21 May 2006, Wall Street Journal:
> One spring day in 1898, Marie Manning  was sitting in the "hen coop" -- slan=
> g=20
> for the women's department -- of the New  York Evening Journal when her=20
> editor walked in carrying three letters from  readers seeking personal advic=
> e.=20
> Would Ms. Manning have any use for such letters  on the women's page?
> ...
> ...
> ...
> _http://www.barrypopik.com/article/1597/hen-coop-the-womens-page-the-first-a=
> dv
> ice-column_=20
> (http://www.barrypopik.com/article/1597/hen-coop-the-womens-page-the-first-a=
> dvice-column)=20
> ...
> =20
> Hen Coop (the women's page) & the first advice column
> =E2=80=9CThe Hen Coop=E2=80=9D column began on July 20, 1898 in the New York=
>  Evening =20
> Journal. It was a women=E2=80=99s page and the first women=E2=80=99s =E2=80=
> =9Cadvice column,=E2=80=9D like  an=20
> early =E2=80=9CDear Abby=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9CAnn Landers.=E2=80=9D =20
> Questions were answered by =E2=80=9CBeatrice Fairfax,=E2=80=9D originally Ma=
> rie Manning and =20
> later other writers.=20
> =E2=80=9CHen coop=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Chen house=E2=80=9D was slang for a wo=
> men=E2=80=99s residence. It is not=20
> clear  if all women=E2=80=99s pages were called =E2=80=9Chen coops,=E2=80=
> =9D or just the section of The =20
> Evening  Journal.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> ...
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Manning
> Marie  Manning (January 22, 1872=E2=80=94November 28, 1945) was a newspaper=20=
> columnist=20
> and  novelist in the early 20th century. She wrote the first newspaper advic=
> e=20
> column,  Dear Beatrice Fairfax, in 1898, the precursor to modern versions=20
> such as Dear  Abby and Ann Landers.
> (...)
> Manning began writing as a columnist for the  New York World in 1896 at the=20=
> =E2=80=9C
> space rate=E2=80=9D of $5 per week. After being granted  an exclusive interv=
> iew with=20
> the President of the United States, Grover  Cleveland, she was promoted to=20
> permanent staff and her salary was raised to $30  per week. When the paper=
> =E2=80=99s=20
> Editor moved to the New York Evening Journal in 1898,  she followed at his=20
> invitation. There she collaborated with two other women to  create a women=
> =E2=80=99s page=20
> entitled the =E2=80=9CHen Coop=E2=80=9D.=20
> Dear Beatrice Fairfax
> During the same year, the Hen Coop received  three letters from readers who=20
> sought advice about personal situations in their  lives. Manning suggested a=
> =20
> new column exclusively used for giving personal  advice. The column was name=
> d=20
> Dear Beatrice Fairfax at her suggestion, named  after Dante=E2=80=99s Beatri=
> ce and her=20
> own family=E2=80=99s country home in Fairfax County,  Virginia. The column b=
> egan on=20
> July 20, 1898 as the first advice column in the  United States.=20
> Her advice was an immediate success, and received so many letters that the =20
> United States Post Office soon refused delivery of them and the Journal has=20=
> to =20
> retrieve the letters themselves. Manning=E2=80=99s common sense advice was i=
> mitated =20
> nationwide thanks to its tremendous popularity. However, Manning=E2=80=99s e=
> fforts=20
> went  largely unrewarded and her payrate and status remained low at the pape=
> r.=20
> She  eventually resigned.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> 30 November 1945, New York  Times, pg. 23:
> BEATRICE FAIRFAX,
> COLUMNIST, DEAD=20
> Mrs. H.E. Gasch, 70, Originated
> Fames Advice to the  Lovelorn
> Under Nom de Plume in 1898=20
> WASHINGTON, Nov. 29=E2=80=94Mrs. Marie Manning Gasch, who formerly for years=
>  wrote an=20
>  advice-to-the-loverlorn column in The New York Evening Journal under the=20
> name  Beatrice Fairfax, died yesterday of a heart attack at her home  here.
> (...)
> Her common sense motto was: =E2=80=9CDry your eyes, roll up your  sleeves an=
> d dig for=20
> a practical solution.=E2=80=9D
> (...)
> Miss Manning next moved  to The Evening Journal, where in 1898, with two=20
> other women reporters, she was  penned in an obscure corner, known as the He=
> n=20
> Coop. They did =E2=80=9Cthe women=E2=80=99s angle=E2=80=9D  on murder and ce=
> lebrities.=20
> One day Mr. Brisbane, then The Journal=E2=80=99s editor, brought to the Hen=20=
> Coop =20
> three letters, each seeking advice on a tragic personal problem. He wanted t=
> hem =20
> answered on the women=E2=80=99s page. Miss Manning suggested a separate depa=
> rtment to =20
> answer such letters. Mr. Brisbane approved the idea, and thus on July 20,=20
> 1898,  Miss Manning made her debut as Beatrice Fairfax, a name she compounde=
> d out=20
> of  Dante=E2=80=99s Beata Beatrix and of Fairfax County, Va., where the Mann=
> ing=20
> family owned  =E2=80=9Ca run-down place of sorts.=E2=80=9D=20
> * * *
> =20
> =20
>
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