"Sinkers" and "Dunking Doughnuts"

Wed Jun 14 20:59:02 UTC 2006

Barry scoops all others once again. My unambiguous evidence for "sinker" (doughnut) seems to go back only to the mid ' 90s:

  1895 E. W. Townsend _"Chimmie Fadden," Major Max and Other Stories_ 195 : It was ravenously interested in teh greasy doughnut Pinkey still carried...."An' if youse have whaled der purp for eatin' de sinker, I'll put de cop on to yer fake legs."

  This is from N.Y. (note singular...aw, fuhgehdabouddit ! ).

  Cites for "sinker," meaning everything from a biscuit to a dumpling to a flapjack, go back as far as the Civil War, but the now-classic "ring doughnut" sense may not have become common till years later.

  Muddying the coffee somewhat is the fact (which I may have mentioned here before) that my grandmother was sure that a "doughnut" in  1890's Gotham meant a solid sort of fried cake, often with a filled center (a "jelly-doughnut" thing), the ring-shaped confection being called a "cruller," at least in her experience.

  OED has "dunk" only as far back as 1919.  It seems never to have made _Centuty_ or its 1909 Supplement.

  JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: "Sinkers" and "Dunking Doughnuts"
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What does HDAS have for "sinker"? I searched for this, with the keyword =20
"coffee." (HDAS has 1900, from New York.)
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Are they any other early cites for "dunking doughnuts"?
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_http://www.barrypopik.com/article/1627/dunking-doughnuts-and-sinkers_=20
(http://www.barrypopik.com/article/1627/dunking-doughnuts-and-sinkers)=20
...
...
=20
Dunking Doughnuts (and "Sinkers")
=E2=80=9CDunking=E2=80=9D doughnuts became popular when New York City=E2=80=
=99s own Eddie Cantor =20
promoted the practice in his 1931 movie Palmy Days.=20
The practice of dunking doughnuts in coffee was popular in New York City a =20
many years before that (see =E2=80=9Csinkers=E2=80=9D below). The Dunkin=E2=
=80=99 Donuts company was =20
founded in Massachusetts in 1950.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022246/plotsummary
Plot Summary for=20
Palmy Days (1931)=20
Musical comedy antics in an art deco bakery (motto: =E2=80=9CGlorifying the=
American=20
Doughnut=E2=80=9D) with Eddie Cantor as an assistant to a phoney psychic, w=
ho is=20
mistaken for an efficiency expert and placed in charge. Complications ensue=
when=20
the psychic and his gang attempt to rub the payroll.
...
...
...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279784/plotsummary
Plot Summary for=20
Dora=E2=80=99s Dunking Doughnuts (1933)=20
Schoolteacher Andy Wilson makes his usual morning stop for coffee and donut=
s=20
at Dora=E2=80=99s Home Bakery. Today he enjoys talking to Dora so much that=
he is=20
late to school for the first time. Later that day, Dora tells him about som=
e=20
wonderful new donuts that she has made. Andy is so impressed with them that=
he=20
decides to have his students help him make a radio commercial, in order to=20
help Dora sell her new product.
...
...
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https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/company/History.aspx
Dunkin=E2=80=99 Donuts was founded in 1950. Today, loyal customers like you=
can be=20
found in 30 countries and territories, stopping off for a cup of our=20
world-famous coffee and a fresh, delicious donut, bagel, muffin, or other b=
aked good.=20
It all started in 1946 when Mr. William Rosenberg founded Industrial Luncheo=
n=20
Services, a company that delivered meals and coffee break snacks to=20
customers in the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. The success of Industr=
ial=20
Luncheon Services led Rosenberg to open his first coffee and donut shop, th=
e =E2=80=9COpen =20
Kettle=E2=80=9D. Then, in 1950, Rosenberg opened the first store known as Du=
nkin=E2=80=99=20
Donuts in Quincy, Massachusetts.=20
With more than 6,000 Dunkin=E2=80=99 Donuts shops worldwide, the company is=20=
the =20
largest chain of coffee, donut, and bagel shops.
...
...
...
3 February 1888, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. 1:
The beauty of the thing so fascinated =E2=80=9CCoffee and Sinkers=E2=80=9D=20=
that his=20
habitual discretion forsook him,...
...
...
1 April 1888, New York Herald, pg. 9, col. 6:
Or they can get a cup of coffee and some cakes for ten cents. The facetious=
=20
patrons of the restaurant call these cakes =E2=80=9Csinkers,=E2=80=9D becaus=
e if they were=20
thrown overboard they wouldn=E2=80=99t float.
...
...
January 1892, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, pg. 4:
...men who have succeeded in their calling have not disdained =E2=80=9Ccoff=
ee and=20
sinkers=E2=80=9D or beef and beans=E2=80=94that was all that he had to offe=
r, except doughnuts=20
and pie=E2=80=94...
...
...
27 July 1902, New York Tribune, section II, pg. 2, col. 6:
=E2=80=9CA little on the cow=E2=80=9D is milk. =E2=80=9CDraw one=E2=80=94bl=
ack=E2=80=9D is coffee, without milk. =E2=80=9C
One up=E2=80=9D is not golf, but a symbol, meaning that the waiter who call=
s has=20
another cup of coffee coming to him. =E2=80=9COff the griddle=E2=80=9D mean=
s butter cakes,=20
those deadly bullets of, rather, small cannon balls of dough, which are com=
monly=20
known to the hardy eaters thereof as =E2=80=9Csinkers,=E2=80=9D but which i=
t is high treason=20
to call by that name within the lunch room.
...
...
14 October 1928, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. H5:
Ronald Colman and Herbert Brenon, the director, were dunking their morning=20
doughnuts when the party arrived, and soon started off in their cars to the=
=20
scene of the day=E2=80=99s work.
...
...
5 June 1929, Atlanta Constitution, =E2=80=9CThe Way of the World=E2=80=9D b=
y Grove=20
Patterson, pg. 6:
DUNKING.
The editor of a well-known western paper not long ago gave an address,=20
repeated in movietone theaters, on the subject of =E2=80=9CDunking.=E2=80=
=9D Folks who dip their=20
doughnuts in the coffee are dunkers. But dunking has a long and not=20
dishonorable history. It goes back into the far reaches of tradition. Our g=
ood=20
old-fashioned word =E2=80=9Csupper=E2=80=9D was derived from the practice of=
sopping bread and=20
gravy.
...
...
24 January 1930, Life, pg. 16:
In less than a week her husband=E2=80=99s doughnut-dunking habit had been s=
tamped=20
out forever!
...
...
17 October 1930, Kingston (Jamaica) Daily Gleaner, pg. 8:
Ohio Penitentiary prisoners are dunking doughnuts again.
...
...
21 December 1930, New York Times, pg. 48:
DOUGHNUT HOLES
ENGAGE EXPERTS=20
Small-Hole Cake Is by Far
the Best for Dunking,
One Declares
(...)
Did either Mr. Holbrook or Mr. Brown try to dunk doughnuts? The doughnut=20
with the big hole wobbles uncertainly and in some cases has even been known=
to=20
sink! (Sinker (Coll. Amer. slang): a doughnut which goes under.) But the=20
small-hole doughnut remains on the surface proudly, temptingly. Its buoyanc=
y is=20
never threatened by a superfluity of hole.
...
...
5 March 1931, Olean (NY) Herald, pg. 3:
In the meantime, Olean restaurant proprietors will continue to permit the=20
graceful practice of =E2=80=9Cdunking=E2=80=9D doughnuts in coffee.
...
...
15 July 1931, Charleston (WV) Gazette, pg. 1:
Doughnut Shop Invades
Sacred Gotham Precincts=20
Largest Shop in World Makes Its Appearance on One
of Most Prominent Corners of Famous
Times Square; Dunking Allowed=20
NEW YORK, July 14.=E2=80=94(UP) Broadway, where you can=E2=80=99t walk ten s=
teps without =20
encountering a yokel, has been captivated by the doughnut people who are wag=
ing =20
a determined campaign to make America cruller conscious.=20
The world=E2=80=99s largest doughnut shop has opened on one of the most prom=
inent =20
corners of Times Square=E2=80=94immediately adjacent to the Astor=E2=80=94an=
d today it required=20
the expenditure of great effort and will power for a person to jam his way=20
in close enough to get a glimpse of a glorified doughnut.=20
A press agent, hired by the doughnut people to attract attention to the =20
place, sent out word that the shop is becoming the hangout of philosophers.=20=
But =20
the only person remotely resembling a philosopher found at the shop today wa=
s =20
Will H. Hays, the movie man.=20
A brass rail runs along the windows to keep people from glueing their noses=20=
=20
to the glass while contemplating the manufacture of doughnuts. It was to thi=
s =20
rail that Hays, dressed in an immaculate white suit with black stripes,=20
pushed his way.=20
=E2=80=9CWhat=E2=80=99s this?=E2=80=9D he demanded of a reporter, who was mo=
mentarily absorbed in =20
thoughts of the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant.=20
=E2=80=9CDoughnuts,=E2=80=9D answered the reporter.=20
=E2=80=9CDoughnut? Where?=E2=80=9D the motion picture man asked.=20
=E2=80=9CRight there,=E2=80=9D he was told, =E2=80=9Cright there on that tra=
y. Lots of =E2=80=98em.=E2=80=9D=20
Hays gazed at the fluffy crullers a bit and a far-away look came into his =20
eyes. He was musing, no doubt, on a Hoosier childhood=E2=80=94on the doughnu=
ts of old =20
Indiana, when life was young, the frost was on the punkin and doughnuts were=
=20
cooked in a pot.=20
Hays gave way to two young things in taffeta, who giggled and gushed as they=
=20
watched the doughnuts coming down the revolving tray. Their conversation is=20=
=20
scarcely worth reporting, save for a single line.=20
=E2=80=9CI wonder,=E2=80=9D said one of them to her companion, =E2=80=9Chow=20=
they=E2=80=99d taste with gin?=E2=80=9D
=20
Inside it was learned that the management neither encourages nor discourages=
=20
dunking. =E2=80=9CIf you want to dunk,=E2=80=9D said one of the half dozen y=
oung ladies who=20
wait on the counter, =E2=80=9Cgo ahead and dunk. Personally I=E2=80=99d as=20=
leave dunk as =20
not.=E2=80=9D
...
...
9 September 1931, Olean (NY) Evening Times, =E2=80=9CNew York Day By Day=
=E2=80=9D by O. O.=20
McIntyre, pg. 10:
Broadway now has a Java and sinker salon for dunking de luxe on the corner=20
north of the Astor, where glittering machines once cascaded cigarettes. Tod=
ay=20
drooling peepers through the oval window see machines minting luscious brow=
n=20
doughnuts.
...
...
5 November 1931, Helena (Montana) Daily Independent, pg. 3 ad:
In line with Eddie Cantor=E2=80=99s NATIONAL =E2=80=9CDUNKING=E2=80=9D Cont=
est, every patron will=20
be given a luscious Eddy Bakery doughnut.
...
...
11 November 1931, Newark (Ohio) Advocate, pg.9 ad:
Eddie Cantor=20
Announces=20
That He Dunks His Doughnuts
Both In and Out of =E2=80=9CPalmy Days=E2=80=9D=20
You, Too, Will Enjoy Dunking
When You Once Taste=20
Huber=E2=80=99s Doughnuts
(...)
HUBER=E2=80=99S BAKERY
61 South Second Street
Newark, O.
...
...
16 December 1931, Frederick (MD) News, pg. 9 ad:
GLORIFYING
THE AMERICAN DOUGHNUT=20
LEARN THE ART OF
=E2=80=9CDunking=E2=80=9D
Garber=E2=80=99s Preferred Doughnuts
FROM
EDDIE CANTOR
IN
=E2=80=9CPALMY DAYS=E2=80=9D
AT THE
TIVOLI THEATER
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY, DEC. 16-17=20
The Garber Baking Co.
...
...
30 April 1934, New York Times, pg. 15:
ADAM BREDE DEAD;
NOTED FOR BEEF-AN=E2=80=99=20
His Cuisine at Dolan=E2=80=99s in Park
Row Delighted Celebrated
Patrons for 40 Years.=20
NAMED =E2=80=9CSINKERS=E2=80=9D BY DINERS.=20
Adam Brede, one of the famous characters of the old days on Park Row, who =20
worked in Dolan=E2=80=99s restaurant for forty years, 1877-1917, and cooked=20=
the beef-an=E2=80=99
which made Dolan=E2=80=99s popular, died yesterday at his home, 32-28 Deca=
tur=20
Avenue, the Bronx, at the age of 78 (...)=20
For nearly two generations Adam Brede knew nearly everybody of importance wh=
o=20
worked in downtown New York, and many who journeyed to Park Row for some of=
=20
the plain, well-cooked fare always obtainable in the little =E2=80=9Cbeaner=
y=E2=80=9D=20
opposite the post office.=20
Sinkers, as the customers called the chef, loved his work and cherished a =20
store of recollections of his meeting with celebrities.
(...)
He cooked in various places=E2=80=A6before Pat Dolan engaged him for his=20=
=E2=80=9Cbeanery=E2=80=9D=20
at 3 Park Row.
...
...
...
(Trademark)
Word Mark DUNKIN=E2=80=99 DONUTS=20
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 029 030. US 046. G & S: DOUGHNUTS AND=20
DOUGHNUT FLOUR, FRUIT FILLINGS FOR DOUGHNUTS, COOKIES, CAKES AND PIES, VEGE=
TABLE=20
OIL SHORTENING AND COFFEE. FIRST USE: 19520500. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE:=20
19520500 =20
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM =20
Design Search Code=20
Serial Number 71684644=20
Filing Date March 31, 1955 =20
Current Filing Basis 1A=20
Original Filing Basis 1A=20
Registration Number 0692491=20
Registration Date February 2, 1960=20
Owner (REGISTRANT) DUNKIN=E2=80=99 DONUTS OF AMERICA, INC. DOING BUSINESS A=
S DUNKIN=E2=80=99
DONUTS CORPORATION MASSACHUSETTS 25 HUNTINGTON AVE. BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS=20
(LAST LISTED OWNER) UNKNOWN RANDOLPH MASS.
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED=20
Type of Mark TRADEMARK=20
Register PRINCIPAL=20
Affidavit Text SECT 15.=20
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 19800202=20
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD=20
Cancellation Date February 17, 2001=20

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