[Slight antedating] Soul food (1960)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

Ben had previously spotted "soul food" in *The Pittsburgh Courier* in June,
1961 [1].  For what it's worth, ProQuest's "historical black newspapers"
database now yields a couple (barely) earlier sightings [2].

I now see, however, that Douglas Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary
mentions an appearance of "soul food" in 1957, though there's no elaboration
[3].  Does anyone know more about this pre-1960 "soul food"?  Have I missed
a discussion of it elsewhere?

-- Bonnie

----------------------------
[1] http://tinyurl.com/soul-food

[2]

[From Gertrude Gipson's "Candid Comments" column, *The Los Angeles
Sentinel*, 29 December 1960, Pg. A15.]

How popular mixologist Bill Davis who is "pouring the corn" nitely at the
RED CARPET refuses to eat anything but Peaches and Cottage Cheese in the
a.m.  Claims he can't eat the "soul" food like Ham and Grits.


[From "Wrinkles Top 'Scarf' Where Hank Ballard Is Concerned," The Pittsburgh
Courier, 27 May 1961, Pg. A23.]

"I'll travel many miles out of the way to get a place where I can get that
down-home 'soul food,' Hank Ballard declared recently.

"When I say soul, I'm talking about chitterlings, barbecued ribs and
chicken, black-eyed peas, collard greens and rice."

[3] http://tinyurl.com/5llsyq

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org