"Wop" in 1908?

[Baker, John M.]

        What do the lyrics mean when they say that his ex-girlfriend has
"got big mattress and a blond-a curl"?  Presumably it's not the literal
meaning of "mattress."  I'm also a bit bemused to see the assertion that
she "walk joust like a big Kangaroo," in a context that seems to imply
that this would be an attractive thing to do.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 4:54 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Wop" in 1908?

James Brockman's novelty song, "Wop, Wop, Wop!" (N.Y.: Witmark, 1908
[but
actually copyright Feb. 3, 1909]) may have helped popularize the word.

Acc. to the N.Y. _Eve. Telegram_ (July 29, 1909)  (findable here if
you've
got lots of time:
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html<http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fu
lton.html>
),
it was "one of the quaintest Italian novelty songs of the many that have
been offered to the public the last two or three years. It is by no less
a
person than Mr. James Brockman [1886-1967: ed.], the well known writer
and
composer.

"The story, told in a serio-comic way, tells of the troubles of an
Italian,
whose feelings are injured by the various nicknames given him in this
country, and deals with his efforts in trying to prevent being called
first
'Dago,' then 'Guinie,' and last of all, 'Wop.'

"Mr. Brockman has set the words to a tuneful and pleasing little melody
that
makes it a particularly bright song for a part of the social programme."

 Check out the lyrics. They imply that "wop" was something new:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100004968/pageturner.h
tml?page=2&section=&size=640

JL

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