drink the kool-aid (1982, 1985)

[Victor Steinbok]

  Here is another 1981 book--doesn't really antedate the Ginsberg
speech, but links up the background.

http://bit.ly/9n6ORf

The link should show two snippets from Sonia Johnson's 1981 book From
Housewife to Heretic (pp. 144 and 356).

In one snippet, the line is "... hungry enough to drink the purple
cyanide Kool-Aid on command". In the other, it is a question that
follows a list of things to do/not to do: "O drink the purple Kool-Aid?"
In both cases, the context is the cross of politics and Mormonism. So,
it is a sort of bridge--on one hand still in the Jonestown context, on
the other--exactly in the OED context.

Now, about the book. The first edition appears to have been published in
1981. One of the reviews includes the comment, "A fascinating look at
the 1970's battle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and the extensive
effort by LDS Church went to block it." And GB citation tag is 1981. The
main WorldCat ID is certainly wrong--the 1st edition is listed in 1981
record and in 1971 in the other, but 1971 is both before the ERA and
before Jonestown and "purple cyanide Kool-Aid". There are subsequent
editions of the book, however, and it may be worth checking the paper
copy for the specific citations.

But also check the OED citations for "Kool-Aid". The earliest is 1927
(Kool-Ade), but there is a Facts on File quote from 1978 referring
specifically to Jonestown. The interesting one is the one that follows
after the one for Jonestown:

> 1979 Washington Post 14 Jan. G8/1 No doubt about it, if he had ordered
> the SS to pass around the Kool-Aid [at the Nuremberg rally], all those
> crewcut Nazis would have tossed it back with the same fervor with
> which they cheered Hess' ravings.

It does not contain the specific phrasing "drink the Kool-Aid", but it
does carry the same meaning.

One of the earlier references that came up in the search did not contain
a reference of the "drink the Kool-Aid" type, but it did refer to
drinking the "electric Kool-Aid". OED (rev. June 2010) does not have an
entry for "electric Kool-Aid" under "electric". It's not under
"Kool-Aid" either.

http://bit.ly/9CYjoK
Sol Gordon. Psychology for You. 1974. p. 301
> The happenings were contrived sensual orgies where the participant
> could drink some "Electric Kool-Aid" (LSD-laced orange juice), groove
> on the psychedelic decorations and lights, and immerse himself in
> acid-rock music.

WorldCat has editions listed from 1972 to 1983. Amazon.com lists 6
copies from 1974, one from 1973 and 2 unknown. Still, 1972 sounds a
little late for the coinage (even though Gordon has the phrase in
quotation marks). Sure enough, GB finds a horde of citations from c.
1971 that refer to Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid acid test. A bit more
searching reveals that that work was published in the second half of
1968. The New York Magazine had Wolfe's comments related to the book on
Aug. 19, 1968. (http://bit.ly/cmnyee)

I thought I'd do a very quick follow-up search.

A slightly earlier (1966) not fully verified citation:

http://bit.ly/dwNAD2
Plays and Players. Vol. 14. 1966 [p. ?]
> The Groove Corps! Sights, Sounds, Cotton Candy, Cold Drinks, Electric
> Kool Aid — yes & Psychedelic Treats and Trips

There is no guarantee that the citation is accurate, but the publication
is correct and at least some issues in the volume are from 1966. Wolfe
certainly did not coin "electric Kool-Aid", but, judging from the GB
hits he certainly helped to popularize it.

VS-)


On 8/13/2010 9:14 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> But the '81-82 exx don't quite work this way: the posited kool-aid
> drinkers aren't demonstrating unquestioning loyalty to nuclear power
> or environmental pollution -- they're just indoctrinated into thinking
> these things are OK. Or perhaps the idea is that nuclear power (or
> whatever) is the cyanide that will kill you, masked by the sweetness
> of political rhetoric?
>
> (Wikipedia points out that the Jonestowners drank Flavor-Aid, not
> Kool-Aid, btw.)
>
> --bgz

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