JEEP again (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

The cite I posted yesterday:
> Topeka edition of Kansas City KS _Plaindealer_ 7/23/1937 p 5 col 1
[this is an African American newspaper] "Officers and
> members of the Les Debuteens which recently sponsored a Jeep ride to
Swope Park are as follows: [long list of names]"

is ambiguous, but certainly intriguing.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
Behalf Of
> Shapiro, Fred
> Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 9:09 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: JEEP again
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
----------------------
> -
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: JEEP again
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> -
>
> Can anyone point me to the earliest usage so far found for "jeep"
meaning a
> vehicle?
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan
> Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 7:37 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: JEEP again
>
> That's the earliest traceable connection between "jeep" and half-ton
payload
> "command car." Perhaps the writer confused the two vehicles. A few
weeks
> later, the _The Courier_ (Waterloo, Ia.) (Apr. 10, 1941), p. 8,
describes
> the "jeep" as "a half-ton truck fitted as a command car."
> JL
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 7:18 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: JEEP again
> >
> >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
> ---
> >
> >        Note that the actual date of the first reference to the
"Jeep"
> > in Thimble Theatre (as comics aficionados call it, though the strip
at
> > this time usually ran under the title used today, Popeye) was on
March
> > 16, 1936, when the mysterious creature was referred to in a teaser
> > panel.
> >
> >        Eugene the Jeep was extremely popular, and even if the
vehicle's
> > name had some other origin (which does not seem particularly likely
on
> > the evidence), it inevitably would suggest the cartoon character.
Most
> > early accounts of the jeep do not mention Popeye, but this one, from
> > shortly after the jeep's introduction, does.  This is from the
Abilene
> > Reporter-News, Mar. 2, 1941, in an article titled "'Jeep,' Army Car,
> > Reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt:  It's Rough Rider":
> >
> >        <<The army has a peculiar looking vehicle that it has dubbed
> > "The Jeep."
> >
> >        Now there ain't no such animal as a Jeep, except in the
Popeye
> > comic strip.  Nevertheless, the army has a whole flock of Jeeps,
that is
> > provided one may refer to a fleet of motor buggies as a flock.
> >
> >        . . . .
> >
> >        Official name of the Jeep is "command car.  [sic:  no closing
> > quotes]  It was built just for that purpose and it is used almost
> > exclusively by officers in field maneuvers, and in following or
leading
> > modern armies into action.
> >
> >        . . . .
> >
> >        The Jeep is a four wheel drive contraption with tremendous
> > power.  "Put a pair of mud chains on her and she'll go through mud
up to
> > her bottom," say army admirers of the vehicle.  "Just a shade rough
> > except on paved roads but the Geep will take you anywhere you want
to
> > go," the army boys say.>>
> >
> >
> >
> >        So the article does not actually provide any direct evidence
of
> > the word's etymology, but it does show the close connection made by
> > early users of the term.  I don't know what to make of the one-time
> > spelling "Geep."
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
Behalf
> > Of Garson O'Toole
> > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 6:33 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: JEEP again
> >
> > Here is a link to the January 1998 letters section of the Atlantic
> > containing a response from J. E. Lighter about the etymology of
Jeep:
> >
> > http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/98jan/9801lett.htm
> >
> > J. E. Lighter replies:
> > The word jeep made its debut in Elzie Segar's comic strip Thimble
> > Theatre Starring Popeyeon March 3, 1936, as the cry of a small,
> > odd-looking creature soon identified as "Eugene the Jeep."
> >
> > Acknowledging Segar, the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company
built
> > a "Jeep" truck in 1937. Army command cars and heavy gun tractors
were
> > called "jeeps" in 1940-1941, as were raw recruits. ...
> >
> > There is more information about Jeep on the webpage at the Atlantic
> > website (Scroll to near the bottom). Of course there may be one or
> > more additional articles in the Atlantic that are relevant.
> >
> > Garson
> >
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
truth."
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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