"spa" = 'neighborhood grocery store', aka 'convenience store'? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Joel S. Berson]

Good work, Bill.  The 1903 "Clarke's American spa" certainly supports
claim of a soda fountain origin, as does the 1947 sundaes.

The quotations with just a business name are unfortunately not
definitive as to "grocery" vs. "soda fountain".  But the Daytona
Beach quote of 1941, with "Richmond restaurant and store", does
brings the "store" date earlier -- and away from Massachusetts!

Joel

At 2/28/2011 04:49 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>Caveats: NONE
>
>
>[display adv] _The Tech_ [MIT Student paper] 4/6/1893 p. i
>"225 WASHINGTON ST., next door to Thompson's Spa."
>http://tech.mit.edu/V12/PDF/N25.pdf
>
>
>_Boston Evening Transcript_ 6/29/1903 p 11 col 1
>"Clarke's American spa sells plain soda at ten cents gold or twenty-five
>cents (dos reales) "Mex." "  [about commerce in the Phillipines]
>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r5c-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=JVoMAAAAIBAJ&dq=r
>estaurant%20spa&pg=6693%2C4153448
>
>
>_Lewiston Evening Journal_ [Lewiston, ME] 5/25/1938 p. 1 col 7
>"The College Spa was badly damaged, the Progressive Auto Supply store
>was filled with smoke and two escaped unharmed, when fire broke out at 4
>o'clock Wednesday morning in the two-story wooden block which houses the
>two businesses on upper Maine street."
>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pzgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=c
>ollege-spa&pg=5416%2C4470620
>
>
>_Daytona Beach [FL] Morning Journal_ 4/5/1941 p 1 col 8
>"Mrs. Mayo, who with two sisters runs the "Triple Spa," a Richmond
>restaurant and store, said in corss-examination that "never" had Joss,
>in their friendship of less than a month, given any hint that he plotted
>to harm Mrs. Joss."
>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BGsoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AccEAAAAIBAJ&dq=r
>estaurant%20spa&pg=1692%2C4235860
>
>
>_Lewiston Daily Sun_ [Lewiston, ME] 12/10/1947 p. 2 col 4
>
>"The winning men's team was awarded sundaes at the college Spa."
>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aZkgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WWgFAAAAIBAJ&dq=c
>ollege-spa&pg=4247%2C6831632
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>Behalf Of
> > Joel S. Berson
> > Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 2:19 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: "spa" = 'neighborhood grocery store', aka 'convenience
>store'?
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>----------------------
> > -
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      "spa" = 'neighborhood grocery store', aka 'convenience
>store'?
> >
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>------
> > -
> >
> > If anyone knows how to separate "spa" = 'neighborhood grocery store'
> > from the mass of "spa" = 'watering place', I'd be interested.  It's
> > an eastern New England usage (says AHD in "More word histories and
> > mysteries", but without saying a word about date of origin).
> >
> > Adding "neighborhood" or "local" or "corner" (for a phrase) still
> > comes up with a lot of tubs or watering spas.  Adding "grocery" (not
> > as a phrase) gives much with GBooks, but tedious, small print, and it
> > seems a high probability of disconnected occurrences and false
> > positives.  Even adding "convenience store" comes up with many located
>at
> > spas!
> >
> > The best (earliest) I can find is a 1954 reference to (I think) the
> > famous* Montrose Spa, 1646 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge,
> > Mass.  Although it's much to the west of Tokyo!
> >
> > In Tokyo and points east, by Keyes Beech - 1954, Snippet view:  Page
> > 216.  [GBooks]
> >
> > "One of my best and most useful friends was Mitch Sabbag, who earned
> > enough money as a truck driver to buy a half interest in the Montrose
> > Spa, a small neighborhood grocery that prospered by staying open when
> > other, larger stores were ... "
> >
> > Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey, allegedly 1933,
> > page 1384, has a business named "Kaiser's Spa, Inc.", but that is
> > hardly unambiguous.  [Snippet]
> >
> > * See Henry Louis Gates, as written about by Charles Ogletree.  I
> > also learned of the famous town of Ballston Spa.
> >
> > Joel
> >
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