Antedating of "Working Class"

[Shapiro, Fred]

working class (OED 1789)

1735 _A seasonable examination of the pleas and pretensions of the proprietors of, and subscribers to, play-houses_ 17 (Eighteenth Century Collections Online)  And tho' the Stage, under a proper Regulation, might be made a rational and instructing Entertainment, yet, as it is _now_ manag'd, and generally _has been_ order'd, we cannot help thinking it a very improper Diversion to be planted among the Working Class of People, particularly.

Fred Shapiro

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