1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean?

[Lisa Galvin]

Yes it's in the book, but it doesn't seem like that's going to tell us much more, unfortunately. The book is comprised of strips cut out of the newspaper:
"...nearly all of [the strips] have never appeared in book form — in fact, the originals are gone, and IDW had to find a fan who’d cut all these strips out of the original newspapers." 
Doesn't that bring us back to square one?
Lisa GalvinSeattle, USA

                                                   

> Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 16:24:43 -0400
> From: douglas at NB.NET
> Subject: Re: 1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean?
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: 1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> On 5/2/2012 4:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: 1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean?
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > CAVEAT: It may be that the only reason that the problematic strip was found
> >   at all is that somebody saw it in the book and Googled it via Google News.
> >
> > If it's in the book, it's ultimate significance may remain a mystery.
> >
> > If it isn't, perhaps a prudish editor silently elided it in 2010.
> >
> > But what if there's a different word entirely, as neatly lettered as you
> > please?
> >
> > And could perusal of this work steer us to other papers that carried
> > "Archie" in 1947 for comparison?
> >
> > Tune in next week....
> --
> 
> Supposedly, it's in the book:
> 
> http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2010/09/06/betty-cooper-insanity-postwar-division/
> 
> ... but it would be good for an expert to review all the other strips
> (maybe especially those from around 1 April 1948) and check for other
> sightings of the word in question or comparable things.
> 
> -- Doug Wilson
> 
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org