cootie-catchers

[Stephen Goranson]

Maybe a male to female evolution can be traced.

Unconfirmed:
1918 Charlotte [NC] Observer, page 14 November 12, 1918 Headline: At Showhouses. At the Keith House. {Readex]
[Ch. Chaplin in "Soldier Arms"] He is a "cootie" catcher of the first water

1919 Montgomery [AL] Advertiser, page Eight, vol. XC, iss. 117 April 27, 1919  Headline:
Wonderful Drama of the "Fighting 4th" Alabamians Engage in Another Thrilling Drive at St. Mihiel Haumont Completely.
...a suggestion for the next war, as follows:
"One official 'cootie' catcher, preferably a monkey, for each commander and each platoon."

1927 Michigan Methodist Poets: a collection of poems (New York : Printed for the author by the Methodist Book Concern) p. 49
William C. S. Pellowe - 1927 - Snippet view
Now, if I were young an' giddy, An' a lookin' fer a wife, Fer a girl that's good to look at, Good to live with all my life : I could blink at "cootie-catchers," Never mind her cobweb hose, Nor be shocked at nothin' on her From her shoulders to her ...

1949 Journal of the Indiana State Medical Association v.42 p.105 [GB]
... during his two years in the army not one half of one per cent would ever join any Reserve Corps again, said he was going to publish a book entitled, “The Confessions of a Cootie Catcher,” dedicated to the Regular Army Medical Corps.

1954 Newsweek v.44 pt.1 p.52 [GB]
 LIFE AND LEISURE trend wasn't even having a show. Her name, Gabrielle Chanel, was once the most honored signature in Paris fashion. Some 35 years ago, when girls were made of whalebone, plackets, cootie catchers, and frills, ...

1963 Honestly, Katie John! (Scholastic Book Services) p. 89 [GB]
Mary Calhoun, Paul Frame
When class started, she quietly pinched her cootie- catcher at the hair of the girl sitting in front of her, though not actually touching the unaware girl. Each "cootie" that Katie caught she pretended to deposit in a little box she'd rummaged out of ...

Stephen Goranson
www.duke.edu/~goranson

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