cootie-catchers

Thu Oct 4 20:05:27 UTC 2012

Stephen: I apologize that I did not see you had already found the book
"Honestly, Katie John!" by Mary Calhoun. It has several instances of
cootie/cooties. Here is another relevant excerpt:

Honestly, Katie John! - Page 92
books.google.com/books?isbn=0590085441
Mary Calhoun, Paul Frame - 1963 - Snippet view - More editions

[Begin extracted text]
If the boys were going to take up cootie-catching, then she wouldn't.
She was different, the lone wolf. When Howard dashed up to her in
mistaken delight that the old Katie was back to play with the boys,
she told him coolly to go pick cooties off Priscilla, that old
sugar-sugar would like it better. All during recess she punched alone
at the tetherball, ignoring even Sue, who stood on the sidewalk
shaking her head worriedly.
[End extracted text]

On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 5:17 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      cootie-catchers
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org