Antedating of "Litterbug"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I suspect that the "1931" date for the booklet is somebody's error.

Why would such a booklet have taken 20-odd years to get noticed?  The first
database refs. are from gardening and nature periodicals of the early '50s.

JL


On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 4:53 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Litterbug"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There are some database matches visible in the 1950s indicating that a
> booklet called "The Litter-Bug Family" existed. I do not know when it
> was created. Here is some data from a GB snippet match:
>
> Title: National Parks Magazine
> Year: 1953
> (GB metadata may be inaccurate)
> books.google.com/books?id=GObzAAAAMAAJ
>
> [Begin extracted text. OCR errors possible]
> The Litter-Bug Family, by Mrs. Edward H. McKeon, State Chairman,
> Roadside Development, Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. Obtainable
> from the author, at 7606 Millard Avenue. Ruxton 4. Maryland.
> Twenty-eight pages. Illustrated with line drawings. Price 20 cents a
> copy; larger quantities 15 cents a copy, plus postage.
> [End extracted text]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 10:20 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> 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: Antedating of "Litterbug"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Barry Popik cited McKeon's obituary nearly ten years ago as mentioning
> "The
> > Litterbug Family" as a mere "booklet."
> >
> > If the 1931 date is correct, it would presumably conflict with a
> derivation
> > from "jitterbug."
> >
> > For "Litterbug Family," see the Oregonian, Jan. 25, 1953 (ProQuest).
> > Samuel Moment of the Portland Izaak Walton League uses the phrase as
> though
> > it is a novelty. (Of course, it might not have been.)  He also uses
> > "vandalbug."
> >
> > McKeon's AP obituary in the Dallas Morning News, Feb. 27, 1979
> (ProQuest),
> > says that her "booklet" was "nationally circulated in the 1930's."  The
> > Maryland Law was passed in 1931.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 9:48 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> >> Subject:      Antedating of "Litterbug"
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> The OED's first use of "litterbug" is dated 1947.  Paul Dickson's recent
> >> en=
> >> tertaining book Authorisms asserts that this was a "Word coined by Alice
> >> Ru=
> >> sh McKeon (1884-1979), a fierce and early advocate of highway
> >> beautificatio=
> >> n.  Her 1931 book _The Litterbug Family_ was instrumental in passing the
> >> fi=
> >> rst billboard control law in her home state of Maryland."  I have not
> been
> >> =
> >> able to confirm McKeon's usage of the word.  WorldCat has nothing like
> >> this=
> >>  or other claimed publications by McKeon about "litterbugs."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Here is the earliest citation I have found from searching newspaper
> >> databas=
> >> es:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> 1946 _Ogden_ (Utah) _Standard-Examiner_ 21 Apr. 2 (Newspapers.com)  The
> >> sea=
> >> son of outdoor activities is here.  And that serves to center attention
> on
> >> =
> >> the fact that litterbugs will become a part of community life just as
> they
> >> =
> >> always have before. ... Litterbugs are deliberately thoughless [sic] and
> >> un=
> >> tidy.  They can be traced through city parks and along streets and roads
> >> by=
> >>  a trail of fruit skins, ice cream cartons, candy wrappers, milk and
> >> bevera=
> >> ge bottles (often broken) and other debris, as easily as a hunting dog
> >> foll=
> >> ows the trail of a game animal or a varmint.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Fred Shapiro
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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