[Ads-l] Antedating of "Melting Pot"
ADSGarson O'Toole
adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Wed Sep 14 15:44:06 UTC 2016
Here is a precursor use of "melting pot" in 1861. The topic seems to
be remaking nations (and perhaps nationalities) via warfare.
[ref] 1861 July 3, The Times, London, Wednesday, July 3, 1861: In the
House of Lords last night, Quote Page 8, Column 6, London, Greater
London, England. (Newspapers.com)[/ref]
https://www.newspapers.com/image/32904962/?terms=%22melting%2Bpot%22%2B
[Begin excerpt]
JOHN RUSSELL does not seem to take a sanguine view of the undertaking.
He objects that NAPOLEON I. could not do it when in possession of all
Europe, and that Lord CASTLEREAGH could not do it in 1815, when all
Europe was thrown into the melting-pot, and nations came out moulded
according to his will.
[End excerpt]
Here is an instance of "melting pot" in 1877, but this "pot" does not
have the power to combine disparate elements:
[ref] 1877 October 31, The Times, Article: Mount Ararat.* Footnote
Text: '"*Transcaucasia and Ararat." By James Bryce, author of "The
Holy Roman Empire." Macmillan and Co., 1877', Quote Page 4, Column 3,
London, Greater London, England. (Newspapers.com)[/ref]
[Begin excerpt]
Tiflis, the capital of the Provinces which contain such a motley
population, is a city of contrasts and mixtures, "a melting-pot into
which elements have been poured from half Europe and Asia, and in
which they show no signs of combining." Unfortunately, too, Tiflis is
a melting-pot in another sense. In summer it is intolerably hot and
close.
[End excerpt]
Garson
On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 8:23 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sen. Schurz's prominence would certainly have encouraged later use of the
> phrase by anyone who read the article.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Sep 13, 2016 at 7:47 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Forgot to include the citation:
>>
>> The Daily State Journal (Alexandria, Virginia), March 13, 1872, page 3.
>> Chronicling America
>>
>> > Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2016 16:37:35 -0700
>> > From: pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM
>> > Subject: Re: Antedating of "Melting Pot"
>> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> >
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster: Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject: Re: Antedating of "Melting Pot"
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------------
>> >
>> > It is not clear that it was used idiomatically yet=2C but the expression
>> an=
>> > d the imagery were there.
>> >
>> > From a lecture entitled=2C "The Nation of the World=2C by Carl Schurz=3B
>> de=
>> > livered to a meeting of German citizens at Marini's Hall in Washington
>> DC. =
>> > His lecture was given in German=3B an English translation appeared in
>> the =
>> > paper four days later:
>> >
>> > The New Nation
>> > Here was the beginning of a new nation which was not be be English=2C
>> not t=
>> > o be Dutch=2C not to be French=2C but was to fuse and melt them all in
>> the =
>> > grand American nation. . . .
>> >
>> > Foreign Elements.
>> > Now let us glance at the foreign elements in this country. The are only
>> tw=
>> > o that are important - the Germans and the Irish. . . . On the whole=2C
>> the=
>> > Irish are like certain metals which are worthless by themselves=2C but
>> exc=
>> > ellent to alloy with others. Let us trust that notwithstanding the need
>> of=
>> > reform in Irish New York=2C the Irish metal will fuse in our great
>> nationa=
>> > l melting pot to a harmonious combination with the other ingredients.
>> >
>> >
>> > > Date: Sat=2C 19 Mar 2016 16:06:04 +0000
>> > > From: fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
>> > > Subject: Antedating of "Melting Pot"
>> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> > >=20
>> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------=
>> > ------
>> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > > Poster: "Shapiro=2C Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> > > Subject: Antedating of "Melting Pot"
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------=
>> > ------
>> > >=20
>> > > melting pot (OED=2C 3.b.=2C 1909)
>> > >=20
>> > > 1889 _N.Y. Times_ 2 Sept. (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) In view of
>> th=
>> > e =3D
>> > > virtual extinction of the French in the Mississippi Valley the French
>> Can=
>> > ad=3D
>> > > ians had a misgiving that if they too were cast into the American
>> melting=
>> > p=3D
>> > > ot they would yield to that mysterious force which blends all foreign
>> ele=
>> > me=3D
>> > > nts into one homogeneous mass.
>> > >=20
>> > > Fred Shapiro
>> > >=20
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------=
>> > --=3D
>> > > --------------------------
>> > > Fred R. Shapiro Editor
>> > > Associate Librarian for Collections and YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
>> > > Access and Lecturer in Legal Research Yale University Press
>> > > Yale Law School ISBN 0300107986
>> > > e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
>> =
>> > =3D
>> > > http://quotationdictionary.com
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------=
>> > --=3D
>> > > ---------------------------
>> > >=20
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> > =
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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