[Ads-l] Bat Masterson Quote

[Peter Reitan]

If the saying originated in November 1886, it could have been a corollary of an earlier anecdote:


"[T]he rich men die in winter, and poor men in summer. . . .  In the summer time rich men as a rule take it easy.  They keep in the shade, and spend their time at summer resorts, where they get plenty of fresh air.  Poor people, on the other hand, remain at home.  They work in the sun,live in the basements and hot rooms, and enervate themselves until they take sick and die. . . .


"Rich men die in the winter because they are subject to dangers they take no precautions to avoid.  Poor men suffer from exposure, yet their very hardships fit them for the sudden change4s of the weather, which are almost constantly occurring.  Rich people,wearing furs and heavy overcoats, crowd into overheated and badly ventilated theatres.  When they come otu they catch their death of cold. . . ."


Springfield Globe-Republic, May 20, 1886, page 2 (citing St. Louis Republican).


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2017 1:33 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Bat Masterson Quote

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bat Masterson Quote
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the quip more than a decade earlier. (Apologies to list
members who do not wish to see research in real-time.)

Date: November 18, 1886
Newspaper: Atchison Daily Patriot
Newspaper Location: Atchison, Kansas
Article: Untitled short piece
Quote Page 2, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
Quote Page 2, Column 2

[Begin excerpt]
It is on the Emersonian doctrine of compensation illustrated by one of
his disciples, who said all things are about evenly divided, as for
instance: The rich have ice in summer and the poor have it in winter.
[End excerpt]

Garson


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