[Ads-l] Antedating of "Booboisie"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Below is a citation for "booboisie" in a document written by H.L.
Mencken. HathiTrust and WorldCat have both assigned a 1921 date, but
the question mark notation indicates uncertainty.

Document Title: A personal word, by H.L. Mencken.
Main Author: Mencken, H. L. 1880-1956.
Published: [n.p., 1921?]
Subjects: Smart set (New York, N.Y.)
Note: Caption title.
Physical Description:         15 p.
(The metadata above is from HathiTrust)

https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t5t72f71s
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t5t72f71s?urlappend=%3Bseq=9

[Begin excerpt]
The authors who expect and demand enormous prices for their wares—the
Carusos and Babe Ruths of letters—are but seldom the sort of authors
we are interested in. It has been our endeavor, not to startle the
booboisie with such gaudy stars, but to maintain a hospitable welcome
for the talented newcomer—to give him his first chance in good
company, and to pay him, if not the wages of a moving-picture actor,
then at least enough to reward him decently for his labor.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 12:11 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Fred Shapiro wrote:
>> The OED's first use for the word "booboisie" is H. L. Mencken in 1922.
>>  A few years ago I found that Mencken had used it in the periodical Smart
>> Set in December 1921.  I have now found a slightly earlier occurrence:
>>
>>
>> 1921 St. Louis Post-Dispatch 14 Nov. 19/1 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
>> His daughter, whom he has sent to Europe for the creditable purpose of weaning
>>  her away from the Second Avenue booboisie.
>>
>>
>> Although this is a very small antedating, it is significant because it calls into
>> question whether Mencken originated this, one of his most celebrated
>> word-coinages.
>
> Great citation, Fred. On December 20, 1921 F.P.A. (i.e., Franklin
> Pierce Adams) was given credit for "booboisie".
>
> Unfortunately, I believe that many of the columns of Adams and Mencken
> have not yet been digitized. For example, many Mencken columns
> appeared in the "Baltimore Evening Sun" and these pages have not been
> scanned and are not digitally searchable. (Of course, the "Baltimore
> Sun" has been scanned, but the two papers were distinct.)
>
> Mencken did use "boobery" and "bamboozling the boobs" in 1920 based on
> columns reprinted in "A Carnival of Buncombe" (1956).
>
> Newspaper: The St. Louis Star and Times
> Newspaper Location: St. Louis, Missouri
> Date: December 20, 1921
> Article: Leading Press Opinions: Lucky at That
> Quote Page 16, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> LUCKY, AT THAT.
>
> The receiver for George V. Halliday, the bankrupt broker who recently
> became entangled in the financial affairs of J. P. Morgan and la
> Republique Francaise, announces, after an inventory of the young man's
> assets and liabilities, that the creditors "will be lucky to get three
> cents on the dollar."
>
> They will be lucky, at that. Members of what F. P. A. calls the
> "booboisie" who will invest the savings of a lifetime with an
> individual of whom they know little or nothing, who will put their
> hard-earned  money into securities which they have not investigated
> are  really being overpaid  when they get three cents on the dollar.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson

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