[Ads-l] showboy (1841)

[Barretts Mail]

Although “showgirl” is featured in dictionaries (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/showgirl <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/showgirl>, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/showgirl <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/showgirl>), “showboy” is not.

1. “The Women of Italy” in The American Eclectic, Volume 3
_La Donna Saggia ed Amabile. Libri Tre di_ Anna Pepoli, Vedova Sampieri. Capolago, Tipograifa Elveica. 1838
1842 (originally published in 1841)
https://tinyurl.com/ya7rv592 <https://tinyurl.com/ya7rv592>

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… endeavor to remove sinister impressions by giving us the proverbially deprecating answer of the Lucchese showboys: ….

2. The Matador of the Five Towns: And Other Stories
Arnold Bennett
1912 (Google-dated)
https://tinyurl.com/yc9qf9um <https://tinyurl.com/yc9qf9um>

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… the showmen and the showgirls and the showboys were titivating their booths, and cooking their teas, and
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3. The year America discovered Texas: Centennial ‘36
Kenneth Baxter Ragsdale
1987 (Google-dated)
https://tinyurl.com/yawuakvm <https://tinyurl.com/yawuakvm>
(snippet not available in link)

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Rose elected to divide the casting of dancers, showgirls, and showboys about equally between professional performers and local amateurs. (The showgirls and showboys did not dance and recited no lines, but they appeared on stage
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4. American Cinema of the 1930s: Themes and Variations
ed by Ina Rae Hark
2007
https://tinyurl.com/ycyoam4z <https://tinyurl.com/ycyoam4z>

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… return to the misadventures of the saucy Ms. Merkel, her eyes widening as she is goosed by two showboys in succession: ...
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Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA


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