[Ads-l] "Ants on a log" -- Request from a freelance writer

Sun Jul 21 19:31:12 UTC 2019

Correction! The metadata provided by newspapers.com was incorrect. The
correct date shown on the newspaper image is May 10, 1906. The
database incorrectly specified the date April 10, 1906. Apologies.

Here is a link to the clipping which shows the date and the excerpt.
See column 5.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34092130/redants/

Date: May 10, 1906
Newspaper: The Weekly Kansas Chief
Newspaper Location: Troy, Kansas
Article: The Convention
Quote Page 4, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt - please double check for OCR errors]
James E. Hurley, general manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe,
told the following story at the convention: "These fellows remind me
of the time when I lived on the Mississippi river. A great many saw
logs came down the stream every spring.

One day I was watching the procession of logs and an Irish friend of
mine who sat by me, said: 'Jim, do you mind the number of sawlogs that
come down every spring?' I said I did, and he asked: 'Do you notice
that there are about a thousand red ants on each log?" I told him that
I had noticed that fact, and he added: 'And Jim, every little red ant
thinks he is steering the log.'"
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 3:10 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Here is a solid match in 1906. The joke is told by an unnamed Irish
> wit and retold by a railroad manager named James E. Hurley. (Probably
> the same Hurley specified in the 1922 citation.)
>
> Date: April 10, 1906
> Newspaper: The Weekly Kansas Chief
> Newspaper Location: Troy, Kansas
> Article: The Convention
> Quote Page 4, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt - please double check for OCR errors]
> James E. Hurley, general manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe,
> told the following story at the convention: "These fellows remind me
> of the time when I lived on the Mississippi river. A great many saw
> logs came down the stream every spring.
>
> One day I was watching the procession of logs and an Irish friend of
> mine who sat by me, said: 'Jim, do you mind the number of sawlogs that
> come down every spring?' I said I did, and he asked: 'Do you notice
> that there are about a thousand red ants on each log?" I told him that
> I had noticed that fact, and he added: 'And Jim, every little red ant
> thinks he is steering the log.'"
>
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson O'Toole
> QuoteInvestigator.com
>
> On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 2:29 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Great work by Barry whose analysis begins with a 1915 citation.
> >
> > Here is a partially matching precursor in 1902 based on the same
> > metaphorical framework. The domain is political activism. There are a
> > group of ants (political activists) on a floating platform. The ants
> > have no real control over the movement of the platform. This differs
> > from the 1915 citation because the platform is a ship and not a log.
> > Also, the illusion of control is not mentioned.
> >
> > Date: April 8, 1902
> > Newspaper: Richmond Dispatch
> > Newspaper Location: Richmond, Virginia
> > Article: Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention (continuation title)
> > Start Page 10, Quote Page 11, Column 2
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> > Comment: Ellipsis is in the original text
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > This is their platform: "Anti-Roosevelt-Booker Washington dinner... On
> > that platform they are huddled like a parcel of ants on a floating
> > ship in time of high water. They don't seem to know or care which way
> > they are drifting.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Barry's citations jump from 1915 to 1943. Here is a pertinent citation
> > in 1922. The same metaphorical framework is used, and the domain is
> > political activism. The ants (political activists) are on a floating
> > log. The log rolls uncontrollably. Individual ants maintain an
> > illusion of control.
> >
> > Date: January 31, 1922
> > Newspaper: The Topeka Daily Capital
> > Newspaper Location: Topeka, Kansas
> > Article: Kansas Day Crowd Mills Thru Lobby of National Hotel Like
> > Militant Ants on Floating Log
> > Author: Morse Salisbury (K.S.A.C. Journalism student)
> > Quote Page 7, Column 1
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > Article was clipped by someone else in 2017.
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9916336/the_topeka_daily_capital/
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > "The gang here in the lobby of the National on Kansas day always
> > reminds me of the story J. E. Hurley, former general manager of the
> > Santa Fe related to illustrate his impressions of the first Kansas day
> > crowd he saw," said Joe N. Dolley, bank commissioner during the Stubbs
> > administration, yesterday morning.
> >
> > "Hurley sat for some three hours watching the milling crowd. Finally
> > he observed to me, "This bunch inspires me to believe that Kansas
> > politicians have heeded the advice of Solomon to learn from the ant.
> > These fellows look like a bunch of ants I once saw floating down a
> > swollen stream on a log. The log rolled over and over, throwing some
> > of the ants into the water at each revolution. However, they would
> > scramble on top again, and mill around wildly, each a trifle more
> > self-important than the other, as if they were telling the world how
> > they made that log roll over'."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 1:02 PM Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear ads-l members,
> > >
> > >
> > > I've received the request below concerning "ants on a log" (a type of food
> > >
> > > I had never heard of before); the request led to an initial response from
> > >
> > > Barry Popik on his invaluable website barrypopik.com
> > >
> > > (https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/ants_on_a_log_floating/
> > >
> > > The writer's email to me appears below my signoff.  Can anyone help her
> > >
> > > with any additional information?  Her article promises to be an interesting one.
> > >
> > >
> > > Gerald Cohen
> > >
> > > Missouri University of Science & Technology
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Mara Weinraub <mara.weinraub at gmail.com<mailto:mara.weinraub at gmail.com>>
> > > Sent: Friday, July 19, 2019 3:45 PM
> > > To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> > > Subject: Media Inquiry: Ants on a log origin
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Barry Popik recommended I reach out to you. I'm researching an article
> > >
> > > on the origin of the "ants on a log" for an article in Food52.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From my research the "ants on a log" (the snack) first appeared in print
> > >
> > > around 1959. But I'm interested in learning about the origin of the phrase
> > >
> > >  beyond food. I spoke with researcher at Cornell and he said the phrase
> > >
> > > seems to have currency in America as a way of describing a group of people
> > >
> > > undergoing change while having the illusion of being in control. "I've seen
> > >
> > > one article attribute the phrase to Mark Twain, but it seems more likely to
> > >
> > > have been a common simile."
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > If you have any insight or leads, I'd very much appreciate it.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thank you for your time and consideration,
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Mara Weinraub
> > >
> > > Freelance Writer
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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