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

Sun Jul 21 20:04:41 UTC 2019

The joke was relayed by more than one raconteur in May 1906. On May 4,
1906 the version told by James E. Hurley appeared in a Kansas paper.
See lower right of clipping.

Date: May 4, 1906
Newspaper: The Atchison Daily Globe
Newspaper Location: Atchison, Kansas
Article: News and Comment (Untitled item)
Quote Page 3, Column 8
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34093417/hurleymay4/

On May 5, 1906 a news item published in a Kansas newspaper
acknowledged the "Lawrence Gazette". Fred Vandegrif attributed an
instance of the joke to an "old logging friend". This version refers
to "ants" instead of "red ants".

Date: May 5, 1906
Newspaper: The Daily Republican (The Fort Scott Republican)
Newspaper Location: Fort Scott, Kansas
Article: (Untitled short item)
Quote Page 2, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34093042/vandegrif/

[Begin excerpt]
Lawrence Gazette: Fred Vandegrif was looking on at the convention.
"These delegates remind me of a story an old logging friend of mine
used to tell," he remarked, and everybody stopped to listen as they
always do when Vandegrif begins a story. "He said that every spring
when his logs came down the river, every log was covered with ants,
and every ant thought he was steering the log."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 3:31 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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