[Ads-l] logging term "barber chair" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

In "The American language, Supplement Two" H. L. Mencken presented a
variety of terms used by loggers. Here is his definition of
"barber-chair":

Barber-chair. A fallen tree which remains attached to the stump.

The footnote for the section pointed to a list of the resources he
used. So to find his precise citation it would be necessary to access
these resources and find out which one contains "Barber-chair".

[Begin excerpt from Am. Lang. Sup. II - double-check for errors]
These come mainly from the glos-
sary in Holy Old Mackinaw, by
Stewart H. Holbrook; New York.
1938; Logger Talk, by James Ste-
vens, American Speech, Dec., 1925,
pp. 135-40; Timberland Terminol-
ogy, by Orlo H. Misfeldt, the same,
Oct., 1941, pp. 232-34; Paul Bun-
yan Talk, by Elrick B. Davis, the
same, Dec., 1942, pp. 217-25;
Rhymes of a Western Logger, by
Robert E. Swanson; Vancouver
(B.C.), 1943, pp. 49-56, and Log-
ger-Talk, by Guy Williams; Seat-
tle, 1930. Other authorities are listed
in Burke, pp. 101-02. Some early
Maine terms are in Joys and Perils
of Lumbering, Harper's Magazine,
Sept., 1851, pp. 517-21. The argot
of New Zealand loggers is in Fid-
dlers, Ropies and Skiddies, New
Zealand Free Lance, Aug. 18, 1943,
p. 7.
[End excerpt]

On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 6:29 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Title: Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang
> Volume I: A-G
> Editor: J. E. Lighter
>
> [Begin excerpt - double-check of OCR errors]
> barber chair n. Logging, a stump to which an upright slab of the
> felled tree remains attached. Also as v. (see 1974 quot.). 1938-41 in
> Mencken Amer. Lang. Supp. II 758. 1956 Sorden & Ebert Logger's 1 [ref.
> to a1925]: Barber-chair. A stump with part of the tree still on it due
> to the tree splitting when falling. 1958 McCulloch Woods Words 7:
> Barber chair—a. A tree which is split up the trunk in falling, leaving
> the split portion on the stump, instead of breaking through cleanly to
> the undercut, b. The act of making a tree into a barber chair.
> . . .
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Title: The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
> Volume A-I
> Editors: Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor
> https://books.google.com/books?id=4YfsEgHLjboC&q=%22barber+chair%22#v=snippet&q=%22barber%20chair%22&f=false
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> barber chair noun
> in logging, the stump left from a poorly cut tree, which in falling
> leaves an upright large splinter US, 1941
>
> It is poor cutting if “barber chairs” are made and butts are very
> irregular. — A. Koroleff, Woodcutter's Handbook, p. 7/2, 1944
> [End excerpt]
>
> Green’s Dictionary of Slang does not seem to have an entry for "barber chair".
>
> Garson
>
> On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 5:35 PM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> CCDC AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> >
> > A friend on Facebook who knows I antedate things recently asked me about the logging term "barber chair".
> >
> > OED has 1950 for the noun, and 1966 for the verb.
> >
> > barber chair n.;  Forestry.
> > A chair-shaped stump left after a tree is felled, usually because of failure to undercut the trunk far enough; an incident during felling in which such a stump is formed.
> >
> > verb
> > transitive. To fell (a tree) such that it splits up the trunk, leaving a chair-shaped stump.
> > Also intransitive of a tree: to split during felling leaving a chair-shaped stump.
> >
> > This is antedatable:
> >
> > noun:
> >
> > Escambia MI _Escambia Daily Press_ 14 Feb 1946 p 2 col 2
> > "Another familiar woods term is the 'barber chair'.  Hardwood timber, when improperly notched before sawing, pulls long slivers from the falling tree.  These slivers project upward from the stump, giving it the appearance of a chair."
> >
> > verb:
> >
> > Klamath Falls OR _Evening Herald_ 14 May 1941 p. 2 col 7
> > "Krick claimed that two days before the discharge they had 'barber-chaired' a fir tree due to a high wind at the time but the scaler had not complained."
> >
> >
> >
> > CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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