[Ads-l] another, earlier Cowabunga

Tue Jan 28 00:33:33 UTC 2020

Eddie Kean preferred to spell the exclamation with an "o" instead of
"u", e.g., "cowabonga" (as JL and Stephen noted). Here is an entry
dated July 12, 1955 that appeared in a catalog of U.S. copyright
entries for unpublished music.

Year: 1956
Title: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Unpublished Music
Series 3, Volume 9, Part 5b, Number 2
Date Range: July to December 1955
Quote Page 476, Column 3
Publisher; Copyright Office. The Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Database: HathiTrust
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015039642080?urlappend=%3Bseq=459
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015039642080?urlappend=%3Bseq=496

[Begin excerpt]
COWABONGA; English w & m Marshall
Barer & Alec Wilder © Children's
Songs, Inc. 12Jul55 EU403766
COWBOYBLUES; w & m Robert
[End excerpt]

YouTube has an audio track and still picture for "A Howdy Doody
Record" titled "COWABONGA AND BIG CHIEF". The small type at the bottom
of the image lists the year 1955 and the performers: Chief
Thunderthud, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, and Mitchell Miller and
Orchestra. The lyrics repeat the term many times.

YouTube Video Title: Chief Thunderthud - Cowabonga
Uploaded on Jul 11, 2015
Uploaded by boyjohn
Accessed on youtube.com on Jan 26 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imfy5Cg_smQ

YouTube has a video interview with Eddie Kean during which he talks
about the term.

YouTube Video Title: Writer Eddie Kean on the origin of "Cowabunga" on
The Howdy Doody Show
Uploaded on Aug 23, 2010
Uploaded by: FoundationINTERVIEWS
Accessed on youtube.com on Jan 26 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD5xsTRWBZE

Here is a clip from the "Howdy Doody Show" during which Chief
Thunderthud uses the expression several times.

YouTube Video Title: Howdy Doody Show 1950s
Uploaded on Sep 6, 2009
Uploaded by bearlyrufus
Accessed on youtube.com on Jan 26 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw8jL7j9_WA

Here is a newspaper article from 1987 containing claims about the
preferred spelling.

Date: November 27, 1987
Newspaper: Detroit Free Press
Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
Article: KOWABONGA! IT'S THE REAL THING
Author: Mike Duffy
Quote Page 9B, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
KOWABONGA! IT'S THE REAL THING
You say kowabunga, I say cowabunga.

But if the truth be known, the official spelling of that mystical
baby-boomer buzzword is kowabonga.

Chief Thunderthud of "Howdy Doody," in expressing everything from
great amazement to thorough befuddlement, would say, "Kowabonga!"

That's the real thing. So says Stephen Davis, author of "Say Kids!
What Time Is It? Notes from the Peanut Gallery" (Little, Brown,
$16.95).

Davis should know. His book is incredibly well-researched; his father
used to be a director on "Howdy Doody," and Davis himself at length
with Eddie Kean, the man who wrote the scripts for the Doodyville gang
for many years.

"There's no u in kowabonga," said Davis in an interview this week.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Jan 25, 2020 at 2:26 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >  the town of Karumba
>
> Bart Simpson also says "Caramba!"
>
> FWIW.
>
> Remarkable finds, guys.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Jan 25, 2020 at 1:27 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I hit the send button too soon. I didn’t do a search for other possible
> > candidates in the area. The spelling of “Cowabunga” in SG’s citations is
> > clear, and a map, particularly an older one, might well turn up a more
> > likely location than Karumba. BB
> >
> > > On 25 Jan 2020, at 10:21, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Here’s an interview with Kean on the origin of the word:
> > https://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/what-the-hell-does-cowabunga-mean-anyhow
> > <
> > https://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/what-the-hell-does-cowabunga-mean-anyhow
> > >
> > >
> > > He says that he coined “kawagoopa” as a greeting word and that it was
> > sweet, soft, charming and lovely.
> > >
> > > He says that he “somehow" coined “cowabunga,” which was good for
> > frustration/anger because of the hard syllables [starting with] “g” and “b.”
> > >
> > > As for the Australian place name, the river looks to be Yappar River (
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yappar_River <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yappar_River>). Wikipedia says that it
> > flows into the Norman River. The area can be seen on Google Maps:
> > https://tinyurl.com/yx5ra9ga <https://tinyurl.com/yx5ra9ga>
> > >
> > > According to Wikipedia (
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karumba,_Queensland <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karumba,_Queensland>), the town of Karumba
> > is 71 km from Normantown and is located at the mouth of the Norman, the
> > name originating by the 1880s from “Kurumba,” a Kareldi name. FWIW,
> > although Karumba is on the coast, the Gulf of Carpentaria is evidently not
> > good for surfing (https://tinyurl.com/rqbqmvv <https://tinyurl.com/rqbqmvv
> > >).
> > >
> > > Although Kean may have picked up the place name at some point, he says
> > he coined it after kawagoopa, so that seems unlikely as a source.
> > >
> > > Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
> > > Formerly of Seattle, WA
> > >
> > >> On 25 Jan 2020, at 06:11, Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU <mailto:
> > goranson at DUKE.EDU>> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Some of us recall cowabunga from the Howdy Doody Show on TV in the
> > 1950s. And later among surfers and others (e.g., Bart Simpson and, I read,
> > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
> > >>
> > >> According to Historical Dictionary of American Slang:
> > >> "1975 John Alego (priv. communication) (Sept. 19): "Buffalo Bob" Smith
> > tells me that he believes the word was invented by a Howdy Doody writer,
> > Eddie Kean [1924-2010], for Chief Thunderthud. Buffalo Bill spells it
> > kawabonga, and says it indicated bad things. There was a companion, joyous
> > term kawagoopa. The fact that the distressful word has survived and the
> > joyful one not, I suppose is paradigmatic."
> > >> [Or, one might say, the surviving word meliorated.]
> > >>
> > >> It may be merely quite coincidental, but Cowabunga was a place name in
> > Queensland, Australia.
> > >> From Trove Newspapers:
> > >>
> > >> 1926, March 18
> > >> Land for Lease and Selection
> > >> Cowabunga--An area of 190 square miles, comprising Crown Lands,
> > situated on the left back of the Yappan [OCR has Tappan, I guess
> > incorrectly] River, adjoining Headwater and Harlem holdings. [....][1]
> > >>
> > >> 1944, May  19
> > >> Crown Land for Pastoral Lease
> > >> Cowabunga Block will be open on...at the land office Normanton [....][2]
> > >>
> > >> This may well have been unknown to Edward Keane. Wikipedia: "....Kean
> > served in the United States Navy<
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy>> during World War II<
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>>. He was based at Cornell
> > University<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University>> through the V-12 Navy
> > College Training Program<
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-12_Navy_College_Training_Program <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-12_Navy_College_Training_Program>> and
> > earned a degree from Columbia University<
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University>>.[2]<
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kean#cite_note-LATObit-2 <
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kean#cite_note-LATObit-2>>" Note 2:
> > LA Times obituary, credits him for coining kowabonga/cowabunga.
> > >>
> > >> The Queensland location is inland, so not a surfing spot. The
> > name--indigenous Australian?
> > >>
> > >> Stephen Goranson
> > >> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/ <http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/>
> > >>
> > >> PS. We had a 45 record with songs, "Howdy Doody means Hello" and "Save
> > your pennies, and soon you'll have a nickel..."
> > >>
> > >> [1]
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60929602?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >> [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4991629-t]<
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60929602?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >
> > >> LAND FOR LEASE AND SELECTION. - Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907
> > - 1954) - 18 Mar 1926<
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60929602?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >
> > >> The Government is offering a considerable quantity of Crown land for
> > lease. As some is in territory blessed with rain, it may aford drought
> > relief. ...
> > >> trove.nla.gov.au
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> [2]
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170399048?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >> [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page20048313-t]<
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170399048?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >
> > >> Advertising - Cloncurry Advocate (Qld. : 1931 - 1953) - 19 May 1944<
> > https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170399048?searchTerm=cowabunga&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc
> > >
> > >> trove.nla.gov.au
> > >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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