[Ads-l] Dixie (1858)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Pretty impressive, Dave. But I had a terrible feeling that the ad's use of
"Dixie" sounded as though everybody knew what it meant in 1858.

But another ad on the same page touts a concert by Miss Rundlett to be
given "Monday Evening, May 4, 1863."

I believe the date of the paper should be "May 2, 1863" rather than "1858."


JL

On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 3:17 PM <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> I've found an instance of "Dixie" referring to the American South from 2
> May 1858, about a year before it appears in Daniel Emmett's two songs,
> "Johnny Roach" and "Dixie." I haven't seen anyone else report on this one.
>
> Classified Ad. Daily Herald (Newburyport, MA), 2 May 1858, 3. NewsBank:
> American’s Historical Newspapers:
>
> "BOUND FOR DIXIE.
> WELL get a good TRAVELLING TRUNK We are almost giving away Traveling
> Trunks and have the largest assortment in the city, from $1.37 up to
> $20—Now is the time to purchase one [a]t your own price, and then you can
> leave just when you like, Your trunk being in order you can vamoose. Call
> at
> TOPPAN & CO’S, 15 State street."
>
> Newburyport was a major port in the triangular trade of molasses, rum, and
> slaves, and many residents would have business ties with and reason to
> travel to the South.
>
> There are references to "Dixey's Land," referring to the children's game,
> going back to the 1840s, but I don't know of any earlier geographic ones.
>
> A full write-up is at: https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/dixie
>
>
>
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