[Ads-l] Pneumatic

[Ben Yagoda]

Great work, Garson. After I tweeted about "pneumatic," the OED got in touch
with me and I forwarded them your post, which clearly suggests that O.Henry
was referring to that type of bra, but that "pneumatic" was used as a
standalone adjective, by the Pinckneyville newspaper, as early as 1905. I'd
say that the newspaper probably was indicating a woman wearing that
particular undergarment, leaving open the question of when "pneumatic" was
first used to refer to the person herself.

Ben

Date:    Tue, 17 Mar 2020 16:30:36 -0400
From:    ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Possible antedate to "pneumatic"

In 1902 "The House Beautiful" published an advertisement titled
"PNEUMATIC BUST FORMS" for a bra that could be inflated with breath.

Year: 1902
Journal: The House Beautiful
Volume 12
Section: Advertisements
Quote Page: Unnumbered Page
Publisher: Herbert S. Stone, Chicago, Illinois

https://books.google.com/books?id=HzguAAAAMAAJ&q=+pneumatic#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
H & H
PNEUMATIC BUST FORMS
"Nature's only rival; they mark the end of padding."

Eagerly welcomed by refined women of society and the stage in of and
America. Positively a revelation. Inflated by a breath, adjusted
instantly, with or without corsets, take any and every shape, conform
to every position and movement.
[End excerpt]

In 1905 an Illinois newspaper printed a passage about "the female
figure". Many different types of figures were listed including "a
broad-gauge pneumatic girl". The newspaper acknowledged a periodical
called "Exchange".

Date: November 23, 1905
Newspaper: The Pinckneyville Advocate
Newspaper Location: Pinckneyville, Illinois
Article: Stern Edict Revoked (Acknowledges "Exchange")
Quote Page 1, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Lets see, what is the proper shape this season? We confess that we are
lost at last in the mazes of evolution through which the female figure
has wandered during the last ten years until we are unable to tell
whether the present demands of fashion call for a fat girl, a skinny
girl, a military girl, a Kangaroo girl, a Grecian bend girl, a
broad-gauge pneumatic girl, or just a girl. There seems to be broad
catholicity, almost approaching the plebian in the range of the
feminine figure for the fall and winter wear.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 10:29 AM Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Cowhide whips??  O. Henry???
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 6:05 PM Ben Yagoda <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:
>
> > The relevant definition of “pneumatic” is “humorous. Of, relating to, or
> > characteristic of a woman with a well-rounded figure, esp. a large
bosom;
> > (of a woman) having a well-rounded figure, esp. large-bosomed.”
> >
> > The first citation is T.S. Eliot (!) in the 1919 poem “Whispers of
> > Immortality”: "Grishkin is nice... Uncorseted, her friendly bust Gives
> > promise of pneumatic bliss." A more recent one is from The Sunday
Times  in
> > 1994: “Making her film debut in 1981 as a pneumatic Texan temp in the
> > office comedy Nine To Five, Dolly Parton was an instant success.”
> >
> > But a character in a 1905 O. Henry story, “The Girl and the Graft,”
> > presents a long slangy list of feminine wiles: "signed letters, false
> > hair, sympathy, the kangaroo walk, cowhide whips, ability to cook,
> > sentimental juries, conversational powers, silk underskirts, ancestry,
> > rouge, anonymous letters, violet sachet powders, witnesses, revolvers,
> > pneumatic forms, carbolic acid, moonlight, cold cream and the evening
> > newspapers.”
> >
> > By the way, the kangaroo walk was a locomotion fad that involved, as one
> > source put it, a “hoppy, springy stride and a swinging relaxation of the
> > arms.” It inspired a 1902 song called “The Girl with the Kangaroo Walk.”
> >
> > Ben
> >
> > benyagoda.com

-- 
www.benyagoda.com

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