[Ads-l] gimmick 1910 (antedate?)

[Baker, John]

The same piece previously appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe (Mar. 1, 1908) (ProQuest Historical Newspapers).  The OED has 1926 and Merriam-Webster has 1911, so this is an antedating.  The piece may also affect our understanding of the term's history.  The OED suggests that the earliest meaning is  a contrivance for dishonestly regulating a gambling game, or an article used in a conjuring trick, and M-W specifically supports the gambling contrivance theory.  However, this example implies that the more general meaning of a gadget or device may be earlier.


John Baker



From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Stephen Goranson
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 11:21 AM
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Subject: gimmick 1910 (antedate?)

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"In a hotel at Muscatine, Iowa, the other day I twisted the gimmick attached to the radiator, with the intention of having some heat in my Nova Zemblan booth."
Jan. 8, 1910 v.1 no. 2 p. 37 [GB]
<https://books.google.com/books?id=PcEfAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA37&dq=%22the+gimmick%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjR_4TF0Y7sAhWStVkKHXg2ApYQ6AEwA3oECAEQAg<https://books.google.com/books?id=PcEfAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA37&dq=%22the+gimmick%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjR_4TF0Y7sAhWStVkKHXg2ApYQ6AEwA3oECAEQAg>>
Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover<https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover>

SG
[https://books.google.com/books/content?id=PcEfAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE73JoCgF9gXzKvIP7uFSZ-H-QzVQ4yC03IXnolQTwza934A_o8KQQHW1fr1TD_4NyJxxYBargxMupGip0A0YBz--EdalOY2YM2QMK6uUlOuMZR6Bwpj2w4TyHvAxT5NM7qzw9mNp<https://books.google.com/books/content?id=PcEfAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE73JoCgF9gXzKvIP7uFSZ-H-QzVQ4yC03IXnolQTwza934A_o8KQQHW1fr1TD_4NyJxxYBargxMupGip0A0YBz--EdalOY2YM2QMK6uUlOuMZR6Bwpj2w4TyHvAxT5NM7qzw9mNp>]<https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover<https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover>>
Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting<https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover<https://www.google.com/books/edition/Domestic_Engineering_and_the_Journal_of/PcEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Nova+Zemblan+booth%22&pg=RA2-PA37&printsec=frontcover>>
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