[Ads-l] antedating of bootleg

[Peter Reitan]

The 1844 reference appears to be dated properly, but is misidentified by the newspapers.com database.

The title page says, The Subterranean and Working Man's Advocate, an organ of the National Reform Organization, a temperance newspaper published in New York City.
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of James Eric Lawson <jel at NVENTURE.COM>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 11:57:51 AM
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Subject: antedating of bootleg

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Subject:      antedating of bootleg
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'bootleg' (OED a1889 [quote in Barrère & Leland actually from 1886
_Omaha Herald_] attributive, "with reference to illicit trading in
liquor"), also 'bootlegger' (OED 1889 noun, "an illicit trader in
liquor") and 'bootleg' (OED 1906 verb).

1844 _Council Grove Republican_ (Council Grove, Kansas) 16 Nov p 3 col 2

  2. 9 Puncheons of Old Rum (real New England "bootleg,") the balance of
a very large stock that has gone off very freely.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/67711333/


1886 _San Francisco Chronicle_ (San Francisco, California) 28 Oct p 3
col 5 [article reprinted from _Omaha Herald_]

There is as much whisky consumed in Iowa now as there was before, but
less beer, throughout the state "for medical purposes only", and on the
boot-leg plan, and saloons run openly in the larger towns in defiance of
the laws.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/27398048


1886 _Fort Scott Daily Monitor (Fort Scott, Kansas) 17 Jan p 4 col 6

Joe Reed, received the next dose, he was found guilty by the jury for
boot-legging whiskey. The court gave him sixty days in jail and assessed
a fine of $250.
   The same sentence was administered in the case of Andy Colbert,
another boot legger.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/57225823


1886 _The New North-West_ (Deer Lodge, Montana) 12 Mar p 2 col 6

The Iowa liquor law has given rise to a "boot legger." He wears high-top
boots and carries a flask of liquor in each, which he produces when he
sells a drink. The Federal revenue officers find it very difficult to
detect the "boot legger."

https://www.newspapers.com/image/171859268


--
James Eric Lawson

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