[Ads-l] antedating of bootleg

[James Eric Lawson]

Good catch. Thanks. I double-checked the date, even saw the paper's name
in a title box on p 2, but thought it was a section title.

Now I'm wondering if "real New England 'bootleg'" refers to smuggling or
a flavoring, coloring, or cooking element, or is just general
denigration of the quality. It's early for any and all of those, but
given the satirical context, could be any.


On 3/26/21 9:53 PM, Peter Reitan wrote:
> 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.
> ________________________________
> 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
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: antedating of bootleg
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Eric Lawson <jel at NVENTURE.COM>
> Subject:      antedating of bootleg
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> '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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-- 
James Eric Lawson

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