[Ads-l] Titanic deck chairs precursor?

[Stephen Goranson]

Thanks for the correction.
Stephen
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2022 3:09 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Titanic deck chairs precursor?

Even the best researchers can be led astray by the faulty metadata in
the newspapers.com database. The Feb. 14, 1944 date is incorrect. The
page containing the phrase "counting the deck chairs on the Titanic"
has a header indicating that the page was published on Feb. 3, 1985 in
"The New Mexican" of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Two different papers have been combined in the newspapers.com
database. If you click backward through the pages you will discover
that a transition from "The New Mexican" in 1985 to "The Morning
Herald" in 1944 occurs when moving from nominal page 6 to nominal page
five.

Garson

On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 9:37 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> Previously cited by Barry Popik:
>
>    White House Memories Recalled By Mrs. Johnson's Press Aide
> By NAN ROBERTSON Special to The New York Times. Jan 17, 1969. p. 18 :
> Of the incoming White House staff, the always political Mrs. [Elizabeth]
>
> Carpenter said: "All the new people want an office close to the President's.
>
> You should see them scramble. It's like fighting for a deck chair on the Titanic"
>
> The above quote, and later (?) versions with rearrange or shuffling
>
> (NewYaleBkQuotations) etc. present such chair dibbs as comparatively inutile or
>
> futile, though not all so think(?).
>
> Morning Herald, Hagerstown MD Feb. 14, 1944 [n.com]
>
> Francke is determined that his stewardship won't be, as he put it,
>
> "the guy in charge of counting the deck chairs on the Titanic."
>
> LLoyd George in The Times [London] in 1931, in an analogy,
>
> suggested placing Titanic deck chairs near the life boats.
>
> And these wooden chairs may, reportedly, in the ocean, have saved some lives.
>
> SG
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!-b5kFzilURVBvkxngIADJEslyyE7UqDEFvr5ZQCim_m2Ee1XhfvOho8AQb8ES89f$

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!-b5kFzilURVBvkxngIADJEslyyE7UqDEFvr5ZQCim_m2Ee1XhfvOho8AQb8ES89f$

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