[Ads-l] Antedating of "Iron Curtain"

Wed Sep 7 01:51:19 UTC 2022

I'm not sure if this is of interest, but I've located  several early 
instances of
"iron curtain"  as a metaphor for a division between two cultures, not
specifically  Soviet/ western division.

An Iron Curtain is, by the way, a safety device that delays the spread 
of fire.
Often used in theatres, lowered in front of the stage between 
performances
and during the interval.  And it is in a theatrical context that I find 
the earliest
use as a metaphor that I know of.

Costumes de théâtre: catalogue des collections des costumes ...
Google dated to 1894, probably about right

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22For+there+is+no+iron+curtain+between%22&biw=1113&bih=476&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3AJan+1_2+1890%2Ccd_max%3ADec+31_2+1920&tbm=bks&sxsrf=ALiCzsbMirHCl7HgzX2zEfpdCN4Smoeh4g%3A1662513906344&ei=8vIXY7_SFIe7gQby1Z9g&ved=0ahUKEwi_k8n2woH6AhWHXcAKHfLqBwwQ4dUDCAk&uact=5&oq=%22For+there+is+no+iron+curtain+between%22&gs_lcp=Cg1nd3Mtd2l6LWJvb2tzEAM6BAghEApQ3wpY4A1g5xZoAHAAeACAAWyIAf8BkgEDMi4xmAEAoAECoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-books

For there is no Iron Curtain between our performers and average citizens 
, and
they make more friends than diplomats with lavish expense accounts . Now 
the
magic that dissolves international barriers is our national culture ,

============================

This one probably from circa 1902-4.   A slightly different meaning, a 
separation
of present and future

Dental Review - Volume 16 - Page 54

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Dental_Review/20NHAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22iron+curtain+that+separates%22&dq=%22iron+curtain+that+separates%22&printsec=frontcover

>From the earliest times to the present men have been seeking to peer 
into the future ,
to penetrate the iron curtain that separates us from that which lies 
before us .

============================

This one is google dated 1917, but it looks like 1918 from dates in the 
text.
Transactions and Proceedings - Volume 16 - Page 17
Japan Society of London

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Transactions_and_Proceedings/-405AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22iron+curtain+between%22&dq=%22iron+curtain+between%22&printsec=frontcover

The brutal hand of war , while strengthening the bonds of alliance 
between his
  native and adopted countries , has lowered an iron curtain between our 
world
of grim realities and his Paradise of artistic romance

==================

This one of uncertain date.  Searching dates in the document finds hits 
between 1918
and 1947.  Could be any time between them.   Maybe pre-Churchill.

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Case_and_Comment/n4imAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22iron+curtain+between%22&dq=%22iron+curtain+between%22&printsec=frontcover

Regardless of what is read, the very act of reading draws an iron 
curtain between counsel
and the sympathetic attention of the court.

------ Original Message ------
>From "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 06/09/2022 14:32:40
Subject Re: Antedating of "Iron Curtain"

>Great finds, Fred and Garson.
>
>JL
>
>On Tue, Sep 6, 2022 at 1:36 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Interesting citation, Fred. Here is another precursor for “iron
>>curtain”. The 1919 citation posted by Fred contained the phrase
>>“prevent, as far as they could, all communications”.
>>
>>The 1915 instance below matches this notion semantically. It refers to
>>an “iron curtain" of military censorship. I think the author of this
>>passage is primarily referring to censorship in countries outside of
>>Russia which is blocking news about developments within Russia.
>>
>>
>>https://books.google.com/books?id=1bY4AQAAIAAJ&q=%22iron+curtain%22#v=snippet&
>>
>>Date: November-December, 1915
>>Periodical: The Socialist Review: A Quarterly Review of Modern Thought
>>Section: International Notes
>>Subsection: Russia
>>Quote Page 779
>>Publisher: The Independent Labour Party, London.
>>
>>[Begin excerpt]
>>RUSSIA
>>"Behind the iron curtain of the military censorship, and obscured by
>>the clash of arms, there are going on in the belligerent countries,"
>>says the writer of "Political Notes" in Clara Zetkin's paper,
>>Gleichheit, "extensive changes, changes that will be at least of as
>>much importance to Europe as the immediate and direct effects of the
>>war." The precise course of affairs in Russia is especially difficult
>>to ascertain, but it seems clear that the prestige of Tsardom is
>>gravely impaired, and that the bourgeois revolution, so long overdue,
>>makes rapid progress. But conditions differ much from those which
>>obtained in France at time of the Great Revolution, for in the large
>>towns there already exists in Russia a comparatively instructed
>>proletariat, and it is at least questionable whether, in the turmoil
>>of the war and of the period of reorganisation, the workers may not
>>secure important gains...
>>[End excerpt]
>>
>>It appears that Lancelot Eden wrote the International Notes section
>>because his name is listed on page 787. Philip Snowden published an
>>article in this issue of “The Socialist Review”. Perhaps he saw the
>>phrase “iron curtain” in this issue.
>>
>>Garson
>>
>>On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:23 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
>>wrote:
>> >
>> > I should add, however, that there is a difference of connotation between
>>Buxton's usage and that of later users of the term.  In later occurrences,
>>the Iron Curtain was something imposed by the Soviet Union, whereas Buxton
>>was blaming Western governments.
>> >
>> > Fred Shapiro
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>>Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> > Sent: Monday, September 5, 2022 9:17 PM
>> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Subject: Antedating of "Iron Curtain"
>> >
>> > The term "Iron Curtain," referring to a political divide between the
>>Soviet Union (and countries dominated by it) and the rest of the world, is
>>popularly credited to Winston Churchill, who used it beginning in 1945.  It
>>has been known for some time, however, that Ethel Snowden used it earlier,
>>in her 1920 book _Through Bolshevik Russia_.
>> >
>> > I have discovered an earlier occurrence of the term:
>> >
>> > 1919 _Haslingden (U.K.) Gazette_ 5 Apr. 3/3 (British Newspaper Archive)
>>They [the British and French governments] wanted to prevent, as far as they
>>could, all communications between the people so that an iron curtain, as it
>>were, had fallen down between this nation and the great people of Central
>>Russia.
>> >
>> > This article was an account of an address at Accrington given by Labour
>>politician Charles Roden Buxton.  It is likely that Buxton is being quoted
>>as using "iron curtain" in that address.  The phrasing is actually closer
>>to Churchill's formulation than was Ethel Snowden's phrasing.
>>Interestingly, the article about the Buxton address occurs in the newspaper
>>immediately next to an article about an address by Philip Snowden, Ethel's
>>husband.
>> >
>> > Fred Shapiro
>> > Editor
>> > Yale Book of Quotations (Yale University Press)
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>-- "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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