[Ads-l] mysterious antedatings of "foo fighter"

Thu Apr 13 17:22:16 UTC 2023

A collection of "Smokey Stover" material was titled "The Foo Fighter"
as shown in the scan on the following webpage. The webpage says the
collection was published in 1938. I have not verified the publication
date.

https://www.abebooks.com/comics/Smokey-Stover-Book-%231421-1938-The-Foo/31093818440/bd

[Begin website description]
Smokey Stover Book #1421 1938-The Foo Fighter - Whitman-Bill Holman art-FN
Published by Whitman, 1938
[End website description]

Garson

On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 1:11 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> With so much foo in the air, "foo fighter" wouldn't need to have appeared
> in the strip more than once.
>
> Jl
>
> On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 9:50 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The text of most comic strips is not presented using a standard
> > typeface. Often, the optical character recognition (OCR) algorithms do
> > not process and index the text of comic strips correctly.
> >
> > For example, the following page (see paywalled link) has a Smokey
> > Stover comic strip. The strip contains the words "big". "rattle",
> > "notice", and "goofy". If you electronically search for these words on
> > the page you will produce the message "No matches found". The words in
> > the comic strip are not being recognized and indexed.
> >
> > https://www.newspapers.com/image/204427147/
> >
> > Technologically, it is now possible to recognize and index text in
> > comic strips. Capable OCR algorithms exist. But newspapers.com and
> > other databases are doing a poor job. Occasionally, comic strip text
> > is recognized and indexed.
> >
> > Here is a description of the “Foo Craze” in 1938.
> >
> > Date: December 1, 1938,
> > Newspaper: Jackson's Hole Courier
> > Newspaper Location: Jackson, Wyoming
> > Section: The Rustler
> > Article: Have You Got the Foo Craze?
> > Author: S.H.
> > Quote Page 5, Column 4
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122788433/foo-craze/
> >
> > [Begin excerpt - check for errors]
> > HAVE YOU GOT THE FOO CRAZE?
> >
> > The Foo craze hasn't seemed to hit this community as hard as others
> > I've seen. Never have I forgotten and never will I forget one town in
> > particular. It was about one thousand population and not one person
> > had escaped the Foo mania. All letters were addressed to people with
> > at least five Foo's in between the words. There were Foo clubs and Foo
> > stores, in fact somebody suggested naming the town Foo.
> >
> > Now, what is Foo? Foo, to the best of my knowledge, was originated by
> > Bill Holman, an artist that draws a comic strip entitled "Smokey
> > Stover." It was hard to get the word started on its way to popularity,
> > but once it caught it spread like wild fire. In fact it became so
> > popular that Mr. Holman had to give it some brothers and sisters.
> > Hence came Goo and Sloosh and many other just as crazy phrases.
> >
> > Foo has no particular meaning but is used by Mr. Holman as a
> > substitute for many a crazy wise-crack. For example, he will take a
> > well known saying such as "Give me liberty or give me death," and
> > change it to "Give me Foo or give me Goo." "What the best dressed Foo
> > will wear," is another example.
> >
> > Now, you ought to have a fairly clear idea as to how Foo started, what
> > it is and how it has progressed. At this point we'll go back to the
> > first and main question, "Have you got the Foo craze? If you haven't,
> > don't get it. If you have--well, nobody is perfect.
> > S.H.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 7:38 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Great find. As we all know, Smokey's office wall sported a sign that
> > said,
> > > "Where There's Foo There's Fire."  If "foo fighter" also appeared in the
> > > strip in '38-'39 (which is plausible), I'm surprised it hasn't turned up
> > > via database yet. FWIW (zilch), I don't recall "foo fighter" in the strip
> > > from ca1958-ca1962, when I was reading it faithfully - and when I first
> > > learned of WW2 foo fighters.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 8:56 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> > adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Early instances of “foo fighters” might be from the comic strip Smokey
> > > > Stover which is mentioned in the article linked by LH.
> > > >
> > > > Date: March 11, 1939
> > > > Publication: The Limelight
> > > > Location: Palm Springs, California
> > > > Article: The Week At The Racquet Club (Exclusive to the Limelight by
> > > > BOGEARS)
> > > > Quote Page 7, Column 2
> > > > https://www.newspapers.com/image/749126778/
> > > >
> > > > [Begin excerpt = double check for typos]
> > > > Highlight of the evening — Priscilla and John dressed up like Smoky
> > > > Stover & Chief Cashew Nut — the Foo Fighters — in two of the cleverest
> > > > getups yet seen in Palm Springs. It takes nerve or sumthing to walk
> > > > into the Racquet Club at one A.M. with red underwear and a fireman's
> > > > hat. on And Priscilla's must have been stolen from the fire department
> > > > 'cause it was real.
> > > > [End excerpt]
> > > >
> > > > Here is a claim from Toonpedia about "foo fighter".
> > > > https://www.toonopedia.com/smokey.htm
> > > > Topic: SMOKEY STOVER
> > > >
> > > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > > . . . Smokey drove around in a two-wheeled firetruck known (to
> > > > readers, at least) as The Foomobile . . .
> > > > The expression "foo fighter", a term used by UFO enthusiasts, is
> > > > traced to Smokey Stover, who often called himself a foo fighter when
> > > > anyone else would have said "firefighter".
> > > > [End excerpt]
> > > >
> > > > Garson
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 8:25 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I first heard about WW2 foo fighters in 1960 or so
> > > > >
> > > > > They were "explained" as cockpit reflections, the moon, Venus, and
> > St.
> > > > > Elmo's fire.
> > > > >
> > > > > So obvious....
> > > > >
> > > > > JL
> > > > >
> > > > > On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 8:11 PM Laurence Horn <
> > laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Apparently a WWII (or, the above suggests, a slightly pre-WWII)
> > > > designation
> > > > > > for what we now call UFOs.  Who knew?  (Well, probably some of you,
> > > > but not
> > > > > > me.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > >
> > https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/lets-talk-about-foo-fighters-no-not-dave-grohls-band/
> > > > > >
> > > > > > (There's also a wikipedia page, but nothing that would predict
> > > > occurrences
> > > > > > as early as 1939, much less in Texas and Indiana. But typos seems
> > > > unlikely.
> > > > > > Maybe time-travelers--there are a lot of time-travel scenarios set
> > > > during
> > > > > > that period.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > LH
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 4:33 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > OED: 1945
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > 1939  _Tyler [Tex.] Morning Telegraph_ (July 15) 6: Standings in
> > the
> > > > > > Peewee
> > > > > > > baseball league...Dead End Kids...Junior
> > > > > > > Trojans...Wildcats...Dooflunkies...Foo Fighters.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > 1939 _Franklin [Ind.] Evening Star_ (Sept. 22) 4: Volley
> > > > ball..."Black
> > > > > > > Panthers," "Golden Panthers," "Foo Fighters," and "Sterling
> > Flashes."
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Weird typos?  Or just weird?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > JL
> > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle
> > the
> > > > > > truth."
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > > > 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."
> > > > >
> > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > 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."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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