[Ads-l] Media inquiry: "bubbler" (water fountain)

Fri Feb 3 06:23:39 UTC 2023

I've personally heard drinking fountains called 'bubblers' in Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon and Washington. FWIW. The OED entry is 
misleading, I think; "Originally Australian" is at least contestable. 
The 1985 DARE documents use in the North, and North Midland regions, 
"esp[ecially] freq[uent] in WI":

https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer01arie/page/403/mode/1up?q=bubbler

(free account needed to log in and borrow). See page xxxiii (37 as 
paginated for the online display) for a map of the regions.

The earliest use I found may be more descriptive than appellative:

1901  Theta Delta Chi & Zeta Psi Fraternity *The Loss of the College 
Pump* _The Tuftonian_ 27(1) 28  The veteran yields to the new 
generation; the day of the sedate wooden pump succumbs to the modernity 
of a “bubbler” fountain, and they uproot from the very campus a first 
source of association and tradition.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433074836838&view=1up&seq=34&q1=bubbler

That "bubbler", more commonly "sanitary bubbler" was originally a brand 
name for Kohler seems unlikely in light of this Rhode Island connection:

c1909  The H.F. Jenks Co., Pawtucket, R.I. *Drinking fountains: for 
horses: for people.* _Advertising. Eight pages, with three photographs._ 
Our own patented bubbler is used and cannot be made to squirt water.

Notes: Date uncertain. Flyer claims “Hundreds of our fountains have been 
in continuous use for over thirty years and are good for as many more.” 
Amusing photographs.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t6742x651&view=1up&seq=2

As to "how often and why a brand name becomes a slang word" in a 
particular region and what makes it stick, I don't know: historical 
accident? childish whimsy? ease of pronunciation in a given regional 
accent? Ditto for "why do we love our regional dialects and slang".

On 2/2/23 11:03, Joe Salmons wrote:
> The Kohler Company produced a valve with the relevant name. Brief discussion here: https://wep.csumc.wisc.edu/english/ under ‘Words’ and scrolling down to ‘bubbler’ for an old ad.
> 
> The story is that the term is used where the valve was widely sold, including bits of New England, (mostly eastern) Wisconsin and Melbourne, Australia.
> 
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 12:55 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Media inquiry: "bubbler" (water fountain)
> Ditto. During the four years I spent in Madison I confirmed that "bubbler"
> was familiar to my students who were indigenous to the state and not so
> much to outlanders.  But I'm not surprised at Herb's observations re
> Michigan, or if similar ones hold for Minnesota or Iowa.
> 
> LH
> 
> On Thu, Feb 2, 2023 at 1:48 PM Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I know "bubbler" is used in Wisconsin because I went to high school and
>> junior college in Milwaukee, and that's the term we used.  However, I grew
>> up in Waltz, MI, a dinky village about 25 miles south of Detroit, and we
>> used the term there.  My brother-in-law grew up in Clio, about 10 miles
>> north of Flint, MI, and he also used it.
>>
>> On February 2, 2023, at 1:26 PM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>> The River Falls {Wisconsin] Journal, Feb. 24, 1910 5/1
>> The "sanitary bubblers" drinking fountains, ordered by the local school
>> board, have arrived...
>> Library of Congress newspapers
>> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/
>> [
>> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/thumbnail.jpg
>> ]<
>> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/><https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/%3e>
>> River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.)
>> 1872-2019, February 24, 1910, Image 5<
>> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/><https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1910-02-24/ed-1/seq-5/%3e>
>> River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.)
>> 1872-2019, February 24, 1910, Image 5, brought to you by Wisconsin
>> Historical Society, and the National Digital Newspaper Program.
>> chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>> Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at MST.EDU>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2023 1:15 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Subject: Media inquiry: "bubbler" (water fountain)
>>
>> Dear ads-l members,
>>
>> Today I received a media inquiry concerning dialectal English "bubbler"
>> (water fountain).  The reporter aks several questions, and any
>> insight/information/guidance would be very gratefully received.
>>
>> Gerald Cohen
>> P.S. Of course, DARE would be a logical first step, and here is what
>> OED3 has:
>>
>> BUBBLER
>>
>>   4. Originally Australian. A drinking fountain which spouts bubbling
>> water. More fully bubbler fountain.Not used in British English.
>>
>> 1913   World's News (Sydney) 8 June 11/3   One fountain manufacturer has
>> designed a bubbler which may be raised to the lips while the user is in a
>> standing position.
>> 1926   Sanitary & Heating Engin. July 582   Every Test, Century Bubblers
>> are Sanitary and Attractive.
>> 1930   Cumberland Argus & Fruitgrowers' Advocate (Parramatta, New S.
>> Wales) 15 Feb. 3/2   New bubbler. Liverpool Council last week decided to
>> place a bubbler fountain in front of P. Wych's shop at Moorebank.
>> 1983   Canberra Times 4 Mar. 1/4   Children were unable to drink from the
>> school bubbler.
>> 2006   Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 3 Sept. viii. 4/5   There's a faucet
>> on either side... A third side has a drinking fountain—a ‘bubbler’, as we
>> say.
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Landeck, Katie <KLandeck at gannett.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2023 10:20 AM
>> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
>> Subject: Media inquiry: A question about the word "bubbler"
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> My name is Katie, and I am reporter with The Providence Journal in Rhode
>> Island. I was reading your topics of expertise on the American Dialect
>> Society website, and I'm hoping you would be able to help me with an
>> article on one of our favorite local slang words — bubbler.
>>
>> The term is so regional that when I moved in 6th grade from a town on the
>> Rhode Island border one hour away to Western Mass, my classmates stopped
>> knowing what I was talking about so I switched from bubbler to water
>> fountain. My understanding - and correct me if I'm wrong - is that bubbler
>> was a brand name for Kohler and for some reason it stuck in the Rhode
>> Island area and parts of Wisconsin.
>>
>> My article is just trying to answer why this happened. If you know
>> anything about the term bubbler in specific, I would love your insight on
>> it. But also, I'm wondering if you could tell me how often and why a brand
>> name becomes a slang word for a region? What makes it stick? My other
>> question is, why do we love our regional dialects and slang so much?
>>
>> Hope to hear from you,
>> Katie
>>
>> Engagement Reporter
>>
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