[Ads-l] That's all he wrote" (ca. 1925)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

Some time ago I went looking for early forms of the idiom "That's all
she wrote." I ended up in Texas in the '30s and '40s. The so-far
earliest printed example comes from Brownsville, which hugs the
Mexican border. (See far below.)

Weirdly, though, I've found examples from the mid-'20s of the variant
expression "That's all he wrote" in Brownsville newspapers.

These two instances (see below) are associated with a
popular-with-Texans dance hall in Matamoros (Mexico), just a few miles
from Brownsville. The significance of these uses, however, is opaque
to me, but that "That's all he wrote" was used as an advertising
slogan certainly must have popularized the overall form.

"That's all he wrote," used idiomatically, can be found in a few
newspaper pieces in the '40s and '50s (examples below), but it's
unclear to me whether these were just plays on the more popular
feminine version. Note, of course, that Ernest Tubb, the Texas
Troubador, was singing "That's All She Wrote" live on the radio as
early as September, 1941.

It may be that the expression "That's all she wrote" preceded the
masculine form, but that we haven't yet found examples of it from the
1920s. But perhaps the feminine form was a response to something
associated with "That's all he wrote"?

Obviously, no clue about how either form arose and what that slogan
has to do with that Matamoros dance hall. But clearly "That's all he
wrote" had some sort of meaning to Brownsville residents in the '20s.

-- Bonnie

--------------------------------------------

"That's All He Wrote," an expression known throughout the Valley in
connection with a dance hall at one time operated in Matamoros, may
become a passing expression at Boca Chica.

At least the promoters of a pleasure resort at Boca Chica, [...] are
using this slogan.

The slogan appeared on large cloth signs on the back of service cars
in Brownsville. It was "That's All He Wrote. Boca Chica."

The same orchestra which played for the dance hall in Matamoros will
play at the new dancing pavilion at Boca Chica.

["'That's All He Wrote'; Goes From Matamoros to Boca Chica Beach," The
Evening Herald (Brownsville), 18 April 1925, p. 1;
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brownsville-herald-thats-all-he-wr/154249334/.
Boca Chica is a beach due south of South Padre Island and due east of
Brownsville.]

-----------------------

An advertisement for The Oasis, the "[l]argest dance hall in North
Mexico," indicates that it was managed by L. Santoro, who -- the ad
notes -- originated "THAT'S ALL HE WROTE." This appeared in The
(Brownsville) Herald on 24 January 1926, p. 12,
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brownsville-herald-thats-all-he-wr/154249382/

-----------------------

Examples of "That's all he wrote" as an idiom:

(1948) https://www.newspapers.com/image/292539744/?match=1&terms=%22that%27s%20all%20he%20wrote%22&clipping_id=154249603

(1951)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/961837488/?match=1&terms=%22that%27s%20all%20he%20wrote%22&clipping_id=154249675

-----------------------

On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 5:22 PM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
<b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "That's all she wrote" (1935-1941)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In 2011 Michael Quinion posted about the idiom over at World Wide
> Words (link below).  There he mentioned some help he had gotten from
> Michael Templeton and, separately, from Garson O'Toole, both of whom
> located 1942 sightings of the expression.  You can read Michael's
> column here,
>
> http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tha1.htm
>
> There was also an ADS-L conversation about this from the same time,
> the thrust of which Michael put into his column.
>
> Far below are some slightly earlier instances of "that's all she
> wrote," one left overly long for the sake of context.  Astute readers,
> Texans, and fans of Ernest Tubb will recognize that these all come
> from Texas newspapers.
>
> None of this pre-1942 data helps much in sorting out an origin for the
> expression.  I found a few humorous anecdotes and poems that had
> appeared before the 1930s that made use of "all she wrote," but to my
> mind there isn't anything in those pieces suggestive of inspiring an
> idiomatic usage.  I tried to convince my husband that the original
> form was "the whole nine yards, that's all she wrote," but he wouldn't
> bite.
>
> I found it a little tough to search for this one and I'm not as
> patient as some of you, so good luck in looking for still earlier
> appearances.  While undiscovered uses may well be out there, it's
> possible "that's all she wrote" was something folksy and country that
> rarely made it into newspapers before, say, the mid-1930s.
>
> -- Bonnie
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> MATTER OF ADJUSTMENT OF valuations for years past is also under
> discussion in many counties.
>
> In these counties it is proposed that the commissioners' court by
> order cut down the valuations on which taxes now deliquent are based.
>
> The office of the attorney general of Texas has ruled on the matter,
> and its ruling is that once the tax rolls are made up and approved by
> the commissioners' court sitting as a board of equalization, the
> matter is ended.
>
> No power except that of the legislature can change the rolls.
>
> The assessor-collectors do not have the power, the commissioners'
> courts do not have the power.
>
> That's all she wrote and it's final, the attorney general says in
> language much more eloquent and technical.
>
> [From Ralph L. Buell's "In Our Valley" column, The Brownsville (Texas)
> Herald, 16 June 1935, p. 1.]
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> "That's all she wrote -- "
>
> District 7-B swings into its final week of play this week with the
> declarations of sportswriters, coaches and others made before the
> season opened having withstood the ravages of nine weeks of play.
>
> [From "That's All She Wrote," Monahans (Texas) News, 26 November 1937, p. 2.]
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> The Bears led throughout the game, running up nine runs in the first
> three innings.  The Bulldogs threatened in the sixth with a six-run
> rally, but that was all she wrote.  The Bruins topped things off with
> another run in the sixth.
>
> [From "Bears Win Second Straight Game From Bulldogs; Teams Play Again
> Friday at M'Allen; Both Clubs Go On Big Batting Spree," Brownsville
> (Texas) Herald, 3 May 1940, 3 May 1940, p. 5.]
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> In the early day drilling of the upper or northern Pecos County tests
> cable tools were used exclusively, and when the tools ran into the
> inevitable ocean of sulfur water at around 2,300 feet -- well, that
> "was about all she wrote" -- the cable tool outfits just were not
> hooked up to handle the big water and shallow gas.
>
> [From Curtis Rogers's "From Where We Sit ... ", The Odessa (Texas)
> American, 24 April 1941, p. 2.]
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> On the 68th Harrison pulled even with Picard again with an approach
> that left him an easy birdie putt while Picard and Demaret snagged
> pars.
>
> But that was "all she wrote."
>
> Harrison's rally fell apart on the next hole when his tee shot was
> short and in a grass trap on the par three 69th.
>
> [From "Henry Picard Wins Valley Open with Courageous Comeback," Valley
> Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas), 23 December 1941, p. 7.]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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