[Ads-l] on the fritz, antedated, 1899

[Stephen Goranson]

I neglected to identify the author of the 1899 text:
[start] To be perfectly candid—the Catholic Choir is on the 'fritz.' [end].

He is Sing Sing 315.
Well, you might say, so what does that tell us about him?
(He was certainly male, as all inmates there; women convicts were sent to Auburn state prison.)
He wrote a lot in The Star of Hope. His boldly opinionated and reportedly-uncensored writing was even reviewed in Ainslee's Magazine,  "The Newspaper at Sing Sing," by Hutchins Hapgood, v.2 n.2 pp. 543-50, especially 546-8, May 5, 1900 [1].

From this, and from other slightly later uses of "on the fritz," I tentatively suggest that:
The phrase originated in New York City.
The phrase does not refer to the German name Fritz.
The phrase does not necessarily directly refer to machinery.
The phrase does refer to malfunction, failing, freezing.​

Stephen Goranson

[1]
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%22sing+sing+315%22&num=10
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, June 2, 2024 9:43 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: on the fritz, antedated, 1899

[start] To be perfectly candid—the Catholic Choir is on the 'fritz.' [end]

The Star of Hope, Sat. September 23, 1899, 16/1.
The same NY periodical has later uses.
American Prison Newspapers and JSTOR

Compare "'On the fritz' at Sing Sing"
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=37303__;!!OToaGQ!q2-EGGW3m44j5mcyBGKqTc1baqQ3QObqxa9CGMg2IjPOm4_OcHNT5CszGKZZOZ6vwJ6DGjdweVTwd-UwCJA$

Stephen Goranson

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.jstor.org/action/doAdvancedSearch?q0=*22Catholic*Choir*is*on*the**A27fritz*27*22&f0=all&c1=AND&f1=all&acc=on&so=rel__;JSsrKysrJSUl!!OToaGQ!q2-EGGW3m44j5mcyBGKqTc1baqQ3QObqxa9CGMg2IjPOm4_OcHNT5CszGKZZOZ6vwJ6DGjdweVTwsQnJ1QY$

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