[Ads-l] Antedating of "Centerfold"

Wed Jun 26 02:41:27 UTC 2024

Possible 1933,  Google dating caveats apply.

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Modern_Technique_of_Bowls/UESk9gWlphkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=centre-fold&dq=centrefold&printsec=frontcover

The most sought-after positions for advertisements are the
covers (outside and in) and the centre-fold. The value of the
cover page or centre-fold is about 30s.

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

This one is certainly from 1891, but I'm not sure if it counts.  It's 
talking about
a single printed card, in three parts, rather than the centre page of a 
magazine.

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_British_Printer/5PYdAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=centrefold&pg=RA1-PP1&printsec=frontcover

(left column, 20 lines down)

"On the outside a broad band of rich arabesque border in green and gold
extends diagonally from corner to corner appearing twice on the outside
when folded and enclosing the line "Yuletide 1890" in large script type
in gold; inside the centre fold is occupied by the portrait which 
appears
  in our last issue ,"

------ Original Message ------
From "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 25/06/2024 22:25:39
Subject Re: Antedating of "Centerfold"

>The OED definition of centerfold (sense 2) with a 1969 citation refers
>to the model and not the picture.
>
>[Begin OED excerpt]
>centrefold centerfold NOUN
>2. A person, esp. a woman, who appears or has appeared nude or
>scantily clad in a photograph on the middle pages of a magazine.
>
>1969 I was the centerfold—the playmate for December, 1966.
>Los Angeles Times 28 March iv. 25/1
>[End OED excerpt]
>
>The early instances of centerfold refer to the picture and not the
>model. Sometimes there is ambiguity.
>For example, in the following 1960 citation the noun "centerfolds"
>might refer to the models, but I think the most likely referent is the
>pictures (or postcards) themselves and not the models depicted.
>
>Date: December 29, 1960
>Newspaper: The Swanton Courier
>Newspaper Location: Swanton, Vermont
>Article: Who started all this?
>Author: Chandler L. Mason
>Quote Page B-6, Column 6
>Database: Newspapers.com
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>Horsley must have been horrified at the turn taken in the eighties,
>when British cards blossomed out in a rash of colorful nudes; not too
>unlike the "Playboy" centerfolds of today. Kate Greenaway, the famed
>illustrator of children's books designed many cards and is on record
>as having received an average of three pounds per design.
>[End excerpt]
>
>The following 1965 citation for "centerfold" refers to the model and
>not the picture. This was the earliest match I could find with the
>desired sense without ambiguity.
>
>Date: November 15, 1965
>Newspaper: The Tipton Daily Tribune
>Newspaper Location:
>Article: In Hollywood
>Author: Vernon Scott (UPI Hollywood Correspondent)
>Quote Page 2, Column 2
>Database: Newspapers.com
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>While Mamie is changing her professional image, in person she is still
>the centerfold of a girlie magazine.
>[End excerpt]
>
>The 1966 citation mentioned by LH in the previous message, I believe,
>refers to the picture and not the model. So it corresponds to sense 1
>of centerfold and not sense 2 in the OED.
>
>The first issue of Playboy was published in December 1953. Hence,
>earlier instances in which "centerfold" corresponds to a model might
>exist. Maybe a list participant can find one.
>
>Garson
>
>On Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 2:25 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  I suspect the more specialized sense--
>>  OED s.v. centerfold, 2:
>>  A person, esp. a woman, who appears or has appeared nude or scantily clad
>>  in a photograph on the middle pages of a magazine.
>>  --can be antedated back from the 1969 first cite, given that both the
>>  layout and the "persons, esp. women" featured therein in (at least) Playboy
>>  predate 1969, as some list members will recall.  (The OED includes a 1966
>>  entry for "center fold", with space, from a piece in McCall's Magazine.)
>>
>>  LH
>>
>>  On Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 10:55 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
>>  wrote:
>>
>>  > centerfold (OED 1941)
>>  >
>>  > 1938 _New York Daily News_ 23 Aug. 1 (Newspapers.com)
>>  >
>>  > Other pictures of subway crash on centerfold and back page.
>>  >
>>  > Fred Shapiro
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>  >
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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