[Ads-l] "bait and switch" antedatings

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent article, Ben. Here is a 1910 citation that helps to
illustrate the evolution of the phrase. An advertisement in a
Pittsburgh newspaper  assures customers that that a store uses: No
"baiting," no "switching," no "tricking"

Date: September 6, 1910
Newspaper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Article: CASH PRICES AND YOUR OWN SWEET TIME TO PAY THE BILL
(Advertisement for Pickering's)
Quote Page 7
https://www.newspapers.com/image/85714036/

[Begin excerpt]
No matter how low the price, IT BUYS QUALITY AT PICKERING'S. EVERY
ARTICLE marked with plain-figure prices. No "baiting," no "switching,"
no "tricking"--EVERYTHING HONEST, ABOVE-BOARD, FAIR.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 11:09 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My Wall Street Journal column this week is on the expression "bait and
> switch." This link should get you past the paywall:
> https://on.wsj.com/3T881nh
>
> OED3 (Sept. 2002 update) has a bracketed cite from 1953 (for "bait 'em and
> switch 'em") and a first cite of 1962. Here are some antedatings.
>
> The concept of "bait advertising," with references to "bait" and "switch"
> elements, appeared in Better Business Bureau notices in the 1920s.
>
> ---
> Detroit Free Press, Mar. 4, 1925, p. 14
> "Bait" advertising, like disease, has its symptoms. [...] Attempts are made
> to "switch" you to something more expensive.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-bait-advertising/142690149/
> ---
> Tulsa Tribune, Mar. 31, 1929, p. 4
> When a merchant advertises an article he does not want or intend to sell,
> he is using "Bait Advertising," because his only purpose in featuring the
> article is to lure you into his store. His method of procedure is to Bait,
> Switch and then Sell you.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tulsa-tribune-bait-advertising/142690719/
> ---
>
> Here's the earliest I've found for "bait and switch" (first used
> attributively):
>
> ---
> Sidney Margolius, _How to Buy More for Your Money_ (1947), p. 41
> According to H. J. Kenner, a veteran fighter for truth in advertising and
> manager of the New York Better Business Bureau, the "bait-and-switch" trick
> is especially practiced by a fringe of unscrupulous home-furnishing
> retailers who advertise items at a low price but, when a customer comes in,
> claim these have been sold, or disparage them in an effort to switch the
> customer to higher-profit merchandise.
> https://archive.org/details/howtobuymorefory0000sidn/page/40/mode/2up?q=%22bait+and+switch%22
> ---
> Pasadena (Cal.) Independent, May 7, 1950, p. 62, col. 2
> Retailers have notified the Better Business Bureau of the alleged
> "bait-and-switch" tactics and are asking newspapers and radio stations to
> reject the advertising.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/pasadena-independent-bait-and-switch-tac/142691891/
> ---
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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