[Ads-l] Origins of "Bojangles"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Kudos to Fred for bringing this to our attention.

FWIW:

1907 _The Freeman_ (Indianapolis) (Jan. 26) 5: Bo Jangles Robinson is a
constant visitor.

1910 _Fitchburg [Mass.] Sentinel_ (Sept. 9) 6 [Vaudeville ad]: "Bo Jangles"
Singing, talking, and dancing comedian.

1910 _Valparaiso [Neb.] Visitor_ (Nov. 10) 1:  Mr. J. W. Beecher, the "Bo
Jangles" versatile comedian, is especially entertaining to children.
His...dancing...brings down the house.

1911_Montana Record-Herald_ (Helena, Mon.) (Sept. 9) 3 : Mr. George Vogt,
better known as "Beau Jangles," [is] one of the most famous riders of the
day.

1912 _Cinicinnati Enquirer_ (May 10) 9: Leroy Alexander, better known as
Beau Jangles, a colored exercise boy and groom.  [The Lexington [Ky.]
Herald, same day, gives his name as  "Leroy Anderson."]

1914 _New York Age_ (Jun. 11) 6: "Bo Jangles," sometimes known as William
Robinson.

Three early exx. are from the racing fraternity.   Wikipedia: "In 1890, at
the age of 12, Robinson ran away to Washington, D.C.,  where he did odd
jobs at Benning Race Track and worked briefly as a jockey."

On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM Rich Lowenthal <
000018596069864c-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> FWIW, here's the explanation of the "Bojangles" name from James
> Haskins's "Mr. Bojangles: the biography of Bill Robinson." (The Lemmeul
> cited was a friend of Robinson's.) Of course, other explanations have
> been offered for the name as well.
>
> 'But it was one "mis-cheeviously misappropriated" item, a beaver hat,
> that led to Bill Robinson being given the nickname "Bojangles." A man
> named Lion J. Boujasson owned a hatmaking and hat-repair shop in the 800
> block of Broad Street. The neighborhood youngsters, confronted with such
> an unfamiliar name, called the man "Bojangles." Lemmeul recalled, "One
> day a beaver disappeared. A beaver was a tall hat, you see. Now that
> beaver disappeared and we, between the two of us, we couldn't sell it.
> So, I saddled the thing on Bill Robinson." The episode became a joke on
> the street. "Who took Bojangles's hat." someone asked. "Why, Bojangles
> took it," another would reply, parodying the hatmaker's name and
> pointing at Bill. The name stuck.
>
> 'Others tried to claim credit for having given Robinson his famous
> nickname, but Bill himself stated he had gotten it back in Richmond.
> There is a ring of authenticity to this story of children mispronouncing
> an unfamiliar name and jokingly parodying that name.'
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "Shapiro, Fred" <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 8/22/2025 16:50:07
> Subject Origins of "Bojangles"
>
> >Instead of my usual historical lexicography, here's some historical
> onomastics.  The name "Bojangles" is well-known as the nickname of the most
> prominent African American entertainer of the first half of the 20th
> century (Bill Robinson), and as the title of Jerry Jeff Walker's 1968 song
> "Mr. Bojangles."  I have often wondered about the etymology of this name,
> and decided to look into it.
> >
> >There has been mention on this list of the so-called "Shapiro's Law": A
> surprising number of words and phrases are found earliest in the names of
> racehorses.  The earliest trace of "Bojangles" I have found is as the name
> of a horse in racing reports in Montreal and Buffalo newspapers on
> Newspapers.com.  For example, the horse Bojangles in discussed in the
> Montreal Daily Star, July 14, 1900, p. 16.  The Star spells the name
> several times as "Bojangles" but in one instance spells it "Bowjangles."
> Unfortunately there is no explanation of the etymology.
> >
> >Fred Shapiro (who, with his wife, owns a horse named Tiger — his full
> name is Tigerote Juno, given by a previous owner who clearly took the "ote"
> part from Don Quixote, we don't know why "Tiger" is in the name, he doesn't
> have stripes)
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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