[Ads-l] Antedating of "Cakewalk" (African American Custom)

[Shapiro, Fred]

cakewalk (OED, African American custom, 1870)

1869 Statesman (Yonkers, N.Y.) 4 Nov. 1 / 2 (Newspapers.com)  The colored people of this village will undertake the responsibilities of a "grand cake walk" at Law's Hall on Wednesday evenung, November 24, to aid the erection of their contemplated church.

NOTE: The OED has an 1863 citation, but this appears to be describing a custom of white people and also to be questionably dated.  Newspapers.com searches show that the Edgefield (South Carolina) Advertiser repeatedly referred to "walking for the cake" and "cake walk" in non-African-American contexts starting in 1844.  The 1869 citation above is the earliest clearcut reference to the African American custom.

Fred Shapiro

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