[Ads-l] Antedating of "White Shoe"

Shapiro, Fred fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Sat Feb 15 23:17:23 UTC 2025


white shoe (OED 1947)

1941 Daily Princetonian 25 Nov. 1 / 2

Show me a white shoe (five-button-coat, station-wagon, crew-cut, beer-jacket, etc., etc.) and I'll show you a Princeton man.

NOTE:  This is an antedating of the OED's entry for "white shoe" referring to an upper-class male.  There is a 1934 citation in the Columbia Spectator, 25 Apr. 2/2 ["The following is the procedure to be followed in stomping out the white shoe aristocracy"], but that may be a humorous fashion statement rather than a sociological reference.

Fred Shapiro

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