[Ads-l] Antedating of "whirlybird"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent citation, Steven. Here is a slightly earlier match in a
comic strip which depicts a helicopter. Two military men converse, and
one mentions that the helicopter requires refueling.

Date: March 4, 1945
Newspaper: The Journal-Gazette
Newspaper Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Section: Sunday Comics
Comic Strip: Captain Yank by Frank Tinsley
Panel 5
Unnumbered Page (Page 55 of 60)
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
RIGHT GENERAL ... AND I'M ANXIOUS TO HIT THAT FIELD - OUR LITTLE
WHIRLY-BIRD'S GETTING THIRSTY!
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Mar 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> WHIRLYBIRD (helicopter) (OED3, n., 1951)
>
> [begin quote]
> At 12:30 p.m. today, a 'copter was scheduled to pick up mail from the roof
> of the Sears' Pico store for delivery to Lockheed Air terminal. On
> succeeding days, the whirly-birds will pick up mail loads from the May Co.
> Wilshire, Bullocks, Broadway and Golden Gate Insurance Co. stores.
> [end quote]
>
> Source: "Aerial Postmen Feted In Week-Long Rites", Valley Times (North
> Hollywood, CA), 28 October 1946, p.3, col.5 (newspapers.com)
> Link: https://www.newspapers.com/image/579950819/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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