[Ads-l] Earliest Use of "Cool" as a General Term of Approval

[Shapiro, Fred]

I have studied Ben Zimmer's postings about the word "cool" as a general term of approval.  He appears to regard a December 1938 citation as probably the earliest known occurrence of this sense, but he points out that the article in question, from the Atlanta Daily World, is not legible in the key passage.  Is the following then the earliest known example ?

1939 California Eagle 20 Apr. 8-A/4 (Newspapers.com)  Wonder does Jean Morris give all the girls the same line of "Jive?" ... of Helen Collins having a new boy friend: they say his names [sic] is "Ice Water," a cool cat, I suppose.

Fred Shapiro

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