[Ads-l] Antedating of "Tap Dancing," Antedating of "Tap Dancer"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Early citations for "tap dance," "tap dancing," and "tap dancer" often are unclear as to whether the dances were similar to what we think of as "tap," and whether the dancers were African American.  However, the following antedatings of OED are clearly about what we think of as tap dancing and about African American dancers:

tap dancing (OED 1928)  1923 New York Age 2 June 6/1 (Newspapers.com)  When it comes to neat, clever, snappy tap-dancing, this Bill Robinson, a colored fellow, is certainly the king of them all.

tap dancer (OED 1927)  1924 Chicago Defender 8 Nov. I-8 (Newspapers.com)  Dancing for over 20 minutes ... was the record hung up by Davis and Tressie, the Colored pair of steppers ... this male member of the team is the best of all tap dancers.

Fred Shapiro

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