[Ads-l] More Re Antedating of "Whodunit"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
>
> Congratulations to Garson and Bonnie.  It had never occurred to me to search
> for spelling variations of "whodunit."  Inspired by them, I tried searching for
> "hoodunit."  I came up with a 1917 comic strip including the following text:
>
> 1917 Fort Wayne News 24 Jan. 12 ("Jerry on the Job" comic strip)
> (Newspapers.com)  I'll tell you who I am - I'm "Hoodunit" -  the
> Handcuff King.  I escape from strait jackets and milk cans and I
> can get out of trunks and hand-cuffs.
>
> The comic strip character's words identify him as a Houdini, but he
>  is wearing what may be a deerstalker hat.  Is he a blend of Houdini
> and Sherlock Holmes ?  Is the word "Hoodunit" a blend of "Houdini"
> and "whodunit"?  A Sherlock Holmes element would line up with
> the semantics of "whodunit."  If this is not a match for "whodunit,"
> I don't know what else it could mean.

Great work, Fred. The spelling "Hoodunit" is intriguing.
Below are some additional citations for variants: "hoo-did-it",
"Who-did-it?", "Who-Done-It?", "Hoodunit"

The OED definition refers to the variant phrase "who did it".

[Begin OED excerpt]
whodunit noun colloquial.
A story or other work of fiction about the solving of a mystery, esp.
a murder; a detective or murder story. Occasionally used for 'who did
it' in other contexts.
[End excerpt]

In 1897 "hoo-did-it" appeared, but there was no apparent connection to
murder mysteries. It was generated by playful riffing on "hoo-doo", it
seems.

Date: December 3, 1897
Newspaper: The Oskaloosa Times
Newspaper Location: Oskaloosa, Kansas
Article: SPURLOCK PICKUPS
Quote Page 8, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oskaloosa-times-hoo-did-it/203339001/
[Begin excerpt]
SPURLOCK PICKUPS.
Boys, get your bells for the "Hoo doo, hoo-done, hoo-did-it."
[End excerpt]

In 1915 the English writer George R. Sims used the phrase: 'baffling
"Who did it?" story'. Thus, it appears that '"Who did it?" story'
occurred before '"Who done it" story'.

Date: November 1915
Periodical: The Strand Magazine
Story: Originality in Murder
Author: George R. Sims
Start Page 540, Quote Page 545
Publisher: George Newnes Ltd, London
Database: Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineVolume50/page/n567/mode/2up?q=%22who+did%22

[Begin excerpt]
No writer of sensational romance ever devised a more baffling "Who did
it?" story. My friend, Sir Melville Macnaghten, who was the head of
the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard at the time of
the tragedy, says, in referring to it in his deeply interesting "Days
of My Years," that he himself, with his intimate knowledge of all the
details and the surrounding circumstances, has never been able to put
forward a theory which there is a scrap of good evidence to support.
[End excerpt]

In 1921 Alan Dale used hyphenated phrases when he wrote '"Who-Did-It?”
dramas' and '"Who-Done-It?" story'.
Date: July 27, 1921

Newspaper: New York American
Newspaper Location: New York, New York
Article: Types in 'Nobody,' Chief Appeal of Photoplay
Author:  Alan Dale
Quote Page 5, Column 3
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
Not so long ago there was a series of "mystery" plays produced on our
stage which I called the "Who-Did-It?” dramas. You were allowed to
pick your winner—or sinner—until the last act, and then you found that
it wasn't no sich person. At the Strand there is a picture entitled
"Nobody" of just this peculiar quality. In this case I should call at
a "Who-Done-It?" story. It was just illiterary enough for that.
[End excerpt]

In 1922 "Madame Hoodunit" occurred, but the phrase appeared to be more
connected to "hoo doo" than murder mystery tales.

Date: December 3, 1922
Newspaper: The Sunday Star
Newspaper Location:
Article: Regarding Girls and Their Affairs: Y.W.C.A. Preparing For Its
Staff Stunt
Conducted by Helen H. Fetter
Section 2, Quote Page 15, Column 4
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-hoodunit/203340311/

[Begin excerpt]
Miss Mildred King, secretary of the industrial girls' department, will
impersonate Madame Hoodunit, spiritualistic medium, who can tell any
one in the audience where her last year's toothbrush is now ...
[End excerpt]

Garson O'Toole

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