[Ads-l] "Dime Bag" Query

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The OED has a March 7, 1965 citation for dime bag (drug)
The OED has a 1963 citation for nickel bag (drug)

OED dime bag noun
[Begin OED excerpt]
Originally and chiefly North American.
a. A bag containing ten cents' worth of something; b. slang a packet
or measure of a small amount (originally ten dollars' worth) of an
illicit drug; cf. nickel bag n.
1915 There will be included absolutely free a dime bag of
fresh-roasted peanuts! Butte (Montana) Miner 6 April 5/1
(advertisement)
1946 The green and yellow paper grass again is being sold by the dime bag.
Syracuse (New York) Herald Amer. 24 March 36/4
1965 Inside a leg at the other end of the bed was Wally's stash: four
nickel bags and two dime bags—$40 worth of heroin altogether.
Chicago Tribune 7 March (Magazine) 29/1
[End OED excerpt]

OED nickel bag noun
[Begin OED excerpt]
U.S. slang.
A bag containing, or a measure of, five dollars' worth of a drug.
1963 Nickel bag [see nickel n. A.2c].
[End OED excerpt]

OED nickel noun
[Begin OED excerpt]
2.c. U.S. slang. Five dollars' worth of a drug (originally marijuana).
Recorded earliest in nickel bag n.
1963 These criminal activities are directed toward the acquisition of
larger sums of money when related to drug use. Even a ‘nickel bag’ of
marihuana costs $5.
American Sociological Review vol. 28 426/2
[End OED excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:17 AM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I am having trouble getting into some OED entries.  Can anyone check for me what is the earliest citation on oed.com for "dime bag" meaning a $10 packet of a drug ?
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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