[Ads-l] Antedating of "Snow" (= Cocaine)

[Shapiro, Fred]

snow (OED, 5.d., 1914; Green 1911)

1908 Syracuse Herald 3 May 7/2 (Newspapers.com)

Cocaine, the coarse white powder which has been the curse of the colored population of this country ... is said to be on sale illegally in several places in this city. ... In at least one saloon, near the West Shore station, there is on sale at the bar, a mixture containing a quantity of cocaine, which is called "snow."

Fred Shapiro

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