[Ads-l] "Schmuck" as surname

[Jonathan Lighter]

Researching something entirely different, I was startled to see a column in
the _Los Gatos [Calif.] Times-Saratoga Observer_ (Oct. 13, 1959), p. 8
bylined "John Schmuck."

The newspaper databases, however, reveal countless "Schmucks."  The
earliest noted in the U.S. appears to be "N. Schmuck" in the _Lanacaster
[Pa.] Courier_ (March 30, 1799), p. 3.

The most recent is "Isabelle Schmuck" (Somerset, Pa., _Daily American_,
Feb. 17, 2026, p. 6A).

JL

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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