| Author |
Message |
Joanne Marinelli
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:42 am
Post subject: generation gap |
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I am reading a short story by James Thurber, which I believe was copyrighted
in 1935, entitled "A Couple of Hamburgers". It is a battle of the sexes
piece, in which the husband calls diners *dog-wagon(s)* and the wife
objects, saying decent people call them diners.
Now I know what a diner is, but I would more readily associate dog-wagon
with a hot dog street vendor, which I assume did not exist at the time
Thurber published this. Google gives me 120, 000 hits, but I honestly cannot
recall this usage as current in Philadelphia, and I remain slightly confused
if this is an established colloquialism for what otherwise might be a
restaurant.
Joanne
gone to the dogs
--
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DisabilityinArts/ |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:50 am
Post subject: Re: generation gap |
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Joanne Marinelli wrote:
| Quote: | I am reading a short story by James Thurber, which I believe was
copyrighted in 1935, entitled "A Couple of Hamburgers". It is a
battle of the sexes piece, in which the husband calls diners
*dog-wagon(s)* and the wife objects, saying decent people call them
diners.
Now I know what a diner is, but I would more readily associate
dog-wagon with a hot dog street vendor, which I assume did not exist
at the time Thurber published this. Google gives me 120, 000 hits,
but I honestly cannot recall this usage as current in Philadelphia,
and I remain slightly confused if this is an established
colloquialism for what otherwise might be a restaurant.
|
Was Thurber referring to the earlier usage of diner - a dining car on
the railway?
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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RickyC
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:58 am
Post subject: Re: generation gap |
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On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:42:59 GMT, "Joanne Marinelli"
<Jozanny@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: | I am reading a short story by James Thurber, which I believe was copyrighted
in 1935, entitled "A Couple of Hamburgers". It is a battle of the sexes
piece, in which the husband calls diners *dog-wagon(s)* and the wife
objects, saying decent people call them diners.
Now I know what a diner is, but I would more readily associate dog-wagon
with a hot dog street vendor, which I assume did not exist at the time
Thurber published this. Google gives me 120, 000 hits, but I honestly cannot
recall this usage as current in Philadelphia, and I remain slightly confused
if this is an established colloquialism for what otherwise might be a
restaurant.
Joanne
gone to the dogs
|
Dog wagon = slang for a cheap restaurant. It could well have come from
"hot dog wagon" since hot dogs were served in New York from at least
as far back as the mid 19th century.
RickyC |
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Michael Mendelsohn
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:18 am
Post subject: Re: generation gap |
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Joanne Marinelli schrieb:
| Quote: | I am reading a short story by James Thurber, which I believe was copyrighted
in 1935, entitled "A Couple of Hamburgers". It is a battle of the sexes
piece, in which the husband calls diners *dog-wagon(s)* and the wife
objects, saying decent people call them diners.
Now I know what a diner is, but I would more readily associate dog-wagon
with a hot dog street vendor, which I assume did not exist at the time
Thurber published this.
|
http://www.pinkshollywood.com/pgz/history.htm
Hollywood hot dog stand dating back to 1939
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/3/6/154658/7660
---------------------------------------
Thus equipped, in 1867 Feltman started offering "red hot dachshunds"
to the passersby and patrons of the Coney Island saloons, bath-houses
and hotels, serving the sausages in a split milk-roll for easier
handling. It is not certain whether or not Feltman actually pioneered
this technique or imitated what he had seen in the Bowery, but either
way it became widely popular with the resort crowd.
In 1871 Feltman ditched his pie-wagon, leased a narrow plot of land
on Coney Island and erected a tin shed as his first fixed stand,
reportedly selling 3,684 dachshunds in a single season.
-------------------------------
ditto:
----------------------------
The leap seems to have been made by undergrads at Yale sometime
around the autumn of 1895. On 5 October of that year a satirical student
rag printed the following piece of doggerel:
"'Tis dogs' delight to bark and bite,"
Thus does the adage run.
But I delight to bite the dog
When placed inside a bun.
- Echoes from the Lunch Wagon, Yale Record
This was followed on 19 October by an anonymous short story
detailing the imaginative tale of a popular sausage-selling "dog wagon"
known as The Kennel Club, the owner of which ends up selling his wares
to churchgoers after a series of misadventures. The story concludes,
"They contentedly munched hot dogs during the whole service."
------------------------------
Cheers
Michael
--
It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend
in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country
and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas.
-- Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965 |
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Joanne Marinelli
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:14 am
Post subject: Re: generation gap |
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"John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:d1nmed$4io$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
| Quote: | Joanne Marinelli wrote:
I am reading a short story by James Thurber, which I believe was
copyrighted in 1935, entitled "A Couple of Hamburgers". It is a
battle of the sexes piece, in which the husband calls diners
*dog-wagon(s)* and the wife objects, saying decent people call them
diners.
Now I know what a diner is, but I would more readily associate
dog-wagon with a hot dog street vendor, which I assume did not exist
at the time Thurber published this. Google gives me 120, 000 hits,
but I honestly cannot recall this usage as current in Philadelphia,
and I remain slightly confused if this is an established
colloquialism for what otherwise might be a restaurant.
Was Thurber referring to the earlier usage of diner - a dining car on
the railway?
--
John Dean
Oxford
Interesting suggestion, but from the evidence Ricky and Michael presented, |
it seems possible that dog-wagon encompasses both diners and pushcarts. I
haven't finished the story yet, but the editor's analysis indicates Thurber
deliberately makes the husband a local yokel, while the wife has better
social graces, at least in their era.
It does seem to be a common usage for diner, but to my knowledge not in my
city.
Joanne |
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