Date:    Mon, 22 Jun 1998 23:31:57 EDT
<br>From:    "Barry A. Popik" <Bapopik[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
<br>Subject: Twenty-Three Skidoo
<br>
<br>    "Twenty-three skidoo"--an American slang classic--will surely be in the
<br>RHHDAS P-Z, maybe in several entries ("twenty-three," "skidoo/skiddoo,"
<br>"twenty-three skidoo/skiddoo").  I had previously worked on "23"; here's new
<br>stuff on "skidoo."
<br>     "_Twenty-three_ in _twenty-three skiddoo_" was in COMMENTS ON ETYMOLOGY,
<br>March-April 1995, pages 28-34.  I had found "George Ade Explains 'Twenty-
<br>Three,' A New Slang Phrase" in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday magazine, 3
<br>December 1899.  I have also found many other explanations (not published in
<br>COE) that give credence to the Dickens' TALE OF TWO CITIES play theory, with
<br>Dickens' hero the 23rd person to meet his death.
<br>     Peter Tamony's files were consulted, and the 1906 song "Skiddoo!
<br>Skiddoo!  Twenty-Three for You!" by Leslie Holdsworth was reprinted in COE.
<br>     In the Library of Congress, I had found MANY other songs:
<br>
<br>SKIDOO! 23 FOR YOU (1906) by William J. Weidman (words) and Edward Favenza
<br>(music).
<br>SKIDDOO, "23" (1907) by Joseph A. Basso.
<br>23 SKIDOO (1958) by Charles Robert Jones.
<br>SKIDDOO FOR YOU (1906) by Harriet Jandt Flinn (words) and Edna Jandt Baker
<br>(music).
<br>SKIDOO STREET (1906) by Anson F. Robinson.
<br>"SKIDOO" TWO STEP (1906) by Gertrude E. Buck.
<br>SKIDDOO (1906) by Claribelle Gardner.
<br>23 (THAT MEANS PULL FREIGHT) (1906) by George A. Norton.
<br>
<br>     I had thought that that was it.
<br>     Today, I was going through American popular songs and found two more:
<br>
<br>"23" SKIDDOO (1906) by Joseph S. Miller (words) and Oscar Boecher (music).
<br>SKIDOO! FOR YOU (1906) by Jimmie Barry.
<br>
<br>    The latter song is very important.  The cover says "FEATURED WITH GREAT
<br>SUCCESS BY MR. and MRS. JIMMIE BARRY."  Four comic "skidoo!" illustrations are
<br>shown.  Eleven extra "skidoo!" verses are given.  Barry's SKIDOO! FOR YOU song
<br>begins:
<br>
<br>I suppose you've heard of the latest word
<br>In the english language
<br>It was coined by a fellow named Billy B. Van
<br>To use upon the stage
<br>It made a hit and has gone the rounds
<br>You hear it ev'ry day
<br>And when you're least expecting it
<br>You'll hear somebody say.
<br>
<br>"SKID-OO"  "SKID-OO"
<br>You hear it ev'rywhere
<br>"SKID-OO"  "SKID-OO"
<br>It seems to be in the air.
<br>
<br>So I had an idea that it would not be wrong
<br>With "SKID-OO" for a subject I'd write a song
<br>If you'll listen a minute, it won't take long
<br>And then I'll "SKID-OO" "SKID-OO."
<br>
<br>A young girl thought that she would like
<br>To go upon the stage
<br>She said she knew if she got the chance
<br>That she become the rage
<br>At last an opportunity came
<br>And she went on one night
<br>But when she started in to sing
<br>It sounded like a fight.
<br>
<br>"SKID-OO"  "SKID-OO"
<br>Some one yelled out loud
<br>"SKID-OO"  "SKID-OO"
<br>It was somebody in the crowd.
<br>
<br>And then with noise the theater shook
<br>She tried to give them a pleasant look
<br>But the gallery boys yelled "Get the Hook" (RHHDAS has 1907--ed.)
<br>And "SKID-OO" for you "SKID-OO"
<br>    (Extra 11 verses not included--ed.)
<br>
<br>    I haven't had a chance to check the New York Times Personal Name Index and
<br>Variety Obituaries and Worldcat (author search) and various Lincoln Center
<br>library card files (not on computer) for "Billy B. Van."
<br>