Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 08:02:30 -0400

From: ALICE FABER faber[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]HASKINS.YALE.EDU

Subject: Re: ADS-L Digest - 8 Jul 1995 to 10 Jul 1995



James Stalker:



I wonder if this use of "can" is related to the use of "pail" in "lunch

pail," the term we used as kids in Texas for what others call a "lunch

kit," although somewhere I've heard the term "lunch bucket." Sour bologna

was bad enough in a metal box with a latched lid. Taking lunch in an

actual pail or bucket sounds somehow depressing. You could get a lot of

food in a milk can, however.





Wayne Glowka:



Verrry interesting for a Texan to use a "pail." Aren't Texans supposed to

fall within the old S. Midland group, hence bucket people rather than pail

people? In KY in the 50's lunch bucket was common, but only for grown-ups.

Kids used lunch boxes or bags. I guess some might have used the Shedd's peanut

butter buckets, but I don't remember any at Penile Elementary School.



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Depends *where* in Texas...When I was in graduate school in Texas, the

informal surveys we did suggested that Texas is fairly well split. It's been a

while, but I recall that the real Southern/South Midlands features were only

found in East and North-east Texas (areas bordering on Arkansas, Louisiana).

From San Antonio south through the Rio Grande Valley (and Mexican border), we

got a lot of pure northern forms; the port of Galveston was a big deal in the

19th century, with major connections with eastern and northeastern cities, as

well as Europe.



Myself, I've never heard of a lunch kit or a lunch bucket; lunch pail sounds

regional. We just had lunch boxes in suburban NY. I must have had a deprived

childhood. grin



Alice Faber

faber[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]haskins.yale.edu