Date: Thu, 19 May 1994 10:28:30 CDT

From: Randy Roberts robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]EXT.MISSOURI.EDU

Subject: Re: mooning



I haven't seen any replies to this query. Apologies if others have

answered with earlier cites or if the printed sources are more

helpful.

The earliest use I found is the 27 August 1963 issue of Look, page

18. ". . . a game called mooning. Three or four boys will crouch

down in a car, lower their trousers and, at a signal, push their bare

bottoms out of every available window. This pastime originated about

two years ago in southern California and has crossed the country: it

has now turned up in Florida." See also March 1965 issue of Holiday,

page 44. From the January 1966 issue of Esquire, page 60, comes ". .

. there are even some girls who enjoy throwing a moon now and then,

just for the hell of it or maybe to strike a blow for academic freedom

. . ."

I found all of the info above in our collection of Scott, Foresman

and Company files. The cites were collected by Clarence Barnhart and

Ethel Strainchamps.



Randy Roberts

Univ. of Missouri-Columbia

robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ext.missouri.edu





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Subject: mooning

Author: kakelly[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LYNX.DAC.NEU.EDU at INTERNET-EXT

Date: 5/13/94 11:41 PM





colleagues--can anyone provide info on the earliest attested use of the

term "mooning"--the defiant showing of buttocks, usually at figures of

authority, by adolescent types? Thanks, Kathleen Kelly