WHO'S JOSHING WHO?
Regarding the story of Josh Tatum, Carl C. Honore writes:
"I have published some information with Mike Hodder's
help in my upcoming book "The Life and Times of the
Liberty Nickel" on the origin of the term "to Josh".
Apparently the author Henry Wheeler Shaw wrote some works
before 1880 under the nom de plume Josh Billings. One
of these was "Josh Billings's Farmer's Almanac". Another
was "Josh Billing's Sayings"; from these to "Josh" someone
could have emerged.
This is not to say that Josh Tatum didn't exist. He
possibly did and Mike mentioned that there may even be a
photograph of him someplace. It's just that the term is
probably more likely to have come from the former source."
On the same topic NBS Board member Pete Smith writes:
"For a long time I have suspected that the Josh Tatum
story was more fancy than fact and have sought
confirmation, one way or another. I was excited when I
viewed the "History, Money in Your Hands" video
distributed by the ANA since it included a picture of
Tatum. I asked James Taylor about the source of that
picture. He admitted that it was an error and the
picture was really someone else.
A few years ago we had a file clerk working for us who
returned to law school. He did quite well in law school
and was editor of the law review. I gave him the story
of Tatum and asked him to do a search of legal sources
looking for confirmation of the Tatum story. He was not
able to find anything. One problem, known from other
examples, is that most old records have not been
converted to searchable forms. I think it would be an
interesting exercise for E-Sylum readers to try to come
up with the first published reference to Tatum. If he
existed, and if there was a trial, there would be
references in local (Boston?) papers from the era."
Back to Josh Billings: the New York Public Library
catalog (http://www.nypl.org/) lists several titles
between 1865 and 1880, and the following entry is found
at the Electric Library (http://www.encyclopedia.com/):
Billings, Josh
1818-85, American humorist; b. Lanesboro, Mass. His
popular, humorous sketches in rural dialect appeared
annually in the Farmer's Allminax (1869-80).
There are several web sites that cite quotes from the
Billings works. Here are a few:
Always live within your income, even if you have to borrow money to do so.
Don't ever prophesy; for if you prophesy wrong, nobody will forget it; and if you prophesy right, nobody will remember it.
In youth we run into difficulties. In old age difficulties run into us.
Wayne Homren, Editor
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