Ouch! From the Daily News-Democrat (Huntington, Indiana), Jan. 15, 1907.
Traveling in the Central African Republic in 2012, I spotted a sign in a cafe reading, “Wanted, Pretty Girls for New Airline.” I did not know that people still regarded woman as “girls” in the 21st century, let alone that they could be seeking “pretty girls.” Alas, CRA is yet a developing country.
In the late 19th century and through a good part of the 20th, women were often called “girls,” and typists “typewriters.” A sampling of news and humor from this period serves as an interesting time capsule —
Call this a reversal of fortune! From the Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), Oct. 28, 1888.
Put a cork in it! From The Daily Times (New Brunswick, New Jersey), May 25, 1896.
Wickedly funny. From the Daily Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa), June 21, 1892.
Two parts of one clipping:
From the Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Aug. 10, 1892.
Indexed at Women and the typewriter at Type-Writer.org.
© 2016 – 2018, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
My wife got a kick out of the first one.