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





______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

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