When the words arrive
The college's annuals and yearbooks record what students wrote about, one year at a time. Drag through the years and the words come in: basket-ball in 1899, the automobile in 1907, the movies in 1917, radio in 1924, a jazz orchestra in 1928, the jitterbug in 1943, and television in 1956. Each word is sized by how often that year's volumes print it, per 10,000 words, so a longer volume does not make a word look bigger. Several years have no volume in this sample, so a word first seen after a gap may have arrived during it.
Colored words are printed for the first time that year. Faded words were printed before but not that year. The gray marks under the slider are years with no volume in this sample, so a word first seen after one may have arrived during it.
Where each word first appears
basketball
First printed in the Sense and Nonsense
... (Picture), ...... Oberon and Titama (Picture), ........ Mandolin and Guitar Club, . . .... Basket-ball (Picture) .......... Basket-ball Team, ........... Dead Swell Club, ........... Bachelor Maids, ........... Tennis Club, ...
telephone
First printed in the Sense and Nonsense
... Bunting, Jr., President. Frank Winston, Vice-Pres. J. W. Read, Sec’y and Treas THE BRISTOL TELEPHONE CO. THE PEOPLE’S COMPANY. EEEICIENT SERVICE : : LOW PATES : : EXTENSIVE TOLL ...
movies
First printed in The Intermont
About this page: The poem's line about "rows of 'colored' faces" refers to segregated seating. In Bristol in 1917, as across the South, Black moviegoers were made to sit apart, usually in the gallery. The students slipped into that gallery to avoid being seen, using the Black patrons there as cover. The page stays because it records that segregation in the students' own words.
... “the Va.’s,” Mac, and “Bill” one bright September day Decided to go to the movies to pass their time away. They didn’t have time to sign on the door, ...
jazz
First printed in The Intermont
... Club, ’27; Richmond Club, ’28; Life-saving Corps, ’27; Virginia Club, ’28; W. A., ’27-’28; Jazz Orchestra, ’28. Her eyes are bright, her smile is, too, a friend she is ...
television
First printed in The Intermont
... University where she was awarded her M. A. degree. She enjoys watching her favorite television programs in her leisure hours. MRS. AMIS teaches Latin, French, and German in the ...
Words that fade
automobile
Most used in 1921, at 2 per 10,000 words; 0.5 in 1958
kodak
Most used in 1927, at 3 per 10,000 words; 0.5 in 1953
victrola
Most used in 1922, at 0 per 10,000 words
radio
Most used in 1956, at 2 per 10,000 words; 0.6 in 1962
airplane
Most used in 1931, at 1 per 10,000 words; 0.5 in 1959
nylon
Most used in 1948, at 0 per 10,000 words
jitterbug
Most used in 1943, at 2 per 10,000 words; 0.5 in 1959
elocution
Most used in 1895, at 9 per 10,000 words; 0.4 in 1911
chafing
Most used in 1907, at 1 per 10,000 words; 0.7 in 1937
as in a chafing dish