THE CENTRE REPORTER, CENTRE HALL. PA.
qd ~~ I 4 J) = Formal Modes in Glitterin ;
Uu t 1 nN By CHERIE NICHOLAS
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dressy
formal
| Jepding irom appearances, Dame
Fashion does not know that there
is such a thing ss
world of aTairs these days or if she
JU hear it everywhere you go, for Eats } .
Americans have almost forgotten depression” in the | the +
Stripes are
how to say “Yes !™ Instead they say
“O-kay!” It has become an almost
universally accepted symbol of as
sent. It has also become a similar
ly accepted symbol of approval
When we say anything is “O-kay” (or “0. K.*
or “Okeh”) we mean that it is good or satisfae-
tory. Not only has this triple-spelling, double-
meaning expression already become common cure
rency In our language (or “slanguage” if you
prefer!) but it has also already undergone both
abbreviation and inversion without, apparently,
changing its meaning. If you don't want to take
the time to say “O-kay!™ or “Okeh!” just cut
it down to "Oke!" (accent on the “o") and any
American will understand at once what you
mean. So much for the abbreviation of an ex-
pression so short that a further shortening
seems Impossible,
As for the inversion: Consider now the hypo-
thetical case of an Er man coming to an
American with this Inquiry: “1 say, old fellow,
what do yon Americans mean when youn say
‘K. 0.7" “Oh, that!" replies the helpful Amer.
ican, is an expression from the prize ring. When
a boxer Is knocked out, we say the other fellow
wins by a K. 0.” “But,” says the Britisher with
look on his face, “This was a little
answering a playmate who had
me across the street and play
. O.I" very plain.
American. “He
meant ‘All right? ow we use the term
‘0. K.' to mean all right or yes. It's pronounced
O-kay. ‘ell, the boys just turn it
around and use K, O., which is pronounced Kayo
and it me That's clear
affled Britisher mur.
hing
thing.
pre
1ffled by this illog-
very-day American
speech than Is the nologist who tries to run
i nm and to deter.
inguage. Here are a
down the origin of the Kpressic
few of the theories:
1. les . Neviskoff was a fascinating Rus-
sian wor is believed to have had an im-
portant lu m English history as a friend
of the f: i illiam E. Gladstone. It
is said that Gladstone used to submit many ime
portant matters to her for her opinion and these
papers were generally returned to him with her
initials, 0. K., penned upon them.
2. In Santo Domingo Is the town of Aux Cayes
(pronounced okay) from which, In Colonial
times, the best tobacco and rum were Imported.
Clerks, It is said, in billing goods to retallers
made use of the phonetic letters 0. K. for the
sake of brevity in Indicating that these goods
came from Aux Cayes and were therefore of the
best quality,
8. Keokuk was a famous chief of the Sac and
Foxe Indians in Towa. He was affectionately ree
ferred fo by the whites as “Ole Keokuk” bee
cause he was a “good Indian.” Being unable to
spell his name, he made his signature by using
his initials “0. K.” and any paper which had his
“O. K.” was “all right.”
4. Back In Civil war days Orrin Kendall was
& member of a battery raised among the Board
of Trade in Chicago. He was also head of the
baking firm of 0. Kendall and Sons, which fur.
nished bread and erackers for the army. On the
crackers were the initials of “0. K.” for Orrin
Kendall. These crackers are sald to have been
the only ones the soldiers relished and their ex-
pression "These crackers are O, K.” soon devel-
oped Into meaning “These crackers are all right.”
5. In 1840 during the famous “hard elder and
log eabla” Presidential campaign of Gen. William
Henry Harrison, there was a Whig rally at Ur
bana, Ohlo, which was addressed by a number of
prominent Whigs, Including General Harrison
himself. The farmers were largely represented at
the gatherings and one of them had brought his
farm wagon on which was constructed a plat-
form for the accommodation of his neighbors.
The farmer was an ardent Whig and, wishing to
convey the impression that the farmers gener-
ally were Whigs, he hung a banner above the
platform. On the banner were these words “The
farmers Is Oll Korrect.” There was also a hotel
at Springfield, Ohlo, operated by an ardent Whig
who placed the letters “0. K.” over the entrance,
explaining that it meant his hotel was all right,
or "Oll Korrect"—taking those words from the
banner on the farmer's wagon, In this same
campaign Harrison's opponents made much of
his alleged flliiterncy and they eirculated the
story that Harrison, while a commander In the
army, endorsed his papers “0, K.” under the Im-
William. enry Harrison
pression that It was the abbreviation for "ON
Korrect,” his way of spelling “All Correct.”
6. The origin of “O. K. meaning “all right” Is
traced to Andrew Jackson in three different
ways. One of them is this: In the court of rec-
ords of Sumner county, Tennessee, for October
6, 1700, appears the fact that on that date
"Andrew Jackson, Esq. proved a bill of sale from
Hugh MecGary to Gasper Mansker for a negro
man, which was 0. K.” It is sald that what ap
peared to be O, K. in the record may really have
been a poorly penned O. R., which was the ab
breviation used for “Ordered Recorded.” That
such a mistake, due to bad penmanship, might
easily have been made is further proved by the
fact that Hugh (not High) McGary and Caspar
(not Gasper) Mansker were two well-known
frontier characters of the time and both names
are misspelled in the entry.
During the campaign of 1832 Jackson's alleged
illiteracy (as in the case of Harrison later) was
one of the chief butts of his opponents, Seba
Smith In a series of letters written to a Maine
paper under the name of Major Jack Downing fa
sald to have originated the story that Jaekson
endorsed his paper “0, K.” under the impression
that it was the abbreviation for “ON Korrect.”
(As previously stated, this same canard was ap
parently revived and used against Harrison in
1840.)
The third way In which the origin of the ex
pression is traced to Jackson Involves his friend
ship with the famous Choctaw Indian chief,
Pushmataha. Jackson and Pushmataha had
fought together against the Creeks In 1812-13
and Jackson frequently heard the Indian chief
use an expression, “sil HoKa," to end all state
ments or to wing up a conversation. It was a
Jackson
¢ literal “0. K."
lar evidence to supp
term is contained
of the Choctaw
a8 meaning
as It seems most highly
did originate In th i + aw language
ushmataha was principally responsible for
ts gift to the white man, he is worthy of more
passing comment. In fact, he is worthy of
remembered much longer for other things
for the mere accident of his using an ex
on Americanism
For Andrew Jackson frequently expressed the
opinion that he was the greatest and bravest
Indian he had ever known and John Ra ph
of Roanoke, In pronouncing a eulogy on him in
the United States senate, uttered the words re
garding his wisdom, his eloquence and his friend.
ship for the whites that were afterward Inscribed
on his monument,
Pushmataha's Indian name was Apushim-alh
taha, which means “the sapling is ready, or fin
ished, for him." According to the biography of
him in the “Handbook of American Indians” is
sued by the Bureau of American Ethnology, he
was born in Noxubee county in Mississipp! In
1764. Before he was twenty years of age he dis
tinguished himself In an expedition against the
Osagos,
Young Pushmataha disappeared early In the
conflict that lasted all day and on rejoining the
Choctaw warriors he was jeered at and accused
of being a coward, whereupon he replied, “Let
those laugh who can show more scalps than 1
can.” Saying this, he threw down the scalps of
five of the enemy whom he had slain by himself,
Later he became head of the Oklahannall or
Six Towns district of the Choctaws and exerted
his powerful influence in promoting friendly rela
tions with the whites. In 1811 when Tecumseh.
the great Shawnee leader, visited the Choctaw
to persuade them to join in his conspiracy
against the Americans, Pushmataha opposed him
so strongly that the Choctaws remained loyal
to the United States. During the War of 1812 it
was Pushmataba's Influence which held them
loyal to the Americans when the Creeks tried
to persuade them to cast their fortunes with the
British,
In a council held to decide what course the
Choctaws would pursue, Pushmataha made an
eloquent speech In which he said “The Creeks
were once our friends. They have joined the
English and we must now follow different trails
When our fathers took the hand of Washington,
they told him the Choctaw would always be
friends of his nation and Pushmataba cannot be
false to their promises. 1 am now ready to fight
against both the English and the Creeks”
And fight he did! At the head of 500 warriord”
he served under Jackson In the Pensacola eam.
paign, taking part in 24 battles and skirmishes
In 1813 with about 150 warriors he Joined Gen.
eral Claiborne and distinguished himself in the
attack and defeat of the Creeks under the
famous Weatherford at the Battle of Holy
Ground in Alabama. While aiding the American
troops he Is said to have instituted such a rigid
system of discipline among his warriors that
they made a fine record as soldiers and won for
Cushmataha the title of “the Indian General”
(© by Western Newspaper 1nlon.)
and beads and other pretty tinsel ef
ott
the eye with their glint of
thrends among the gold’
sl
making thelr
aff
withou ag note, The new
est woolens, likewise knitted effects
are many »f them enriched with inter
tis
COs
belts and fancy
inery showing up tin
} #
cioths and
comes to
ning wear.
tured Is of
nme. This 3
bing :
interpreted In silver-worked taf-
feta such +s blue silk
terning.
RiR0
ith sliver pat
For evening rag pEigners are
showing a keen Inte n matelasses
with metal uch as white atelnsse
its Indefinite i
gold or silver.
Now that the social
most fetching little
ered cap.s and 4%
their del
re
dance
STRIPED VELVET
Oy CHERIE XICHOLAS
> a £8
SR
Here Is a dress good toelook upon
It is just the sort every woman is sure
to covet. If Is made of one of those
lovely new striped lustrous velvels
which are so extremely smart this
seasun. The combination Is beige and
brown. The designer realizes how
effective siripes are when worked to
gether cunningly. The belt is of ante
lope skin set with steel nallheads
The swanky beret is of brown velvet.
New Browns
For the most part the new browns,
which, by the way, will be very good
this winter, are very dark. One dark
brown Is ealled “:affa™ A lighter
shade Is known as “rum”
Evening Wraps
Walstline and hiplength velvet eve
ning jackets are extremely good for
fall. White with dark fur or black
with white fur are favorite eombina.
ons
STYLE IN COLORS
Bronze is * of the new colors for
winter Or, rather, it ole so
ries of colors that beg! ith brown
ish-greens and go
gamut of changes of greenish
it appears in al) types of
coats, wraps, dresses evening cloth
hats, bags and shoes
Bronze kid shoes are shdvn in sev-
eral fashionable dressms ng estab
liskments as the correct evening slip
pers to go with dresses of all colors
and types
The bronze greens are practically
the only greens that have any fashion
importance in Paris this year. They
are handsome colors—most of them
dark, and becoming to women of most
all types. They look especially wel)
when combined with black, with gray,
beige and other pastels
“Essential Ensemble”
New Idea in Economy
A new “essential ensemble” designed
to satisfy the demands of both econ
omy and elegance Is Paris’ latest offer.
ing.
It takes its name from the prac
ticality of its design, built as an all
round costume ready for any affair
from breakfast to dinner.
Its fabrics are a score of new soft
wools in the autumn shades of rust,
emerald green, haze purple, olive
green and gray. [ts lines are general
ly modeled after the design of the
three-piece sult or the design accom.
panied by a hip-length jacket.
Fur—both flat and Auffy—are ap
pligued in a vew way as an integra)
part of the essential ensemble's design.
Black astrakhan Is appliqued In a
flat bib on the bodice of one frock,
black galyak makes patch pockets on
a suit, and brown shaved lamb Is used
as incrustations on the shoulder line
of a frock.
Evening Gowns Are Now
Made With Cape Effects
Cape effects mark many of the new
evening gowns. One chic mode! is de
sigred of rose colored velvet with a
scarf attached to the shoulder and
worn draped around the arms to Sige
The costume is completed with vel
vet gloves snd slippers to match.