[78-L] Waxing lyrical

[Harold Aherne]

Here's a bit on the origin of "the old army game":
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/old_army_game/
 
In D. W. Griffith's 1925 "Sally of the Sawdust", W. C. Fields is featured as a carnival
man and in one of the titles he says "It's not a game of chance--it's a game of science 
and skill--the old army game!" If memory serves, I *think* this scene involved a shell game
of some kind. And of course, "It's the Old Army Game" was the title of one of his
Paramount films the following year.
 
-HA


--- On Wed, 11/2/11, Bud Black <banjobud at cfl.rr.com> wrote:

From: Bud Black <banjobud at cfl.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Waxing lyrical
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 9:48 AM

When I was a GI (admittedly in the distant past) the term "the old army game" referred to almost any deception, especially at playing cards.

Bud