I’ve occasionally heard a place described as where “they roll up the sidewalks at night”, meaning a really dull, no-action, place.
Is there any historical basis for this? I’ve seen old photos of places with pretty primitive sidewalks; wooden planks and the like. But would they really put them away at night (whether rolled or folded otherwise?)
“It’s six o’clock. Time to roll up the sidewalks.”
“Yeah. Six o’clock.”
–Tim
It is simply a sarcastic image.
It’s just a clever image to convey the idea that there’s no place to go. Having gone to college in Detroit, where any shopping trip for anything more exotic than a candy bar requires driving into the suburbs, let me say that I can relate.
I don’t think the history of this phrase can be dismissed so quickly, as if it’s just a quaint expression with no basis in fact.
In “olden days,” the streets were dirt (often muddy) and shopkeepers placed planks or panels in front of their doors. When the business closed for the day, isn’t it likely that they could roll up the planks? These planks evolved into modern concrete sidewalks and the term got carried over to its present usage.
It’s an interesting theory, but I doubt it.
First of all, why would someone bother to roll up such things? If it’s supposed to be an all-weather covering anyway, just leave it out there and hose it down or sweep it from time to time. Why would you roll up something that’s muddy underneath and bring it indoors?
Secondly, in any town, most shops would have closed in the early evening. It wouldn’t be much of an insult to say in so-and-so town the shops are closed at night. It would be an insult to say there are not even bars to drink at, but the saying doesn’t work if that’s all it’s trying to convey.
Finally not all such coverings could be rolled up. As you say, planks could be used for this purpose, maybe such planks are connected by chains / rope, maybe not. Again the saying wouldn’t quite work.
In my life the saying that they roll up the sidewalks, lock the doors, shutter the windows, and cut the phone lines, are all attributed to any government building at precisely 15 minutes before listed closing time.
Points to lazy bureaucratic stereotypes and the fact that getting someone in trouble / fired from such a job is so difficult that they can get away with such shenanigans.
Haha, someone startled the sidewalk again.
wow, I never knew it was supposed to be a “literal” metaphor, as in “haha I’m saying they’re literally rolling up the sidewalk but they aren’t.” I always took it to mean that there were figuratively (or perhaps actually) cops or other people making sure that people move along after a certain time. i.e. “rolling up” the activity in the area and figuratively sweeping people away.
For a zombie thread, it’s been rolled up for 16 years until now.
Could there be some distant connection to facilities such as the Boardwalk in Atlantic City? In the 19th century, this was disassembled at the end of the summer season, to protect it from storm damage but also to signal the end of activities–there was nothing left to do in town once the Boardwalk was closed up for the year. (Of course, I don’t think the Boardwalk was rolled, but rather was in discrete sections that could be detached and stacked somewhere.)
It’s a quaint expression with no basis in fact. At least, there’s no good evidence that real people rolled up or otherwise put away real materials at night.
Barry Popik, the dean of phrase finders, says:
I wish I could find that early cite. Nothing appears earlier than the 1920s in Google Books or Ngrams. That same page from Popik lists early cites from 1914 on, all of which are purely metaphoric.
If somebody can find that early reference or a description to a practice of real small town people (and I’m skeptical, having read a ton on the history of cities) I’d love to read them. But I want evidence, not theories.
I’m wondering if it could be akin to picking up the WELCOME mat at the end of the business day? Maybe some type of rug outside the main door or possibly below the steps of the traveling salesman’s wagon?
