# Etymology of Joe Sixpack **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371 "2008-10-03T20:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/21 "2008-10-05T22:44:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Haploid. Hussein. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/22 "2008-10-06T00:51:32Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Hussein. Well Jesus was Middle Eastern. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/23 "2008-10-06T03:10:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think its origins stem from the same vague mists of time as Jesus H. Christ. Harold. He was named after his father. Our Father who art in heaven. Harold be thy name. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/24 "2008-10-06T15:40:46Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I can find _Joe Sixpack_ first gaining a foothold in the mid-1970s. If you can cite a Hoppe column from even the late 1960s, I’d be greatful. All I can find on the interwebs is Hoppe’s obituary (2000), where it mentions the colorful characters he peopled his columns with, including lovable redneck Joe Sikspak (note the spelling). No specific columns anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/25 "2008-10-07T03:45:10Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > All I can find on the interwebs is Hoppe’s obituary (2000), where it mentions the colorful characters he peopled his columns with, including lovable redneck Joe Sikspak (note the spelling). No specific columns anywhere. Thanks for that. That spelling gets him to 1972. He may have indeed invented it. Certainly helped to popularize it. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/26 "2008-10-07T04:01:52Z")
Wild Ass Guess. I’d bet it has something to do with an offshoot of the Hard-Hat movement, if you can call it a movement, that came up against the Hippies in the 60’s/70’s. ---
**Author:** ![donnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@donnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/27 "2008-10-07T18:49:57Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Does anyone know the origin of Sarah Palin’s favorite term for Everyman, John Q Public? > > I know that it was used by long-time San Francisco Chronicle columnist Art Hoppe, in the 60s & 70s – but I have no idea if it was original with him. The late Art Hoppe, a satyrical columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle often quoted a fictitious character that he created, Joe Sikspak. Joe would “write in” from time-to-time to offer his (regular guy) opinions on topical issues. Read this article about Art Hoppe’s death: [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:n2iiPmwptDwJ:www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ff%3D/c/a/2000/02/03/MN98987.DTL%26type%3Dprintable+art+hoppe+joe+sikspak&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us](http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:n2iiPmwptDwJ:www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ff%3D/c/a/2000/02/03/MN98987.DTL%26type%3Dprintable+art+hoppe+joe+sikspak&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371/28 "2008-10-08T18:50:49Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > It goes back [at least 500 years](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyman_(play)) before that. Not really the same thing. The Everyman character here is more a symbolic portrayal of humanity, than a particular category of people. “Joe Sixpack” as a type is a blue-collar worker, the life of whose mind does not go beyond the job and hanging out with the guys over beer, or watching sports on TV. This pattern must change for most people when they become married and have children, but those simple kinds of leisure remain the ideal. The kind of beer is important, too. It will likely be canned\*, come in sixpacks (obviously), and be a low to middlebrow brand like PBR or Miller High Life\*\*. What’s happened with respect to these brands is that they have gone downmarket over the last fifty or sixty years as middle class\*\*\* people have gravitated toward imported beer, microbrews, and wine. Before that happened, everybody from doctors to laborers drank beer of the Miller type, and wine was something you drank on Thanksgiving, or in restaurants. \*It’s understood that cans are not necessarily indicative of cheapness, but for a generation or two they were. \*\* The Miller type of beer might have tasted better in the old days, too. \*\*\*“Middle class” as used here refers more to a set of tastes than an income level. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-joe-sixpack/466371.md?page=1)