I don’t think that daisy as a superlative was a short-lived piece of slang.
I remember way back when that the Dairy Air Rifle was advertised on the back of comics with the slogan It’s a Daisy!
A quick Google and I found this Daisy Air Rifle site. http://popularmechanics.com/outdoors/outdoors/1999/7/Daisy_Air_Rifle/print.phtml
Yep, the rifle was named for the slang phrase. And it lasted a century.
For another contemporary cite of the use of daisy, go here:
http://www.milams.com/daisy.htm
That’s nothin’! In my favorite version of the gunfight scene, the lawmen open up with everything they have and the bullets just pass right through the Clanton’s bodies!
Then Kirk walks right up to Wyatt Earp and punches him!
That’s some goooooooooooooood showdown, boy!
Well if You read the article the name for the rifle came in the late 1800’s when Hamilton used the expression "–“Boy, that’s a daisy.” Note the date same era as Tombstone is set.
The Slogan “it’s a Daisy” on the comic book most likely referred to espousing the trademark name and not the phrase. You know trying to make the reader realize this is the one and only Daisy air rifle, or do you remember people walking around in your youth proclaiming something a Daisy.
Your second cite didn’t work so I’m not sure what that will show.
But using everyday evidence just try to remember any one in your past (including Grand parents etc) using the phrase that’s a Daisy or you are a Daisy etc. I’m sure you’d be hard pressed to find its use even in older cinema and television. that is why I’d say it was short lived.
Plus here is a cite Aint this a Daisy
Yes, that’s my point. Let’s see if I can get that URL to work properly for another 1881 cite. http://www.milams.com/daisy.htm
But it was both, the trademark was playing off the slang phrase. And keeping it alive in a way. Although I agree it was not in general use in the 50s, I believe it did last until the 20th century where it may have mutated into doozy.
Here’s a cite (and site) that indicates a later use:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/7399/round2.html
And this page says it is much older than the 19th century:
http://www.word-detective.com/back-r.html
"According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, “doozy” does indeed probably spring from “daisy,” which has been, since the 18th century, a synonym for “excellent, superior or fine.”
Doozy comes from 1903, according to that site, so daisy was probably still alive until then.
Not really so short for a slang life.
I saw Tombstone with a bunch of my college buddies when it hit the theaters, and over the next few weeks we proved that you can, in fact, say everything that needs to be said in college with Tombstone quotes–mostly Doc’s lines, at that.
Kilmer’s portrayal of Doc is a damn fine piece of acting from an actor I’ve always liked. It’s his best work to date, despite the fact that I have a soft spot for The Saint.