Speaking of Tom and Jerry…
During the World Wars, the Brits referred to themselves as “Tommies” and the Germans as “Jerries”. (And in fact, now that I think about it, the “Tommy” appellation may be even older. Kipling used it in his poetry, methinks.)
Does anyone know if the “Tom and Jerry” cartoons had any connection to that British slang, or is the name of the cartoon series just coincidental?
Actually, the British referred to the Germans as Jerries; I’m sure the Germans never used that term for themselves. The termn “Tommies” came from “Tommy Atkins”, the slang for the average British soldier (equivalent to GI Joe). That in turn came from some document a British Government official put together describing the average soldier; he picked Tommy Atkins because it sounded “normal.”
The cartoon name is a coincidence. Tom came from “tomcat”; I can’t find a source for Jerry’s name. Incidentally, in the first T&J cartoon, “Puss Gets the Boot” (1940), Tom is called Jasper by Mammy Two-Shoes.
Just realized I misunderstood what you were saying, and my implication that you thought the Germans called themselves Jerries is totally wrong. Sorry about that.
Geez, this’ll teach me to post before I do all my homework.
Bill Hanna started out animating for the now long-defunct Van Beuren Studios back in the early 30’s. One of their series was about a tall guy and a short guy named “Tom and Jerry.” I believe only a handful of these toons were made. After Van Beuren folded, Hanna joined up with Barbara in 1940 over at MGM Studios. They liked the names Tom and Jerry, and since they weren’t being used at the time, they stuck them on their newest series.
This kind of casual migration of characters was not uncommon in the early days of animation. Take a look at the very early proto-Bugs Bunny cartoons, like “Porky’s Rabbit Hunt.” As created by Ben “Bugs” Hardaway, the rabbit has a high pitched voice and an irriating machine-gun laugh. Hardaway left WB animation a few years later and went to work for Walter Lantz Studios, where he reused those characteristic on Woody Woodpecker.
I believe that “Tom and Jerry” predates either cartoon series. (By the way, the Van Beuren cartoons are available on videotape.) I know that “Tom and Jerry” refers to a type of punchbowl, although why it has that name I don’t know. But it was commonplace to give pairs of cartoon characters names of paired characters from elsewhere. It was in just this way that Disney called theit chipmunks “Chip ‘n’ Dale” after “Chippendale” furniture. The same practice held, I think, in vaudeville, which is probably where the cartoon makers got the idea.
“Tom & Jerry” is also a hot punch drink, with coffee (or hot milk), rum, brandy and eggs. I was always puzzled to see in antique stores these large punch bowls and cups, usually in a milk-white glass, with Xmas motifs and “Tom & Jerry” in ye olde English script. I think it dates from the 40s, but may be older. (Which came first, the cartoon or the drink?) It has a Dickensian ring about it.
“Tommy Atkins” has been used as the nickname for the British footsoldier since at least the Crimean War (1850s). Some have attributed the name on the sample form in question (usually said to be a paybook) to the Duke Of Wellington, but I don’t think there’s a hard cite for this.
(By the way, Guy, great sig!)
The British soldier has always “diminufied” things for laconic comic effect; the steel helmet becomes a “tin hat,” or more rarely a “battle bowler,” the Turks (in WWI) were “Johnnie,” a Scottish soldier was a “Jock,” or a “Kiltie,” anti-aircraft fire was “Archie,” a barbed-wire entanglement became a “gooseberry bush,” and his bayonet was a “tooth-pick.”
This is a pretty wide-ranging topic, huh? 1940s cartoons, old punch recipes, and slang from the trenches of 1914-18. Gotta love this board!
The only thing this thread needs (besides a definitive answer) is some poetry.
Tommy
By Rudyard Kipling
Note: this poem is in the public domain
I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play -
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide -
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, 'ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of 'eroes” when the drums begin to roll -
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of 'eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind,”
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind -
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of 'is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool - you bet that Tommy sees!
“Tom and Jerry” has referred to two roustabouts since Pierce Egan’s Life in London in 1821–they were the two main characters, and it was quite a popular book in its day. The drink was invented in approx. 1860. Hanna’s “Tom and Jerry” that inspired the cat and mouse cartoon series probably got the name because by then “Tom and Jerry” was strongly associated with charming troublemakers. “Tom-and-Jerrying” was even a term for rascally behavior, although I’m away from my OED and can’t give you a date for the phrase.
BTW, to make a Tom and Jerry, beat an egg with a little sugar, add 4-5 oz of rum and/or brandy, divy it in two glasses and top with hot milk.
The Warner Bros. rabbit was createted by Ben Hardaway, as noted above by Guy Propski. He got his name (the rabbit) by the way he was referred to. “Bugs’ Bunny”
I know. Ben’s nickname was Bug ('cause he was so crazy). When one of the animators put together a model sheet of the new character Hardaway had created, he labeled it “Bug’s Bunny.” The name stuck, even after Jones, Freleng, and Avery started using the character.
*Gaudere: “Tom and Jerry” has referred to two roustabouts since Pierce Egan’s Life in London in 1821–they were the two main characters, and it was quite a popular book in its day. The drink was invented in approx. 1860. Hanna’s “Tom and Jerry” that inspired the cat and mouse cartoon series probably got the name because by then “Tom and Jerry” was strongly associated with charming troublemakers. “Tom-and-Jerrying” was even a term for rascally behavior, although I’m away from my OED and can’t give you a date for the phrase. *
Probably also derived from the Pierce Egan work are 28 short animated features made in the early 1930’s with two human characters named Tom & Jerry.
That’s uncanny. I haven’t seen a Tom & Jerry cartoon since I was in elementary school except for last Saturday night I saw this very episode on cable at a friend’s house.