[PW] A dime a dozen; cheap as chips

[Charles Early]

But in this quotation it appears (I think) that the author considers a dime 
a dozen an outrageously high price, the opposite of its later meaning.

At 12:10 PM 8/16/2007, you wrote:

>The earliest I have traced the term "dime a dozen" is to 1848. It could be 
>older.
>If you would like an image copy of the newspaper story, contact me off list.
>
>Yesterday I heard a man asking a dime a dozen for onions!
>Think of that ye farmers of Iowa. A dime a dozen for onions!
>Those I saw looked very much as though they grew in
>Hawkeye soil. --
>
>19 October 1848
>The Davenport Gazette, Davenport, Iowa
> >From an editorial correspondence dated 22 Sept 1848
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
>[mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
>UmbraScit at aol.com
>Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 9:12 AM
>To: list at project-wombat.org
>Subject: [PW] A dime a dozen
>
>When the phrase "a dime a dozen" was first constructed, what did it
>refer to?
>I've seen construction nails listed as the commodity, but the online
>writer had his nail sizes all mixed up, so I'm not comfortable with his
>credibility.
>
>Specific citations would be greatly appreciated.
>
>________________________
>Michael J. Sheehan
>The Senior Corner, TADL
>http://seniors.tcnet.org
>
>Blog: http://verbmall.blogspot.com/
>___________________________
>
>
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Charles Early
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