I don't get the saying "don't take any wooden nickels." was there a time when I could have?

I mean really? Did they have wooden nickels at some point?

and did people really fall for it? and how dumb were they?

 

I don't know much, but the lyrics to one song go 'wooden nickles lost and found' so I guess that at one point in time they were available.



. . Shounen Ai Forever . .

 

My English Teacher always says that

 

sacul, long time no see, babe!

Found below info from this site:

According to Stuart Berg Flexner in his marvelous book Listening to America, the warning not to accept any wooden nickels, meaning, in a more general sense, to be alert and not fall victim to any schemes or swindles, had its roots in a "wood" problem humorously attributed to rural consumers in mid-1800's America. There were many jokes in those days about "country bumpkins," hornswoggled by unscrupulous Yankee peddlers, who found themselves paying good money for "wooden nutmeg," "wooden cucumber seeds," and even "wooden hams." In the popular urban imagination, of course, any rube willing to buy a wooden ham would also be likely to take wooden nickels as change.

Then again, as my parents pointed out in their Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (HarperCollins), actual wooden coins were routinely "minted" as promotional gimmicks during the numerous exhibitions so popular in 19th century America, and often were honored at "face value" by participating merchants during the run of the show. To accept a "wooden nickel" after the show had closed its gates, however, would be financial folly (especially in the days when nickels were actually worth something). So perhaps "don't take any wooden nickels" wasn't always such a frivolous admonition.

 

Hey Katya my kitten!..ok well not MY kitten per say but...oh you get the idea.

thanks for the info...but don't let that stop anyone from making up some stuff. Sacul likes made up stuff.

 

How about this (completely made up) explanation:

The US bank decided that making metal coins was far too much work and decided to experiment with wooden coins, using the nickle to see the scheme worked out. It was going well, and things seemed to be going well. That is untill someone noticed that the hillbillys were getting far richer than they should be. This unexplained increase in fortune led to an investigation, and it turned out they were mass forging them. The wooden nickle was hastily withdrawn and replaced with a metal one, and shops and banks were told not to take any wooden nickles.



. . Shounen Ai Forever . . {/hl]

 

Hmm... I dunno. Also, why is it that cartoons always bite their coins when they recieve them?


Old_Wizard

 

Because a cheaply made counterfeit coin would bend.

I always thought the wooden nickel was a similar situation; that during the turn of the century (the last one) roustabouts would try to use wooden nickels when riding the bus (or trolley, as it were).

 

I believe that goes back to biting gold coins to make sure they were indeed gold. Gold bends pretty easily, so people would bite it to see if it bent. If it did, it was real. If not, it was fake.

 

"I believe that goes back to biting gold coins to make sure they were indeed gold. Gold bends pretty easily, so people would bite it to see if it bent. If it did, it was real. If not, it was fake."

Bites into gold coin.

*CRUNCH!*

Oh my tooth broke.

*sues LordJedi for suggesting it.

 

biting gold coins would not only make them bend slightly but a coin made of most other metals would have a very metallic taste whereas gold does not.

wooden nickels were also given as salary in some large companies and department stores so that the persons wages could only be spent within the company.

 

"Take some wooden nickels,
Look for Mr. Goodbar
Get your mojo working now.
I'll show you how,
you can Dare to be Stupid."

-"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Dare to be Stupid"
1985

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I was curious as to what that meant, now I know! Thank you! :)

 

I have a wooden nickle. I got it while camping at the KOA.