Oh, the places you will go, once you go down the rabbit hole[1] of trying to figure out old terms and phrases. This happened to me recently when I came across an article containing a reference to “tig ring” and “two-lip salve.” Well, the latter phrase wasn’t really too hard to figure out, but “tig ring” had me stumped.
The passage in question came from someone describing his recent visits to Carroll township in Perry County, Pennsylvania in the late 1870s. While noting progress at various schools, the author then noted: “The principal feature of these spelling schools is playing “tig ring.” When a person observes the lads and lasses engaging in this pleasant pastime, and eagerly applying the “two-lip salve,” he is almost induced to believe that they are making strenuous efforts to obey the holy command, “Love one another.”[2]
So, of course, one googles. I found “two-lip salve” first in an old book that had been digitized on google. “Nonsense” by “Brick” Pomeroy, published in 1868[3], includes a chapter on the “Fun of Sleighing”: “Told her the two-lip salve was good. She didn’t doubt it, but it was too cold to spread well! We tried it again. We-e-e-e-e-E-E! It must have been the cold that made it hurt so to apply the salve. In-doors, it’s fun to use it!”
Well, this seemed to confirm my suspicions that we’re talking about kissing here. But there weren’t very many other hits. So, I went back to the original database where I found the article and searched there. That was more profitable. (That’s right, not everything is discoverable on google).
The earliest reference I found was in an 1855 article, which starts off, “Kissing is lately becoming an important matter,” and made clear that the two-lip salve is indeed a kiss.[4] By the early 1860s, the term was cropping up more frequently, particularly describing it as a sure cure for chapped lips. Of note was news from Glasgow that a young woman had broken her neck trying to avoid being kissed. This news, which circulated in a number of papers in 1862, included the lament: “Why will girls peril their delicate necks in absurd endeavors to avoid the application of that delicious and soothing “two lip” salve, which is a universal corrective of chapped lips, and will ultimately cure the worst form of palpitation of the heart…”[5]
The term, just as frequently rendered as “tulip salve,” continued to pop up in typically coy references through the rest of the 1800s and into the 1900s, tapering off by the 1930s. One of the latest was an ad for Chap-stick in 1951.[6]
“Tig ring” was more challenging. My google search was not particularly forthcoming, with only one substantive result. This was an article from the Pennsylvania German[7], a popular magazine from the early 1900s which addressed folklore, genealogy and history. The article was about the town where the author grew up in south central Pennsylvania and included a brief mention to “tig-ring.” There was not much information about it, beyond suggesting it was a game played with both boys and girls: “At spelling-school or at a “singing” there was usually a recess of an hour, or nearly so. Then the company always got “mixed.” If the night was favorable there might be a “tig-ring” out of doors.”
The original database kept returning “big ring” or other variations, but I did find a very few references from the nearly 1000 results from my search. Surprisingly, these were almost all from Perry county, although my search was for the whole country. I cannot say whether it was because this was a game that gained particular traction in Perry, or whether the database does not yet have enough newspapers with accounts of long-ago amusements (which is unlikely).
The first substantive reference was entitled “Affairs in Little Perry,” with subtitles of “Romance of Literary Institutes,” and “The Luxury of Tig-Ring with 163-Pound Country Girls.”[8] Oh my! The item describes a meeting of a literary society, the likes of which were reportedly numerous in this rural abode. And then came recess…
“This is the juncture where a stranger, unacquainted and unaccustomed to the fashion and spirit of ruralistic regions, witnesses the most fun. The boys were all good, whole-souled fellows, and the girls the bloom of health itself… “Laugh and grow fat” and “make hay while the sun shines” seemed to be the spirit that impelled all hands to the “Tig-ring.” This is a buzz-ing game, and too affectionate. Some of these 163-pound country girls may provoke them to exclaim “Its naughty,” but then, fellow citizens, “Its nice.”
And then they all went back inside for a debate on capital punishment. Seriously.
“Tig-ring” came up repeatedly as having been a source of enjoyment at a range of events in Perry. In 1876, it was played at a Sunday school picnic[9] and, in 1884, when it was played during a singing.[10] And some years later, in 1895, it was played at a party in Saville.[11]
References to the game being played in Perry county continued into the 1900s. At a birthday celebration in 1909, “Before playing tig-ring it was generally understood that there was to be no kissing, possibly through fear of microbes. Well the game started and – but what is the use of making a rule like that, for as long as grass grows and water runs men will kiss the women every time they have the chance. There was no promiscuous kissing, just enough to show the sentiment of the crowd.”[12] And, one girl even broke her arm playing it at a picnic in 1912[13].
The only non-Perry references I found were two in an Adams county newspaper, both in September 1900. One item[14] described a birthday party and the games played there. Besides “tig ring,” there were “go sow your wild oats” and “we won’t go home till morning.” The game was also called out at being played at another birthday party a few weeks earlier.[15]
But, what is “tig-ring?” It definitely involved kissing and, considering that someone broke an arm playing it, I guessed it probably involved running and/or chasing. And I thought I was getting closer when I found a brief reference to “tag ring” in a York newspaper in 1931.[16] At last, searching just for “tig” and “game,” I find “tig” is an alternate name for “tag,” and a version of it is a chase and kiss game.[17]
So, that article in 1877 about playing “tig-ring” and applying the “two-lip salve?” A bunch of kids having fun running around outside and playing chase and kiss. And for all those who knew immediately what it was, oh well.
[1] A great term, “rabbit hole!” – one I use a lot when sharing recent finds related to genealogy and the tangents I go off on. And since I was looking at other old terms, I had to look this one up, too. See this New Yorker article for a great explanation of what it means these days. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-rabbit-hole-rabbit-hole
[2] For the Times, New Bloomfield Times (New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania), 13 February 1877, p. 5, col.3. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[3] The book can be found on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/nonsense00pome. Archive.org is another favorite place to pursue those rabbit holes! It’s worth taking a look at this old book for fun. Be sure to read at least the dedication. As it turns out, the sleighing chapter had first been published in the LaCrosse Democrat some years earlier, where the author was the editor.
[4] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), 3 October 1855, p. 2. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[5] Terrible Warning, Bradford Reporter (Towanda, Pennsylvania), 3 April 1862, p. 1. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.) This news item was carried in numerous papers around the country.
[6] Daily Republican-Register (Mount Carmel, Illinois), 9 November 1951, p. 8. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[7] Charles William Super, A Study of a Rural Community, The Pennsylvania German, Volume XII, January-December 1911, p. 23.( https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniagerm12leba, accessed 6 February 2020).
[8] Affairs in Little Perry, Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1878, p.3. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020).
[9] Sabbath School Picnic, The News (Newport, Pennsylvania), 2 September 1876, p. 3 (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[10] All Tuscarora Twp. on the Move, Duncannon Record (Duncannon, Pennsylvania), p. 2. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[11] Saville, Perry County Democrat (Bloomfield, Pennsylvania), 8 September 1909, p3. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[12] Centre and Oliver Townships, The Perry Democrat (Bloomfield, Pennsylvania), p. 2. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[13] Loysville, The Perry Democrat (Bloomfield, Pennsylvania), 24 July 1912, p. 3. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[14] Newsy Mount Tabor Items, Adams County Independent (Littlestown, Pennsylvania), 15 September 1900, p.4. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020).
[15] Newsy Mt. Tabor Letter, Adams County Independent (Littlestown, Pennsylvania), 1 September 1900, p. 1. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[16] Windsor, York Dispatch (York, Pennsylvania), 19 August 1931, p. 12. (Newspapers.com, accessed 6 February 2020.)
[17] Chasing Games, Steve Roud, British Library, Play Times, 29 October 2016.( https://www.bl.uk/playtimes/articles/chasing-games, accessed 6 February 2020.)