Petting parties
For a few months in 1922, throngs of America’s youth — from schoolkids to shopgirls — were swept up in a leaderless pyramid scheme that promised “something for nothing” and encouraged promiscuous flirtation. These were the “Shifters.” The most ubiquitous Shifter sign was a lapel badge fashioned from paper, safety pins, burned matches or, most iconically, paper clips. Indeed, a report from the United Press agency claimed there was a clandestine vocabulary of Shifter paper clip adornment:
Two paper clips on the hat brim = I kiss
Four clips on the hat and two on the coat lapel = Not dated-up for tonight
One clip on hat and one on coat lapel = I am waiting for someone to say Hello
“It’s the patois of the wearers of the green earrings and insignia of the Mystic Order of Shifters. It’s the jazz talk of the Flappers and their cake-eating escorts.”
— The New York Times, April 23, 1922
Shifter glossary
Oil Burner: girl who chews gum
Princess Mary: girl about to be married
Dud: a Flapper who can’t keep in the swim
Young Otis: chap from the country
Slam-book: diary in which you “knock” your friends
Egg Harbor: free-admission dance
Woofy: in place of nothing else to say; generally meaningless
Ankling along: taking a walk
Sinker: girl who is a wallflower
Red Mike: boy who never goes out with a girl
Darb: can be relied on to pay the checks
Monog: one who is “goofy” about one person at a time
Rug-shaking: shimmying
Blouse: let’s go
Flat-wheeler: chap whose idea of entertainment is a walk
Tomato: pretty girl who can dance but has no brains
Washout: maiden somewhat the worse for years
Snugglepupping: spooning, petting
Mad Money: streetcar money in case of a row with your fellow
Jammed: intoxicated
Strike-breaker: substitute girl when your steady is sore on you
Lollygagger: young man addicted to hallway spooning
Flat Tire: would-be Flapper over 30
Smudger: one who does all the new dances
Wrinkle: a chaperone
Crasher: Flapper or “Cakie” who goes uninvited
Finale-hopper: arrives after ticket-taker has gone
Goof: sap, guy, fish but different from “Goofy”
Destroyer: dances on your feet
Squirrel: hides or banks his or her money
Loaded: not drunk, but primed with information
Sharpshooter: dances well and spends money freely
Drag: to escort a Flapper somewhere
4-o: highest possible rating
She’s gottem: knows the ropes
Buried: Flapper who has become married
O.A.O.: One And Only
Knee Duster: Flapper’s dress
Nunnally Cowboy: cake eater, lounge lizard
Wallie: Goof with patent leather hair
