Texas Tommy

[Archive]

Posted By: David Smith

Could this dance have anything to do with how or why the cards are named the way they are?

Item number: 330075565866

[Archive]

Posted By: Ray

Bill,
I'm by no means an expert on this set, but I know it was named from the candy bar called "Texas Tommy" (which the cards were packed with). However, it is believed that the candy bar was named for the "Texas Tommy" dance.

See Old Cardboard issue #7 (Spring 2006) for a very neat and informative article.

[Archive]

Posted By: Zach Rice

John Esch did a wonderful article on the E224 set. In it, he goes into great depth into the set, the name and the set's origin. Below is a part of the article where his opinion on the name is given. To understand the below section, it is important to know that earlier in the article the company that produced the set is discussed, the Cardinet Candy Company which was located in San Francisco.

The Texas Tommy was a popular ballroom dance, which began gaining notoriety about 1909. According to the website wwww.streetsing.com, Texas Tommy is said by many to be the first swing dance. It is credited as the forerunner of the Lindy Hop and later, the Jitterbug. The Fairmont Hotel is credited with giving birth to the Texas Tommy. And where was the Fairmount located? Yes, San Francisco--just across the Bay Bridge from Oakland. We may be on to something here ! The Dance was solidified as a craze with its appearance in the Ziegfield Follies in 1911 and the Darktown Follies in Harlem in 1913. Texas Tommy cards date from 1914. Hmm!

But why choose to name a candy bar for a dance? Well, why not? You had baby Ruth, O'Henry and for that matter, Cracker Jack which used names totally unrelated to the product's content. Texas Tommy was a catchy name; it had some common usage and a positive, maybe even hip connotation. Considering the Cardinet's other brands including names like Abba Zabba and U-NO, the Texas Tommy name seems very plausible.

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Zach,

I work in SF, that's intriguing background on the Texas Tommy set. Thanks for letting me know.

Peter