Info Request: Feather Merchant
by DickG DickG (no login)
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Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 05:48:21 EDT
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Subject: MILINET: Resps "Info Request--"Feather Merchant"
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22 May
MILINET: Resps "Info Request--"Feather Merchant"
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Generally as you describe, and also here.
http://4mermarine.com/USMC/dictionary.html I have also seen Marines make reference to the old Snuffy Smith comic strip of the '40s, which, apparently, also had some characters referred to as "feather merchants." -Dick Gaines
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ANOTHER RESPONSE
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It equates to 'lightweight' or candy ass. My dad was a Pearl Harbor (Hickam Field) Vet and used it all the time. It associates someone who would only have enought strength to lift a box of feathers - I think. [RWH]
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ANOTHER RESPONSE
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Pint sized people called Feather merchants first appeared in a cartoon strip featuring Snuffy Smith, which in turn had evolved from a cartoon strips featuring Barney Google. That would have been inn the late '30s or early '40s. It was not necessarily a pejorative term.
PR
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ANOTHER RESPONSE
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Major I'm sure you have had a good many responses to this one. But here's a couple of points in response to Hep. In the "Naval Terms Dictionary" by CAPT John V. Noel, Jr. USN (Ret) and CAPT Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret) published by the Naval Institute Press "feather merchant" is defined: "An uncomplimentary term of mild scorn, applied to those new to the service (especially reservists)."
In his book, "GYRENE: The World War II United States Marine" Captain Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. USNR (Ret), writes that a feather merchant is, "minimum weight or height, or small Marine." In the book, "War Slang" by Paul Dickson, there is a very extensive definition and some words on origins, page 154. Dickson's definition is, "A civilian; a lazy person. Here is an excerpt from the jacket copy of Max Shulman's 1944 classic of wartime humor, The Feather Merchant: 'Dan Miller is just a happy soldier going home on furlough.
But he is ambushed by an advance patrol of feather merchants as he gets off the train in Minneapolis.' Dickson goes on to credit the origin of the word to:
(1) Pre WWII hillbilly dwarfs in the Barney Google comic strip were considered "feather merchants" because they picked up large feathers and flew off, waving the feathers like wings."
(2) The phrase originated with the Navy. According to William B. Mellor, Jr. in Newsweek, Apr 23, 1945, the term comes from the cross-feathered insignia worn by Navy clerks- shoulder boards for officers and rating badges for petty officers.
He goes on to say the term has come to mean anyone with a soft billet. Of more meaning to me is the definition provided by WW II Marine Perry Pollins, 4th JASCO, Fox 2/7 and HqCo, 7th Marines (North China) in his new book, "Tales of a Feather Merchant".
He writes in his Prologue, "The label 'feather merchant ' was assigned to all recruits in boot camp." He goes on to write, "Marines with minimal know-how, usually small in size, extremely young, physically uncoordinated, incapable of responding to basic orders and totally undisciplined."
He concluded that a feather merchant became, "a disciplined and confident Marine not only able to deal with a ruthless and implacable enemy, but also one who could take the lessons learned in war and apply them to the art of future living."
Pollins book is available thru Merriam Press, 800-447-0313.
Best regards
Walt Ford
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ANOTHER RESPONSE
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Not 100% sure, but I, too, was a 'feather-merchant'. My understanding is that the term is nautical in nature, and that it is applied light-weight people.
Its origin may be due to ships which are 'dead-headed' back without a cargo; they rode high in the water, and were referred to as 'feather-merchants', sort of a derogatory term, as the captain of the vessel in question was unable to get a cargo for a return trip...therefore, not pulling his full responsibility.
S/F, Gus
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Posted on May 22, 2002, 9:16 PM
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Responses
* some truth in google and smith. Tom Dowlearn Tom Dowlearn on May 23, 2002, 1:34 AM
* Feather Merchant. Herschel(Jim)Cobb Herschel(Jim)Cobb on May 23, 2002, 3:34 PM
* More info. regarding the term "Feather Merchant". Greg Greg on May 23, 2002, 4:12 PM
