1901: “Wilkins Micawber” talks Chinuk Wawa in Kansas?!
Neat question — to what extent is this a joke?
Mr. Micawber in a 1912 edition of the book (image credit: Wikipedia)
I figure it wasn’t terribly cheap to take out an ad in the newspaper in 1901, so the following seems like a strategy to get atttention, and get hired by someone literate.
“Wilkins Micawber” is a main character in Charles Dickens’s well-known novel “David Copperfield”, you see.
This little find from Kansas, of all places, is also one of the earliest published occurrences of the phrase “Chinook Wa Wa” (chinuk-wawa), believe it or not!
WILKINS MICAWBER, a man of parts, wants a job. Knows everything and can do anything. Some money. Espano[l], Svensk, Dansk, Deutsch and Cumtu[x] Chinook Wa Wa. Address Newton Murphy, Winfield, Kan.
— from the Wichita (KS) Daily Eagle of April 26, 1901, page 7, column 3
