A Real Humdinger
December 7, 1951 — U.S. Editorial

The Mossadegh Project | February 27, 2017                           


U.S. President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)

Yet another unsigned editorial involving Harry S. Truman and his favorite vacation spot in Key West, Florida. The piece appeared in numerous U.S. newspapers throughout the month of December 1951, many of which have been listed below.

Harry Truman editorial archive
Harry Truman letters, speeches, etc.




Must Stay In Character

President Truman sent the language purists scurrying to the dictionary the other day when he told the Navy chaplain at Key West his Sunday sermon was a “dinger.”

There was some speculation that the word derived from the longer “humdinger,” meaning a dandy job.

Our own feeling is that “dinger” is all of a piece with the sloppy caps and garish sports shirts which set the tone for the President’s Florida sojourn.

If you’re going to say something like, “Excellent sermon, Chaplain, very cogent and clear,” then you’ve got to dress for the part.


Newspapers who ran this editorial under their masthead included:

The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) — December 7, 1951
The Iola Register (Iola, Kansas) — December 7, 1951
The Sandusky Register (Sandusky, Ohio) — December 7, 1951
The Evening Standard (Uniontown, Pennsylvania) — Dec. 7, 1951 (title: In Character?)
The Columbus Telegram (Columbus, Nebraska) — December 8, 1951
The Cumberland Sunday Times (Cumberland, Maryland) — December 9, 1951
The Chillicothe Gazette (Chillicothe, Ohio) — December 10, 1951
The Daily Globe (Ironwood, Michigan) — December 11, 1951
The Courier News (Blytheville, Arkansas) — December 11, 1951
The Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, Montana) — December 11, 1951
The Statesville Daily Record (Statesville, North Carolina) — December 11, 1951
The Carrol Daily Times Herald (Carroll, Iowa) — December 11, 1951
The Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Texas) — December 11, 1951
The Ironwood Daily Globe (Ironwood, Michigan) — December 11, 1951
The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Texas) — December 12, 1951
The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) — December 13, 1951
The Lead Daily Call (Lead, South Dakota) — Dec. 13, 1951 (title: Stay In Character)
The Deadwood Pioneer-Times (Deadwood, South Dakota) — Dec. 13, 1951 (title: Stay In Character)
The Orlando Evening Star (Orlando, Florida) — December 25, 1951



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Related links:

Old Faithful | U.S. editorial, November 16, 1951

Fish Story | U.S. editorial, November 16, 1951

Fighting Words | The Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 14, 1951



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