A McCreachery Card Theory

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Mac is gaelic for "son of". O' means "grandson of". Mc and mac are used interchangeably between people of Scotch or Irish heritage.

There is no such clan name as McCreacherie or McCreachery etc. The closest I have heard of is the Scotch name McCeachern.

It's my guess that they were making fun of his older age, as in Mac "Creature".... Not a malicious slander just making fun.

www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/genealogy.html

Very interesting. I had never known the gaelic meaning of those prefixes.

But if it truly was meant to mean "Mac Creature", then that could very well indeed suggest it to mean that he was a "creature of Irish descent." Terrific observation.

[RCMcKenzie]

On his wikipedia page (for what it's worth), it says that Deacon White was a "flat-earther" zealot. He went around trying to convince people that the earth was flat. So, it may have been making fun of his intelligence.

The word 'creature' also used to be humorous slang for 'whiskey'.(Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 1959). It could be that they thought he drank. I am unaware of Catholics having strict views about alcohol usage. Anyway, I believe it was a nickname and running joke among the ball players and not an insult or slur in any way.

[cyseymour]

Wow, I had no idea about the slang of the word creature being a term for drinking. It turns out that the Irish were very heavy drinkers back then, according to the stereotype.

http://www.victoriana.com/Irish/Iris...alCartoons.htm

If "to creature" means to drink a lot, and the Irish were known to drink a lot, then the name "McCreachery" could have been a joke that meant "drinks so much that he's Irish".

If that's the case, then you are probably right that it is not really meant to be malicious (albeit still engaging in a stereotype).

[RCMcKenzie]

Yes, that's what I'm thinking it meant....

Also "White" is a very common English surname. Wikipedia cites a British genealogy website as listing "White" as the 16th most common surname in the United Kingdom.

[cyseymour]

Fascinating! Thank you so much for participating in this thread and enlightening me with your observations!

[Joe_G.]

I guess we left too much open to interpretation w.r.t. the McCreachery card. I was responsible for much of the content in the "Old Judge Production" chapter so I'll take the blame for not being more specific. To quote the book directly, as you did above, "The final example is a rare portrait card of Deacon White. A fictitous name, McCreachery, is listed together with the title of manager for the Indianapolis club. Deacon White, the oldest player in the league, was apparently better suited to manage from the bench than play third base for the Detroit Wolverines".

I did not intend to suggest his play was poor, but instead that his age (and appearance) was more appropriate for a manager than playing the hot corner. As for the name McCreachery, there could be an inside joke that has been long lost to time. I have enjoyed reading the posts between you and RcMcKenzie.

Thank You.

[cyseymour]

Joe,

Glad you have enjoyed reading the posts, and the OJ book was a definitely a huge contribution. However, I must say that I do believe the idea that the McCreachery card was a reference to his age was a misinterpretation. It happens - every book (and in fact, history itself) is an interpretation. That's why they say that history is always changing.

As for the idea of whether it was malicious, I have mulled it over and still think it might have been a mix - i.e., while it was a joke about his drinking, the producers of the cards may have realized it was malicious after a very short print run and then pulled the card. Which is why there is only one remaining specimen today.

Clearly, in a time period where Irishmen were seen as wild drinkers, hot-tempered and belonged to a poor, undereducated class subject to job discrimination, i.e., many signs for employment that read "Irish Need Not Apply", the card could be very well considered to be derogatory. White clearly had some very eccentric and uneducated ideas, and that could be the source of calling him Irish.

Whether it was malicious or purely as a spoof is subject to debate (we may never really know their true intentions) but White's strong performance on the field, plus the etymology of the name teasing him, strongly suggests that the joke on the card was not really a reference to his age.

[kkkkandp]

My 1887 Pud Galvin card looks like it says "Calvin."

Do you think that was a subtle reference by the creators of Old Judge cards to theologian John Calvin, upon whose theories Presbyterianism was based? Furthermore, through that could it be a veiled reference to the Presbyterian cocktail as a subtle dig against the teams in the American Association - the upstart "Beer and Whiskey League" - that was challenging the teams from the more established National League? Galvin came from the American Association to the National League in 1887.

Just a thought.

[z28jd]

Kevin speaks the truth. It is well-known that the Goodwin family was an uppity bunch, always willing to take potshots at those they deemed less fortunate. They were also huge supporters of the French.

An example of their family's affinity for the French can be found subtly on the card of Frenchy Genins. The Goodwin's were still much maligned earlier in the 19th century for their ardent support of the French during the US-French battles at sea from 1798-1800(known as the Quasi-War). While the Old Judge cards didn't come out until generations later, their support was undying and unwavering. Being a company located near a huge US harbor, they were always welcoming towards their French allies during the 1887 time period. The Goodwins themselves were seafaring people and they owned a small island in the NY harbor, not far from their company. The spelling of "Genius" on the Frenchy Genins card was not an error nor a jab at the player. Rather it was a beckoning call towards the French to resume their attacks, intelligence at the time indicated that the defensive mentality of the U.S. towards the French was down due to the recent goodwill shown by gift of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

Thus my friends, Frenchy Genius was a subtle nod to the French that times were right for war.