A McCreachery Card Theory

[Abravefan11]

For what it's worth, while at the library I went through a number of dictionaries from the time period and none included the word creachery. Several did include the word creachy.

creachy,
1. See creechy
2. Broken down, dilapidated, infirm; sickly, ailing

creechy,
1. Of things: in bad repair. Of persons: poorly, weak, sickly, ailing, feeble.

[barrysloate]

Was it possible that Deacon White was grouchy, or crotchety?

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by Abravefan11

For what it's worth, while at the library I went through a number of dictionaries from the time period and none included the word creachery. Several did include the word creachy.

creachy,
1. See creechy
2. Broken down, dilapidated, infirm; sickly, ailing

creechy,
1. Of things: in bad repair. Of persons: poorly, weak, sickly, ailing, feeble.

Thank you, Tim! Great research! So we can see that from the double-entendre that he was a Dear Son of God, but also appeared broken down and sickly, hence the reference to him being the Mgr. Indianapolis.

[insidethewrapper]

Joe: Has only 1 card been discovered of this "White-McCreachery" card ? Was it ever put into cigarette packs ? If not,should it be part of the OJ set ?

It was either 1) a mistake or error card and pulled from production or 2) it was a joke or Novelty Card and maybe given to White himself and never really a card for the public to collect, therefore not part of the set.

Researching some newspapers I have at home, Indy did have a manager (Spence) during March of 1888. So he was the manager when the photos were taken and distributed. One question answered.


Last question today : Who owns this card ? Has it ever been up for auction ?

[cyseymour]

Let me make some Etymological observations regarding the word "Creachy"

There were two disparate definitions:

To age
To fall from grace

In my view, the verb is "to creach" originally meant "to fall from grace" and later became adapted to mean "to age", as in, "to age is to fall from the grace of God."

Hence the Deacon White joke of him being the "Dear Son of God", because he had aged and now seemed better fit to become a manager, he had fallen from the grace of God.

Nowadays, the term creachie means creeky, as in "old and creeky". Back then, spellings were far less standard, and there was lots of interchangability between ch/k and ph/f, etc.