[Dixielandjazz] Ashes hauling

[John Farrell]

A long time ago I heard a discussion on the etymology of this expression. I
seem to remember that it had something to do with strictly orthodox Jewish
people who because of their religious convictions would do no work of any
kind on the Sabbath. They paid other people - often recruited from the local
black population - to do any essential tasks for them (one of the jobs which
had to be done daily was clearing out the fireplace, a chore known as
"hauling ashes").

Jewish men regarded sexual intercourse on the Sabbath as work and thus
abstained from it, so if their wives felt a little frisky on that day they
got their Sabbath servants to service them - a practice referred to
euphemistically as "hauling ashes".

My memory is not too reliable these days but that is the gist of my
recollection.

John Farrell
http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anton Crouch" <a.crouch at unsw.edu.au>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 6:19 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Ashes hauling


>
> Hello all
>
> Dan Spink gives a literal meaning of the phrase "to have one's ashes
> hauled" but the jazz meaning is rather different and predates bop.
>
> It's yet another euphemism for sexual intercourse.
>
> Listen to Big Bill Broonzy - "Ash Hauler", 16 December 1935 or Billy Banks
> and His Orchestra - "Spider Crawl", 23 May 1932.
>
> Where's yo bin?   :-)
>
> Anton
>
>
>
>
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