"Bones a week" was recognized slang for weekly pay -- Googled and found a couple of dated instances mixed in with dozens of articles about how many bones you should allow your dog. A 1911 article held up twenty bones a week as an example of lousy remuneration for a bookkeeper, so guessing 4 bones a week places this card as much earlier.
I know I've seen "bones a week" in old fiction, but I don't think I've ever seen "bones" used for dollars in any other context.
"Bones a week" was recognized slang for weekly pay -- Googled and found a couple of dated instances mixed in with dozens of articles about how many bones you should allow your dog. A 1911 article held up twenty bones a week as an example of lousy remuneration for a bookkeeper, so guessing 4 bones a week places this card as much earlier.
ReplyDeleteI know I've seen "bones a week" in old fiction, but I don't think I've ever seen "bones" used for dollars in any other context.