What About Dixie?

This morning, I was reminded that I have no idea where the nickname of the American South, "Dixie," came from, so I thought I would look it up.

I wasn't totally surprised to find out from etymonline that, while it's first attested from just before the Civil War, its origins are obscure. One hypothesis is that it's a reference to "Dixon," as in the Mason-Dixon Line, but "there are other well-publicized theories."

According to the Wikipedia page for the term, those other theories include the $10 notes used in New Orleans, which had the French word dix on their reverse. Without a footnote, the page says those notes were referred to as "dixies" in the area around New Orleans. A second theory mentioned is based on the name of a forced-labor-camp owner, Johan Dixie/Dixy, but even the Wikipedia says "There is no evidence that this story is true."

So, like many names and terms, it will remain obscure unless someone discovers better sources.

The first attestation, from 1859, is in the minstrel song of the same name by a white man named Dan Emmett. etymonline goes on to say that the term was later generally popularized nationwide in minstrel shows. Emmett founded the first black troupe of blackface minstrels.

After a brief stint in the Army, at age 25 Emmett joined a circus, where he toured in blackface, playing the banjo and singing. By 1843, he had formed the Virginia Minstrels with three other men. This was the first minstrel show: until then, blackface performers had played smaller parts within larger performances, and the term minstrel didn't necessarily connote blackface. 

Emmett and two of the men from the group were from Northern states, while the fourth was from Baltimore, just a bit below the Mason-Dixon line.

Emmett and his later minstrel group, Bryant's Minstrels, performed "Dixie" for the first time in New York City. It was a hit, especially in the South. For a man whose bread and butter was portraying Black people as he did, this turned out to be a bridge too far for him as a Northerner, at least once the Civil War began. His Wikipedia page cites a book, which quotes a letter:

Emmett himself reportedly told a fellow minstrel: "If I had known to what use they [Southerners] were going to put my song, I will be damned if I'd have written it." After the South began using his song as a rallying call, Emmett wrote the fife-and-drum manual for the Union Army.

For all that the song "Dixie" is culturally iconic, Emmett died a poor man, living on a weekly allowance from the Actors Fund of America.

Finally, my wondering about the name led me to the Dixie cup product, which in my Baby Boomer head is an innocent product of my youth. These days, of course, I know that it's made by Georgia Pacific, which is owned by Koch Industries, so I assumed it was intentionally named Dixie as a part of Southern heritage.

Well, it turns out that's not the case! The paper cups, which date to the early 20th century, were developed in Boston and were first called Health Kup. In 1919, during the flu pandemic, they were renamed for the Dixie Dolls, possibly because there was a large sign next door to their location in New York City and the cup company's owner thought it was a catchy name and didn't want to pay for his own sign.

The cups are still made in Pennsylvania, even after the brand was acquired by the Kochs' Georgia Pacific much later.