The Shake Rag, Tupelo, Miss website gives the origin of the name as:
'A local explanation for the origin of Shake Rag's name refers to people "shakin' their rags" while fleeing a fight. The term was also used to describe African American musical gatherings in the 1800s and early 1900s and may be related to Shake Rag's location next to the railway tracks; prior to regular timetables, passengers would signal for the engineer to stop a train by shaking a rag.'
Regards,
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Evans Alwyn" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:55 PM
Subject: Re: "Shake Rag Street"
Just spoken to a friend who has come over from Wisconsin to stay with us, who was brought up close to Mineral Point, and whose grandparents lived there. She was adamant that it had nothing at all to do with ragging tables but everything to do with the custom of the Cornishwomen whose families were the main inhabitants of the street, of shaking their dusting rags out side the front door. Yes it may be 'invented heritage', but it seems to me more likely to have firmer provenance than the suggestions made here so far. Sorry to cast cold water.
Alwyn Evans
On 28 Sep 2011, at 20:54, Bernard Moore wrote:
> Dear Tim,
>
> What you propose is feasible. Who knows if is it accurate... however. There
> are certain points that make sence, it might need some professional
> imagination... please don't take this the wrong way, since my thinking might be
> so!!! - but I am not going to chance my luck in this!!!
>
> Regards, Bernard
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 27/09/2011 18:51:05 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
> writes:
>
> Dear List,
>
> I write for advice on a curious tradition. I have already searched the
> Mining-History email list archive to be sure this has not been discussed.
>
> Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in the United States, is part of an area that
> became a famous lead mining region in the 1820s-1850s. The mining, milling,
> and smelting were all small scale during this period and the mines were
> dominated by Cornish immigrants, along with Germanic and other ethnic groups.
> Later in the 20th century, zinc mining became equally important in the
> region.
>
> The town of Mineral Point has a street called "Shake Rag Street." The
> street was originally named Hoard Street, and the name was changed sometime in
> the 1930s, supposedly formally adopting the local nickname "Shake Rag."
> Local folklore holds that the name Shake Rag came from the practice of women
> waiving rags to signal to men working the windlasses on the ridge east of
> town, telling them that their meals were ready. Indeed, I have read a
> claim that the entire town was once nicknamed "Shake Rag Under the Hill."
>
> I have always been pretty skeptical of this claim, which sounds to me like
> an invention of the 1930s heritage interests.
>
> Most list members can anticipate my reservations. My skepticism stems
> from the fact that a "ragging table" (and ragging by hammer more generally,
> and "rag" as a term for a rough and hard stone) is a common variant of
> "racking table," the common method for concentrating tin ore in Cornwall. In
> Mineral Point, ragging could have been commonly work for women and men,
> presumably somewhere near to both the shaft and a water source.
>
> As the table technology evolved, shaking tables became common, making the
> job much easier. I don't know if the terms "ragging" and "shake table"
> were ever combined, however.
>
> I write to the list to learn if anyone has ever heard the term "shake rag"
> used to describe a shaking table for concentrating ore, in galena or lead
> mining or simply in general usage. Pardon my error if I have miss
> interpreted a technical term in my request.
>
> Thanks very much,
> Timothy Scarlett
>
>
> http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=402
> 8&term_type_id=2&term_type_text=places&letter=S=
Evans Alwyn
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