Don T Take Any Wooden Nickels

Depression-era expression relating to privately minted wooden tokens which resembled coins but were used as commemoratives or promotional items.

Don t take any wooden nickels. FREE shipping on qualifying offers. Although there never were any wooden nickels as legal tender country folk going to a city were likely to be cheated by all manner of ruses including obviously counterfeit coins. McPhee College Slang in American Speech III2.

This expression was first heard in the early 20th century. Dont take any wooden nickels. The information contained in the multimedia content Video Content.

Daisies Of The Galaxy 2000 Grace Kelly Blues. Dont take any wooden nickels When you sell your soul A devil of a time awaits you When the partys over Youre on your own Now the partys over Im on my own Submit Corrections. Dont Take Any Wooden Nickels September 24 2015 April 21 2016 SC ETC.

Do not be naive. 1938 Macys College Shop display advertisement New York Times 14 Aug p. Wooden Nickels first made their debut in the 1930s mostly in the State of Washington as a response to the need for currency during the Depression.

It was a humorous adjuration meaning beware of those city slickers for no real wooden nickels were. This adage too precedes the use of wooden nickels as a replacement currency suggesting that its origins lie not in the genuine monetary value of nickels but rather in their purely commemorative nature. Although there never were any wooden nickels as legal tender country folk going to a city were likely to be cheated by all manner of ruses including obviously counterfeit coins.

Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable gives to variants Dont take any wooden nickels and Dont take any wooden nutmegs Hes unclear about the dates but does seem to imply nutmegs came first. With a touch of romance and a strong heroine Dont Take Any Wooden Nickels offers more of the fast-paced and suspenseful inspirational writing readers found in A Penny for Your Thoughts. The phrase Dont take any wooden nickels reminds people to be cautious in their business dealings since some unscrupulous characters tried to use them in their dealings with people.