• Heavybell@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    That’s part of why I prefer that option. While I believe coats were probably more costly vs a poor person’s income than they are today, I agree a clothes iron would likely have been worth more, making it the more obvious thing to pawn; plus in the cold of England you’d probably rather be without your iron than your coat while waiting for payday.

    • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      So I had to have a look.
      And there’s a few theories, the coat theory, but the others are pretty interesting too:

      There has been much speculation about the meaning of the phrase and song title, “Pop Goes the Weasel”.[1][6] Some say a weasel is a tailor’s flat iron, silver-plate dishes, a dead animal, a hatter’s tool, or a spinner’s weasel.[1][23][17] One writer notes, “Weasels do pop their heads up when disturbed and it is quite plausible that this was the source of the name of the dance.”[1]

      Emphasis is mine.