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CanHistory |
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Who
was the real McCoy?
by Sal Towse Ever wonder where the saying the "Real McCoy" comes from? Thanks to Sal Towse, our guest author, you can get a glimpse into the history of the saying.
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February 10, 2001 Who was the real McCoy? -- a factoid for Black History month and our Canadians pals up north Elijah McCoy (1843(4)-1929) was born and raised in Colchester, Ontario, by his parents who had come north to escape slavery in the South. He went away to school and earned his engineering degree in Scotland. When he came back home to work, he found that jobs just weren't available for a black man with an engineering degree. He finally headed south to find job opportunities in the States. In the States too, he couldn't find a job that used his engineering degree, but he did find work in Ypsilanti, MI, working for the Michigan Central Railroad as a fireman on the railway engines. As part of his job, he had to keep the engines and wheels lubricated, running up and down the train with oil can in hand, during its frequent but brief stops for lubrication. Thinking there had to be a better way, he invented a device to lubricate engines while they were operating, keeping the engines running without having to stop frequently for lubrication: the automatic oil drip cup. He received a patent for the automatic oil drip cup in 1872. The other railways discovered what a great idea the McCoy cup was and began installing the automatic oil drip cup on their engines as well. The invention was a hit, which created, of course, a market for imitators and ripoffs which didn't work as well as the original. People began asking if the device they were being sold was "the real McCoy."
Click here for more information on McCoy. Please feel free to visit Sal's site or contact via email. Reprinted with permission of author |
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