In Response to Miriam Bell "Witch's Tit" 10/24/99

Posted by Hal Whittaker on November 21, 2002

While everyone seems to be enamored with the "thermodynamics of thaumaturgic mammaries" I mst say many are not abreast of true origin of this term. It is clearly early 20th Century and emanates from the Mid-Western United States. The term was in original form "Cold as Witches' Tit" which is a town up in the mountains of ( I believe, Montana; it shoulders the border so you may find reference in two states)-the town called Witches' t i t which on the early travel routes was known to reach temperatures in storms, ice, snow and wind of > 20 degrees below zero and because the traveler's reference point for "tue coldness". The bastardizaton of the term to "...as a..." can be found only in passing reference in the Salem Journals circa 1938, strangly enough around Halloween. 'nuf said!!