[Magdalen] Coon/Cooning.

[Grace Cangialosi]

David,
“Coon” was/is also a very pejorative term for African-Americans, and it’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this. I suspect the term “cooning melons” meant stealing them.

> On May 25, 2018, at 12:09 PM, cantor03--- via Magdalen <magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> We had some delicious cantaloupe yesterday, and it brought
> 
> back memories of my native village in NW Wisconsin.  There, in
> sandy fields in the Pine Barrens, there was a seed farm that
> specialized in cantaloupe.  The seed farm was owned by the
> Daniels family, pillars of the local Methodist congregation.
>  
> Daniels' melons were delicious, but they had to be consumed
> on the property under their supervision.  The precious seeds
> had to be preserved.
>  
> I used the expression, "cooning melons," and my mate
> looked shocked.  According to my dictionaries, this expression,
> meaning "stealing" melons [anything] is a southern USA
> usage, but the expression was commonly employed to
> describe the coming of age ritual of local high school boys
> who were the bane of the Daniel's existence during the
> July/August season, and attempted to steal melons at night.
>  
> Old Man Daniels literally slept in the fields holding his
> handy shotgun in lap during those months.
>  
> Anyway, this usage of coon/cooning is not pejorative
> in my usage, anyway.
>  
> Here in Pennsylania USA, "Coon/s" properly refers to
> raccoons that are plentiful here in the mountains.  Hunting
> them is "cooning."
>  
>  
> David S.
>