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9 Responses to The Mysterious Nerine

1. 

   Charly1 August 2011 at 9:16 pm

   “The Twins of Bergamo” is a play featuring a Nerine. It appeared in “The Drama, Vol. 8,” published in 1918. Staged readings and dramatic arts were popular both within the community and at home a century ago.

   http://books.google.com/books?id=K0cjAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA351&dq=nerine&hl=en&ei=NWs3TriUBa_KiALSoK3MDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=nerine&f=false

   Gardening also had a craze in the post-WWI years, and “The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches” is just one of the publications that mentions Nerines.

   http://books.google.com/books?id=BgpJAAAAYAAJ&q=nerine&dq=nerine&hl=en&ei=NWs3TriUBa_KiALSoK3MDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA
2. 

   Charly1 August 2011 at 9:20 pm

   Also, anyone at this staging of Moliere’s “Impromtu du Vieux Colombier” on Nov. 28, 1917 would have encountered Nerine as a name. I’d imagine all these would be upper-class phenomena: gardening, plays, Moliere. Any clues as to the states or income levels of the parents of baby Nerines?

   http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F1FF73A5E11738DDDA10A94D9415B878DF1D3
3. 

   Nancy2 August 2011 at 1:39 am

   Charly, thanks for your help!

   “The Twins of Bergamo” and the gardening craze I did not know about. The Moliere play I knew about, but, as you mention, I don’t know if any of these things would have had the mass appeal necessary to catapult Nerine from fewer than 5 babies in 1916 to 43 in 1917.

   State-by-state data from both the SSA and the SSDI indicate that Nerines were born all over the country, not just in one particular state/region.

   I’m not aware of data that ties baby names to parental income levels, though I think inferences could be made using census data (e.g. occupation, property ownership).

   SSDI data does list 3 Nerines born in December of 1916, which is interesting — maybe something happened at the tail end of 1916? Hm.
4. 

   Maria16 August 2011 at 7:28 am

   I wonder if this could be a coincidence type of situation– naming children after flowers was very popular at that time, and the Nerine flower came to prominence around then as well I think (I wonder if it may have been that 1916/17 was a moment where the flower became more widely available, or something like that?
5. 

   Flora16 November 2011 at 8:02 pm

   Please see the 1915 San Diego World’s Fair, which
   ran till 1917. Also known as the Panama-California
   Exposition, they boasted a large botanical exposition
   with structures they built which I think still might
   remain today. It’s a long-shot, but maybe the flower
   debuted there?
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama–California_Exposition_(1915)#section_5
6. 

   Nancy18 November 2011 at 3:59 pm

   Thanks for the comments, Maria and Flora!

   Nerines were available long before 1917, but perhaps they suddenly came into fashion around that time, and perhaps it had something to do with the World’s Fair. Certainly plausible. I’ve been looking for evidence, though, and I’m coming up short.
7. 

   Flora30 November 2011 at 3:53 pm

   Thanks, Nancy. I searched all the Vaudeville players, given the time-frame. BTW, I found the play of such interest; I had long forgotten about it. Were songs searched? Did I miss that?
8. 

   Nancy11 December 2011 at 11:27 am

   I searched for songs — I do my best to comb through all the main pop culture categories (movies, music, books, politics, etc.) — but didn’t have any luck.
9. 

   Flora11 December 2011 at 8:50 pm

   Thanks, Nancy, I figured you already had. I spent a little more time today on two more ideas to no avail, but I remember a Lady Nerine :) from my youth, so I will keep at this mystery along with you!