hoover blanket
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.44 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Old newspaper or cardboard, used by a homeless person to cover themselves for warmth, especially during the Great Depression.
American usage; Dated
Example Sentences
- "The shantytowns where homeless thousands dwelled were called Hoovervilles; newspapers used as blankets by men who were forced to sleep on park benches were Hoover blankets; a pocket turned inside out was a Hoover flag […]"
- "The newly unemployed stood in breadlines and slept on park benches under Hoover blankets made of newspaper."
- "Poverty became a way of life for 40 million Americans as laid off workers roamed the streets sleeping under Hoover 'blankets' - old newspapers. By 1933 the number of unemployed would mount to between 13 and 15 million […]"
- "Hoovervilles dotted the American landscape, men slept under newspapers or "Hoover blankets," and kept the money they did't have in turned-out pockets […]"
- "... country—who were out of work, penniless, embarrassed, immobilized in sheer desperation, standing slumped, hollow-eyed, in long breadlines, begging or selling apples, sleeping under frayed overcoats or under Hoover blankets on streets ..."
- "[Even witnessing people] hollow-eyed, in breadlines that stretched block after block, covering themselves at night with newspapers they called “Hoover blankets,” the president was stunningly unwilling to reach out to desperate Americans."