Toonerville Trolley

English

Etymology

From the 1908–1955 cartoon featuring a trolley.

Proper noun

Toonerville Trolley (plural Toonerville Trolleys)

1. (informal) An old-fashioned single-car trolley.
   • 1945, J. H. Hodgson, The Heavens Above and the Earth Beneath: A History of the Dominion Observatories‎^[1], Geological Survey of Canada, page 66:

     Such a car was the feature of a comic strip of those days, "The Toonerville Trolley that Meets All the Trains", and the Farm cars were affectionately known as "The Toonerville Trolley".

   • 1995, Charity Adams Earley, One Woman's Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC‎^[2], Texas A&M University Press, page 118:

     [T]he two modes of transportation available were taxicab and the “Toonerville Trolley.” ... The name “Toonerville Trolley” was taken from a popular cartoon of the time because we thought the rock and roll of the streetcar and the uphill and downhill route seemed to be lifted from the cartoon.

   • 2002, Dale E. Shaffer, Salem, OH: A Quaker City History‎^[3], Arcadia Publishing, page 93:

     The trolley on that route was referred to as “Old Dolly” and the “Toonerville Trolley” (from the comic strip)

   • 2007, “Vermont: Toonerville Trail”, in Rail-Trails: New England‎^[4], Wilderness Press, page 205:

     The trolley, affectionately nicknamed the “Toonerville Trolley” after a popular cartoon strip that ran until 1947.

   • 2007, John H. Davis, What Do White Americans Want to Know about Black Americans But Are Afraid to Ask‎^[5], Xlibris, page 86:

     During the period, the area became known as the Toonerville after a local factory. The Pacific electric red car tracks ran through the area, and the local trolley became known as the Toonerville trolley.

   • 2008, Thomas L. Hamm, Jr., A Lifetime Spent Doing What I Loved to Do!: An Autobiography‎^[6], iUniverse, page 15:

     To travel that mile there was an honest-to-god Toonerville Trolley. A Toonerville Trolley was a very small, one railroad car, featured in a comic strip popular at the time, with one cartoon-type fellow who did all the driving; ...

   • 2009, Dorothy Grider, “Just Like Paradise”, in Geri Delevich, Marilyn Cichowski, editors, Embraceable You: We're All Part of the Story - New Hope, Pennsylvania‎^[7], iUniverse, page ??:

     I always loved the first leg of that trip that began with a walk over the bridge that led to Lambertville Station and then a hop on board the little one-coach train called the Toonerville Trolley.

2. A noticeably inexpensive trip.
   • 1969 October 10, American Flyers Airline, advertisement, Life‎^[8], volume 67, number 175, page 124:

     Our airline must be something out of the Toonerville Trolley.

   • 1983, Stephen King, Pet Sematary‎^[9], Doubleday:

     At that point Louis had gone into the dispensary and taken a Tuinal—what his first med school roommate had called Tooners. “Hop up on the Toonerville Trolley, Louis,” he'd say, “and I'll put on some Credence.”