By Frank Leslie’s magazine – Library of Congress, Public Domain
A few years back Pam Moore told me about a saying I had never heard. Recently I heard someone else use the saying.
Pam also explained the meaning behind the saying, here’s what she said:
“My mom would always say that we had “enough food to feed Cox’s army”. I asked her who Cox was and she said she didn’t know, it was just something that her parents said. I did some research and found out that there were two Coxs. During the Depression, in 1932, a priest named Cox led a march on Washington, DC consisting of unemployed men from Pennsylvania. In 1894, another depression year, Jacob Coxey led a protest march into Washington, DC to ask that jobs be created. I thought it was interesting that there were two “Cox’s armies”.
Tipper
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In her book “On the Way Home” Laura Ingalls Wilder mentions Coxey’s armies on page one while discussing the Panic of 1893. She describes them as coming from California, seizing railroad trains as they headed East towards Washington, and terrorizing towns on their route to pillage for food. She recalls, “In all the cities Federal troops were guarding the Government’s buildings.” The book is a diary of her family’s trip from De Smet, South Dakota, to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894
My grandfather was a Cox,and the “enuf to feed an army” was heard and quoted by many. I don’t know if my dna is related to J.S. Coxey, but it’s an interesting piece of history for a Cox descendent.
I plan to search more on this name. Was Coxey the same as Cox is my first search subject.
A family history of my Cox ancestors were first recorded in this country. Three brother “Cox” came here from e
England fleeing for religious freedom. One became a mountain man who lost a son in a fight with Indians. The second Cox became a merchant in Philadelphia and the third Cox obtained a land grant signed by Benjamin’s Franklin. He migrated with the grant to Tennessee and was a farmer. I haven’t done research but that side of the family paid to have their genealogy researched. They now live in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
My mom said that all the time. We are from WV
Me too. From WV and always heard that saying.
I came online looking for a history of this expression. I come from a big midwestern family, and my mom (a Depression baby) used to say she cooked”enough to feed Cox’s Army”. An expression I use all the time without knowing anything about it. lol Thanks for the info. I’m sure it came from HER mom.
My great great grandfather called his son’s large family Cox’s Army, so I know it was not the depression era Cox he referred to.
Here in Northeast Tennessee the saying “enough to feed Cox’s Army” or “it would take Cox’s army to do so and so” referd in the Confederate officer who occupied a camp in present dat Johnson City, TN.
I’ve heard and used “enough to feed an army” plenty of times but never heard the “Cox’s” or “Coxey’s” name associated with the saying.
A gentleman from our church was a cook during the Korean War (er, Conflict) and he recently donated his recipe box to our local group that puts out meals for 200 plus each weekend with servings big enough to last folks 2 to 4 meals. The “head honcho” especially likes his recipes because when they talk about servings, they are planning for large servings to feed hard working service men and women instead of, as she says, those “prissy” servings counted in most cookbooks for 50 or more. Guess you could say she and her volunteers serve up “enough to feed Cox’s Army” every weekend.
Thank you so much Tipper for educating us out here. You make life so very interesting. I love seeing your post every day. It is something I do look forward to for so many wonderful reasons.
Tipper,
I called and ask Donna Lynn to announce The Pressley Girls tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at the Festival Barn at the John C. Campbell Folk School and if it rains, it’ll be at the Keith House. Then I ask her to play “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”. She played another by the Pressley Girls and “Shepherd of my Soul” by Paul and Pap. Those are Favorites or mine. …Ken
My mother said it, too! And I never knew until this day the source for the saying! Thanks, Tipper!
Tipper,
I use to know some Coxes that started the Tom’s Peanut Business. They lived just below my shop and I knew Tony and Jerry. After the dad died Tony moved his part of the business to Pennsylvania. I still see Tom’s brands in local stores all over the place, but I never heard Pam Moore’s version of the Coxes feeding an Army. I guess we didn’t have enough left over to feed an Army. …Ken
I’ve heard “Enough to feed an army!” all my life but didn’t know the army had a name. The army depicted in the photo looks fairly well off with their parasols and shiny carriages. They must be fighting in someone else’s behalf. Something like a modern million man march.
My grandparents frequently used the expression and, to a lesser extent, my parents did as well. To a young child the operative portion of the expression was ‘Army’. That was a lot of people. I didn’t really understand the possible origins of the phrase until much later. I wonder if there was a generational evolution of the phrase. My grandparents may have heard ‘Coxey’s Army’ as a reference to the 1894 demonstration and my parents perceived that as ‘Cox’s Army’, the Depression Era event that they were aware of. The phrase was colloquial and vernacular and more often spoken than written. It would take a discerning ear to distinguish them and skillful enunciation to provide the distinction. Whew! Now I’m might nigh wore out jest thinkin’ about it. Better git another cup o’ coffee.
Mama used to say this so I eventually looked it up–a bad time to live through.
Oh my goodness, my Mom used to say that all the time! I too, never heard the story behind it.
I have heard that phrase as long as I can remember but never questioned it’s origin. It is good to know where it came from. Larry
Never heard that one. Maybe enough to feed an army is a variation
I have heard it but it was years ago and I thought it was an army from the civil war.
Yep, reference to Cox’s Army was standard at our house, one of my Mom’s sayings. There also was a community of Cox folks in the county. I don’t recall now whether I ever thought they were the army, but they were numerous. Somehow I eventually became aware of the Cox Army that marched on Washington.
Another expression my Mom liked was about the “votin Tussies” which comes from Jesse Stuarts book “Taps for Private Tussie”. The votin Tussies were a notch above the non-votin Tussies but they were all still Tussies.
I’ve heard it before but never new the story behind it, I just assumed it was a civil war regimen or something like that.