"Gimme a chaw."
Earlier this year a North Carolina state legislator proposed that the state adopt its own currency. My sister, who lives in NC and keeps me up-to-date, told me that some political observers in the state had taken a keen, if unkind, interest in the idea of a new state currency and were running a contest to name it. She thought that any North Carolina currency should include the word “fried” in its name. I take her point, and I believe that it is based in part on her fondness for the wide variety of delicious fried doughs available at the North Carolina State Fair. In fact, fried dough might be a good term for this currency, seeing as how dough is already a slang term for cash. But after giving the matter a good 10 minutes of careful thought, I believe that I have come up with several even better choices. They are:
1. A pone (short, perhaps, for pone sterling). I take cornbread nearly as seriously as money, and a good pone is hard to find. But what symbol would replace the dollar sign—something shaped like a hush puppy? Maybe it would be better to use a sort of tricked-out capital P, like the ¥ for Japanese yen.
2. A bass (the fish, not the instrument, although that could be a contender, too). A tiny, vertical fish symbol could replace the dollar sign, or maybe a fish hook shape. One advantage to this name is that it automatically inspired an excellent name for counterfeit currency: stinkbait.
3. A chaw. Tobacco was historically an important part of North Carolina’s economy, so this name makes a certain amount of sense. But I only thought of it because just last week, out of the blue, Ernesto drawled, “Gimme the chaw, and you keep the plug.”
I looked at him. “Where in the world did that come from?” I asked. He usually gets his Southernisms from me, but this one smacked of a much deeper-South influence.
He replied, “Huckleberry Finn.”
So now I’m convinced that North Carolina should simply call its currency a Finn—or maybe a Huckleberry. But they better get on it right away, else Missouri will decide to print its own currency and snatch it up first.
I should note that while the rest of the Tar Heel State dallies, Pittsboro, NC already prints its own currency! Let’s go to the University of North Carolina’s Wilson Library and hear from Neil Fulghum, Keeper of the North Carolina Collection Gallery, who has some wonderful information on this money, charmingly called the Plenty.
“First issued in 2002 by an incorporated, non-profit organization in Carrboro, the Plenty’s purpose is to support local commerce and safeguard area jobs through the use of a community-based currency. … Plenty notes, which are printed with soy-based inks on a watermarked paper composed of recycled bamboo and hemp, feature very colorful decorative elements and the motto ‘In Each Other We Trust.’ As far as imagery is concerned, all three denominations of the Plenty carry the same large oak tree and landscape on their faces. Their backs are distinguished by insets of local scenery and images of trout lilies, the eastern box turtle, and great blue heron.”
Recycled hemp! You could almost call the Plenty a chaw.
Illustration: The Project Gutenberg eBook of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Part 5 by Mark Twain (www.gutenberg.org).
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