Four Eleven Forty Four
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The numerical phrase Four Eleven Forty Four or 4-11-44 has appeared repeatedly in popular music for over a century.
The roots of this enigmatic phrase can be traced to the illegal lottery known as policy in late 19th century America. Numbers were drawn on a wheel of fortune, ranging from 1 to 78. A three-number entry was known as a “gig” and the ever-popular 4, 11, 44 bet became known as the “washerwoman’s gig” after it featured on the cover of “Aunt Sally’s Policy Players' Dream Book”, published by H.J. Wehman of New York sometime in the 1880s. The stereotypical player of the washerwoman's gig was a poor black male.
In the 1890 How the Other Half Lives - Studies Among the Tenements of New York, Jacob A. Riis wrote:
Of all the temptations that beset him, the one that troubles him and the police most is his passion for gambling. The game of policy is a kind of unlawful penny lottery specially adapted to his means, but patronized extensively by poor white players as well. It is the meanest of swindles, but reaps for its backers rich fortunes wherever colored people congregate. Between the fortune-teller and the policy shop, closely allied frauds always, the wages of many a hard day's work are wasted by the negro; but the loss causes him few regrets. Penniless, but with undaunted faith in his ultimate "luck," he looks forward to the time when he shall once more be able to take a hand at "beating policy." When periodically the negro's lucky numbers, 4-11-44, come out on the slips of the alleged daily drawings, that are supposed to be held in some far-off Western town, intense excitement reigns in Thompson Street and along the Avenue, where someone is always the winner. An immense impetus is given then to the bogus business that has no existence outside of the cigar stores and candy shops where it hides from the law, save in some cunning Bowery "broker's" back office, where the slips are printed and the "winnings" apportioned daily with due regard to the backer's interests.
Probably the earliest written reference to 4-11-44 is in "The Secrets Of The Great City", by Edward Winslow Martin (aka James Dabney McCabe). The book is about the New York slums and it was published in 1869. Interestingly, however, Martin attributes the section on policy to "the New York correspondent of a provincial journal", but does not name the writer. Nor does he date the article, except to say it was published "recently".
In 1889, H.J. Wehman listed “Four 'eleven forty-four” in their extensive song book. This is the earliest known use of the phrase in music. The published song was possibly as performed in an unsuccessful musical show “4-11-44” by Bert Williams & George Walker, but few details have survived and this has not been verified. Certainly, Bob Cole published a song entitled "4-11-44: A Coon Ditty" in 1897 and he performed this with the Black Patti Troubadour Company in the musical skit "At Jolly Cooney Island" around the same time.
The phrase "four eleven forty four" appeared in the racist coon song, "Every Race has a Flag but the Coon" by William A. Heelan & J. Fred Helf, in 1900. In an ironic twist, many believe the song went on to inspire the creation of the Pan-African flag in 1920. Meanwhile, the phrase appeared in a 1909 episode of the newspaper comic Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay: the numbers 4, 11 and 44 can be seen on a sign, hanging from the tail end of an imaginary creature.
In 1925 the phrase Four-Eleven-Forty-Four featured in “The Penitentiary Bound Blues" by Rosa Henderson and the Choo Choo Jazzers.
Papa Charlie Jackson recorded a blues number with the title "4-11-44" in 1926.
The blues theme continued when Pinetop & Lindberg (aka The Sparks Brothers) released a different song called “4-11-44” in the 1930s.
A jazz piece of the same name was recorded by Poindexter & Ervin in 1963, though it has not been possible to verify whether this was an original composition.
Liverpudlian Pete Wylie released a new song, "FourElevenFortyFour", on his "Sinful" album in 1987.
A Californian band called The Blasters made their “4-11-44” the title track of their 2004 album.
Jawbone (aka Bob Zabor) released yet another track called “4-11-44” in 2005.
More recently, this lucky number and sign of good fortune has appeared in online dictionaries as slang for a large male appendage.
