History
An unlikely theory is that it arose from a health spa fad, which began in the second half of the 19th century and continued up until World War I. This movement was popularized by Sylvester Graham, best remembered for the Graham Cracker, and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, of cereal fame. People traveled to the shore to enjoy the "beneficial airs" of the salt water, "bene-" becoming "benny" in the process.
Read more about this topic: Benny (slang)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
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“Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.”
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