Citations:Bloomingdale

English citations of Bloomingdale

In the following citations, the term seems to mean "crazy", and is I assume a reference to the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum. (The Stout story took place in New York in the interbellum period; note also that the storyline before the quote therefrom concerns the character Wolfe's making a trip from New York to White Plains, whither the asylum had relocated from New York some years previously, according to Wikipedia.)

• 1906, Sewell Ford, Shorty McCabe, Grosset & Dunlap, pages 96–98 [1]:

  "Sorry to disturb you," says Mr. Gordon; "but I'll have to ask you to change to a forward car next stop."

  "Sir Peter blinked his lamps at him a minute, and then he says: "Yes, it keeps the decimals out," and he taps the bucket, knowing like. […]

  "Yes, I'll take your word for that," says Mr. Gordon; "but I'm afraid you'll have to be getting ready to move. This is my private car, you see."

  "Thye always come point first," says Sir Peter; "that's how they get in. It's only the bucket that makes 'em shy off."

  "Oh, the deuce!" says Pyramid. "Here, Shorty, you try your luck with him."

  "Sure," says I. […]

  "Scratch me off," says I. "I'm in the wrong class. If there's to be any more Bloomingdale repartee, just count me out."

• 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, →ISBN, pages 76–78:

  Wolfe had a relapse. It was a bad one, and it lasted three days. […]

  I never really understood Wolfe's relapses. […] While it lasted he acted one of two different ways: either he went to bed and stayed there […] or he sat in the kitchen telling Fritz how to cook things […] .

  […]

  I said, "I'm sorry, I should have known better. You know what I think, sir. A nut is always a nut even when it's you. I want to talk to Fritz."

  Wolfe wasn't listening. I told Fritz that for dinner I would come and get sandwiches and take them to the office, and then I told him that when the buzzer rang, until further notice, he was not to go to the door, I would attend to it. Under no circumstances was he to open the door.

  I knew it was probably uncalled-for precaution, but I was taking no chances on anyone busting in there with Wolfe in one of his Bloomingdale moods.