The Real McCoy
November 25, 2010 4:14 AM   Subscribe

As Americans raise a glass today to family and absent friends they do not have to worry if they are drinking The Real McCoy.*
"Bill" McCoy, was an American sea captain and rum runner during Prohibition. Originally from Daytona, he cut his ties and moved North when My mom passed away, my wife left me, and my bulldog died.
The foe was the Coastguard; the smugglers normally had sail.
The Halifax Historical Museum is now running an exhibition about him; and here is a preview of a documentary with an interesting review and some publications about Rum Running.
(* your interpretation may vary).
posted by adamvasco (4 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ah, the internal consistency of Wikipedia. The McCoy article says he gave rise to the phrase. But the article about the phrase says that it was used as far back as 1856. So, no, the phrase has nothing to do with Bill McCoy, as fascinating a life as he led.
posted by iwhitney at 5:33 AM on November 25, 2010


So he was, in fact, the fake McCoy.
posted by Malor at 6:21 AM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]


aw shoot, I would have loved if he was a reason for that phrase.
posted by dabitch at 6:26 AM on November 25, 2010


Dammit Jim, I'm a bootlegger, not an historian!
posted by leviathan3k at 7:58 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]


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