Origin of the Morris
About a century ago, there was a laundromat called Morris's Laundry in central London. One morning, a customer dropped off a large batch of whites that needed to be done by that afternoon. Unfortunately, the power went out just as the workers were placing the laundry into the dryers. Thinking quickly, the workers each grabbed a pile of whites, stepped into the street in front of the laundromat, and started waving the laundry around to air dry it. There was a street musician playing on the corner, so of course the workers started jumping around to the music while waving the laundry in the air.
After several minutes, a police officer came by and demanded to know what these people were doing. One of them pointed to the sign over the establishment and said, "We're the Morris dancers, sponsored by Morris's Laundry."
And morris dancers have been airing their dirty laundry in public ever since.
--made up on the spot by Jeff Bigler while emceeing at a dance-out
Of course, there are ... or perhaps you'd prefer to submit one of your own.
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Last updated: 06/19/19 by
Red Herring Morris
Date of access (today's date): 06/09/26
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