"Sticks Nix Hick Pix" is a famous
[ headline printed in '' Variety'', a newspaper covering Hollywood and the entertainment industry, on July 17, 1935, over an article about the reaction of rural audiences to movies about rural life. ''Variety'' was known for its playful use of Broadway and Hollywood ]jargon
Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...
to pack as much meaning as possible into a small headline or article; examples include "H'wood" and "biz".
Using a form of headlinese
The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents.
The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...
that the newspaper called "slanguage",[ "Sticks Nix Hick Pix" means that people in rural areas (" the sticks") reject (" nix") motion pictures ("pix") about rural people (" hicks"). The accompanying article is based on an interview with Joe Kinsky, who operated theaters in the mostly rural Tri-State circuit of Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Kinsky claims that "Farmers are not interested in farming pictures", and that two recent pictures set in an upper-class milieu, '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' and '' The Scarlet Pimpernel'', had been big successes with his demographic.][
According to Spanish writer and journalist Peter Besas (author of the 2000 book ''Inside "Variety": The Story of the Bible of Show Business, 1905–1987''),][ the headline was written by ''Variety'' editor-in-chief Abel Green.][
Because it was the lead headline of the paper, it was printed in all capital letters. Standard style for other ''Variety'' headlines was initial capital letters on almost all words.
]
Mentions and similar headlines
"STICKS NIX HICK PIX" is a frequently-cited headline, although references often get it slightly wrong.
It is used as an example of space constraint-driven "headlinese" in ''Garner's Modern American Usage
''Garner's Modern English Usage'' (GMEU), written by Bryan A. Garner and published by Oxford University Press, is a usage dictionary and style guide (or "Linguistic prescription, prescriptive dictionary") for contemporary Modern English. It was f ...
''.Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' ("HIX PIX CLIX", 1988),[ the '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' ("Hicks Nix Blix Fix", 2002; "Hicks Nix Climate Fix", 2013),[ and the ''New York Daily News'' ("HICKS NIX KNICKS TIX", 2000).][
As well, references and variations have appeared in various media. David Burdett titled his 1984 novel ''Hix Nix Stix Pix''.][ The 1942 movie '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' features a scene where George M. Cohan (played by James Cagney) explains the headline to some students, leading to an impromptu dance.][
]
Parodies
Parodies of the headline include ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' episode " Colonel Homer", which shows "Hix in Stix Love Chix Lix" as a headline on the ''Springfield Variety'',;[ "Crix Pix Crucifix Schticks" as quoted by Monsignor O'Hara in the musical '' Sister Act'';][ "Sick Pic Nixes Brit Crit" as a fictional ''Variety'' headline in Jonathan Coe's 1997 novel ''The House of Sleep'';][ and "Nix Pix Shplix Queen" in the film '' The Naked Gun''.][ The fictional ''Variety'' headlines "Pix Tix Nix Mix" and "Boff Noff Toff Toff" appear in the ]Mel Brooks
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
film '' Silent Movie''.
See also
* Varietyese
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , url=https://variety.com/1935/film/news/sticks-nix-hick-pix-1117922332/ , title=Sticks nix hick pix , author= , date=July 17, 1935 , work=Variety , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite web , url=https://www.stltoday.com/variety-headline-sticks-nix-hick-pix/image_5ee9fc36-0eed-11e1-92a5-0019bb30f31a.html , title=Variety headline: "STICKS NIX HICK PIX" , date=November 14, 2011 , work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite web , url=https://variety.com/static-pages/slanguage-dictionary/ , title=Slanguage Dictionary , work=Variety , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite book , last1=Fisher , first1=James , last2=Londré , first2=Felicia Hardison , title=Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pro7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA753 , accessdate=April 25, 2020 , year=2007 , publisher=Scarecrow Press , isbn=9780810864184 , page=753]
[{{cite web, first=Peter, last=Besas, url=http://www.simesite.net/abel.asp, title=Abel Green obituary, publisher=Simesite, access-date=2009-06-05, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905215551/http://www.simesite.net/abel.asp, archive-date=2008-09-05]
[{{cite web , first=Hugh , last=Mulligan , url=http://www.allworth.com/Samples/J_craft1.pdf, title=Breaking Out from the Herd, publisher=Allworth Press , archive-date=2006-03-13 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313170523/http://www.allworth.com/Samples/J_craft1.pdf]
[{{cite web , url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-06-19-8801080867-story.html , title=HIX PIX CLIX , author=Carrie Rickey , date=June 19, 1988 , work=Chicago Tribune , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite news , first=William , last=Safire , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/24/opinion/hicks-nix-blix-fix.html , title=Hicks Nix Blix Fix , work=]The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, date=2002-10-24, accessdate=2009-07-30
[{{cite news , first=Timothy , last=Egan , url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/hicks-nix-climate-fix/ , title=Hicks Nix Climate Fix , work=]The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, date=2013-03-07, accessdate=2013-03-07
[{{cite web , url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/hicks-nix-knicks-tix-pacers-freeze-new-york-fans-courtside-seats-indy-article-1.872943 , title=HICKS NIX KNICKS TIX , date=May 31, 2000 , work=New York Daily News , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite web , url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-llewellyn-burdett/hix-nix-stix-pix/ , title=HIX NIX STIX PIX – Kirkus Review , date=March 28, 1984 , work=Kirkus Reviews , accessdate=April 28, 2017]
[{{cite AV media , people=James Cagney , date=1942 , title=Yankee Doodle Dandy , medium=film , language=en , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxU8jFey8Ds , archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/WxU8jFey8Ds , archive-date=2021-12-21 , url-status=live, access-date=April 25, 2020 , location=United States , publisher=Warner Bros.{{cbignore
]
[{{cite web , url=http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/lists/newspaper , title=Making the Headlines , work=Simpson Crazy , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite web , url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/naked-gun-files-police-squad-leslie-1822984906 , title=Naked Gin Files of Police Squad Leslie Nielsen & "Queen Elizabeth Prop Magazine , publisher=WorthPoint , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite web , url=https://variety.com/2011/legit/reviews/sister-act-1117945047/ , title=Sister Act , author=Steven Suskin , date=April 20, 2011 , work=Variety , accessdate=April 25, 2020]
[{{cite book , last=Coe , first=Jonathan , title=The House of Sleep , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSw6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT215 , accessdate=April 25, 2020 , year=1997 , publisher=Viking , isbn=978-0670864584 , page=215]
External links
The July 17 1935 cover of Variety at the Internet Archive
The article at Variety.com
1935 exhibitor perspective 'Sticks' in memory
Headlines
Variety (magazine)
1935 in the United States
July 1935 in the United States
1935 quotations