blickey n1 Also sp blickie, blicky, blikk(i)e [Du blikje (colloq or dial blikkie) vessel of tinplate, (tin) can] NJ, eNY, PA ?obs
A bucket, lunch pail, or similar vessel, usu of tinplate, but occas of wood.
1811 in 1976 Williamson–Williamson Stevenson & Anderson 134 nwNJ, [Probate inventory of Samuel Stevenson of Lebanon NJ:] 1 tin blickey and cups. 1855 Farmers’ Cabinet (Amherst NH) 19 July [2]/1 seNY, Men and women, boys and girls . . were traversing the streets hither and thither with their baskets, dishes, pans, and blickies, filled with their Sunday’s supply [of strawberries]. . . Patterson (N.Y.) Guardian. 1881 St. Nicholas 8.739 ceNJ, The fishing-lines and a “blickie” of soft clams for bait [were] stowed in the forward locker. 1881 Vanderbilt Social Flatbush 56 NYC, The tin dipper that hung at the well curb was a “blikke,” from the Dutch word “blik,” for tin. 1894 DN 1.328 NJ, Blicky (blickie, blickey): a small bucket or pail. Said to be Dutch in its origin, but used extensively in S[outh] J[ersey], where there are no Dutch. 1895 DN 1.382 NJ, Blickey . . : the variety is distinguished by an adjective, as “wooden” or “tin” blickey. 1898 Norris Gray House 57 ceNY, “Let me carry your blicky,” said Nicholas, hearing her sigh. She handed him her dinner-pail. 1914 Collier’s 25 July 31 csPA (as of 1863), At that I ran in for my blickey, quickly pumped it full, and carried it to the dying man. [DARE Ed: Author describes her family as “Pennsylvania Dutch.”] 1922 Van Derveer Any-Day Entertainments 66 NJ, She said one day, “Now, Dolly, run / And get me a blikkie of water quick.” / I was ’shamed to ask what a “blikkie” is, / So I fibbed I’m ’fraid; made believe I’s sick. / And then Aunt Mollie she looked at me / And burst out laughing’s hard as could be. / And she took a little tin pail and went / Out to the pump. 1934 Genl. Mag. & Hist. Chron. 37.69 Philadelphia PA (as of c1870), All dry provisions were kept near the kitchen such as a barrel of flour, a barrel of apples in winter, corn meal in a “blickey”. A blickey being a large bucket effect larger at the bottom than at the top, with a wooden cover and wooden handle. 1944 Red Bank Reg. (NJ) 1 June sec 1 9/4 (as of 1815), Berries were sold in baskets of various sizes, sometimes in a kittle (kettle) and sometimes in a blickie, a Dutch word meaning tin pail, which still persists in the speech of some old Monmouth county families. 1945 Beck Jersey Genesis 49, “A blickey,” he said, “is a small bucket or pail. It’s a Dutch word.” 1967 DARE FW Addit nwNJ, Blicky [ˈblɪki]—a pail, usually about four quarts. A woman might use one of these to gather berries. 1976 200 Yrs. Northampton Co. PA 11.67 cePA,He remembers the long winters when the quarries closed and there was no money, and the workers carried their blickies up to the corner bar in the evening for a growler. The blicky was an oblong metal lunch pail and a growler was a blicky filled with beer.