I first heard the term in Jo Stafford’s song “Jambalaya”.
Bought sassafras root for tea decades ago. Tasted like root beer. Then later it was banned in 1960 “for health reasons” in producing root beer.
Where I was deployed we had a mess sergeant who was a Louisiana native & on Sundays made the best gumbo I have ever known. It was a real morale builder.
Hank Williams wrote Jambalaya and recorded it.
I had to look it up and Jo Stafford also released a recording of it that same year, 1952.