“Jackie was banned from the Ed Sulliva show for two years, after giving Ed the finger in 1964 when he asked Jackie to wrap his act up.”
***I didn’t even know “The Finger” was being used by anybody back in the early 60’s! I know the Italians and the Greeks had some kind of two arm rude, salute they gave when they wanted to say “Eff-You-Pal!”
The ‘finger’ was around with my Dad going back to the ‘40’s.
Mason did a couple of turns on The Simpsons, voicing Krusty’s rabbi father. RIP Jackie. Tell Rabbi Krustofsky we said hi.
“The gesture dates back to ancient Greece and it was also used in ancient Rome. Historically, it represented the phallus. In the early 1800s, it gained increasing recognition as a sign of disrespect and was used by music artists (notably more common among actors, celebrities, athletes and politicians; most still view the gesture as obscene).”
—wikipedia
That middle finger gesture was a thing in ancient times, at least back to ancient Rome and Greece.
I have video evidence it was used during the Korean War.
I was watching a documentary about the F-86 Sabre, called "Great Planes," which was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., (this may be why the gesture got past the censors). They were showing footage of a squadron of F-86s preparing for a mission during the war and I noticed, as each jet taxied past various people on the ground, the people were all smiling and enthusiastically waving their hands at the jets. Then I almost spit my drink out when a guy standing by a jeep, which was labeled "flight surgeon," clearly waved his middle finger at the passing jet. At this point I noticed the aircraft numbers on the tails of each jet and figured out the joke.
You can see the footage at the 24:00 minute mark here
Oh, my word. It was used in Ancient Greece four centuries BC, and in this country probably from the beginning, but at least since the development of photography so that the gesture could be "captured" for posterity. I'm older than dirt and remember it from my older brother wishing to start something with me without our parents overhearing.
Wikipedia: The finger