THE CAT'S PAJAMAS XIII

Tad Tuleja

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET

This expression - meaning, don't risk everything on the success of a single venture - has nothing to do with farming or gathering eggs. It is a steel mill expression dating from about 1870, when the great Pittsburgh steel plants turned out thousands of tons of steel every week. At this rapid rate of production, quality control sometimes suffered. As a result, many factories produced high percentages of defects - warped train rails for example. In most plants, the below-par items were marked with an X, pulled from the production line, and once an hour recycled toward the smelter in large mesh baskets that ran on overhead pulley systems. Since overloading these baskets could be hazardous, a common-sense safety rule was adopted: "Don't put all your Xs in one basket."

By the turn of the century, Xs were transmuted to eggs and the phrase came to serve as a caution against over-specialization. Ironically, this was the time when Henry Ford was specializing completely with his Model T. It's reputed he told a critic of his single product line, "It's all right to put all your Xs in one basket - just watch that basket."