Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1898 — Origin of Hobson’s Choice. [ARTICLE]

Origin of Hobson’s Choice.

Now that Lieutenant Hobson has proved himself such a hero, the phrase, “Hobson’s choice,’ ’is heard on every side, and some of our readers may be interested to know its origin. During Shakspeare's and Milton’s Wc it was the custom for gentlemen to ride home from the theater on horseback, hiring the horse as we do a cab at a stand. Naturally, each one wished to have the best horse, and much confusion ensued, while some poor animals were never taken. A university carrier and the first keeper of a hackney stable at Cambridge, England, named Thomas, or Tobias, Hobson (1544-1631), conceived the plan of placing his horses in line and forcing his customers to take the one nearest the door of the theater. It then became no longer a matter of personal selection, but of “Hobson’s choice’’ —that is. “this or none.”