Buzz
Back in 1975, Zabar’s, a New York housewares store, sparked a shopping craze by offering the Cuisinart food processor at a discounted price of $135, down from its original $190. The overwhelming demand led to an instant sell-out. To appease disappointed customers, the store issued rain checks, guaranteeing the discounted price once the product was restocked.
While Zabar’s didn’t invent the term rain check, they popularized its use. Today, it refers to a promise to honor a deal, offer, or event at a later time. It can also be used to politely decline an invitation, as in, “I’ll take a rain check on that dinner,” especially when you’re not keen on attending. But where did this phrase originate?
Tracing the Roots of the Phrase Rain Check
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term rain check initially held a very straightforward meaning. During the 1880s, baseball teams sought a way to compensate fans who bought tickets for games played in open-air stadiums. Rain often turned the fields into muddy, unplayable conditions, which was neither the fault of the spectators nor the teams.
To address this issue, team management introduced rain checks, which guaranteed ticket holders a chance to attend a future game. If a game was canceled due to bad weather, the rain check ensured fans wouldn’t lose their money and could return for a rescheduled match without paying again.
Initially, the concept wasn’t widely grasped. A column in the June 3, 1887, issue of the Detroit Free Press highlighted confusion among fans who were handed slips of paper upon entry:
“When the gates opened yesterday, staff at each turnstile distributed rain checks to every attendee. Many people, mistaking them for patent medicine advertisements, declined to take them. The management, hopeful yet uncertain about the field’s condition, decided to issue these rain checks. Once the game’s cancellation was announced, a crowd rushed to the ticket office demanding rain checks, claiming they hadn’t received them.”
The article further noted that police had to step in “to prevent [spectators] from tearing the building down.”
Baseball fans soon became familiar with the system, though some tried to take advantage of it. In 1888, three individuals in Philadelphia were arrested for gathering rain checks and attempting to resell them at a price lower than the original admission cost.
From Baseball to Declining Social Invitations
The use of rain check to gracefully decline personal plans emerged in the late 1800s. By the mid-1900s, the term had expanded to include offering personal favors. A rain check as a gift implied promising to complete a task, such as knitting a sweater or taking care of a dog.
The exact transition of rain check from outdoor events and personal promises to retail isn’t entirely clear, but the OED notes its first retail usage in the 1950s. Stores often promised to honor sale prices for out-of-stock items for a limited time.
As for Zabar’s: Customers holding rain checks for the Cuisinart had to wait a full year before the store restocked and fulfilled the vouchers for 962 buyers. By then, the appliance’s price had risen to $225.
