Jack of the dust is an obsolete enlisted rating of the United States Navy and was used in the Navy Supply Corps. The modern U.S. Navy equivalent is Culinary specialist.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/The_Royal_Navy_on_the_Home_Front%2C_1914-1918_Q18676.jpg/220px-The_Royal_Navy_on_the_Home_Front%2C_1914-1918_Q18676.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Flickr_-_Official_U.S._Navy_Imagery_-_Sailors_cook_dinner.jpg/220px-Flickr_-_Official_U.S._Navy_Imagery_-_Sailors_cook_dinner.jpg)
The term has its origin in the Royal Navy of the early 1800s when ship's stewards or purser's assistants[1] were known as "Jack-in-the-dust", referring to the dusty atmosphere in the bread storeroom (called the "bread-room") created by issuing quantities of flour and dried biscuit.[2][3]
Other names used for Jack of the dust were "Breadroom Jack", "Dusty Boy", "Dips", and "Jack Dusty".[4]
The US naval rating was discontinued in the late 19th century, but the term survived as a formal title until World War II. As of 2002 "Jack of the dust" was still in use on some ships as an informal title for a culinary specialist in charge of the canned goods storeroom.[5]
References
edit- ^ Dean King; John B. Hattendorf (20 March 2012). A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian. Open Road Media. pp. 307–. ISBN 978-1-4532-3830-1.
- ^ Janet MacDonald (August 2006). Feeding Nelson's Navy: The True Story of Food at Sea in the Georgian Era. Chatham. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-1-86176-288-7.
- ^ Charles H. Bodder (pseud.) (1919). Under Fire with Farragut: The Signal Boy's Story. Signal boy publications. pp. 12–.
- ^ Frank Lanier (9 June 2014). Jack Tar and the Baboon Watch: A Guide to Curious Nautical Knowledge for Landlubbers and Sea Lawyers Alike. McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-182401-9.
- ^ Vaughn, Fireman (SW/AW) Vernishia (8 April 2002). "A Day of Eating on Wasp Starts With the Jack Of the Dust". navy.mil. U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.