Where does this term come from? What does it mean?

Question

"Bumper crop"

How did it get it's origins? Does it stem from an old pioneer term or it it older than that? What exactly does it mean?

Thanks!

Answer 1

A bumper is a vertical extension to the sides of an old style wooden cart, for instance one drawn by horse or tractor and used in fields to bring in the harvest.

bumper crop, therefore, is used to express excess, as in needing bumpers on all the carts in order to bring it all in.

Answer 2

It goes back to at least the 17 th century. Bumper meant unusually large.

Answer 3

The origin of words is called etymolgy. Below is a website where you can check out words.  I typed in "bumper crop" and it came up with bump and within this definition it mentions bumper crop.

bump  

1611, perhaps Scand., probably echoic, original sense was "hitting" then of "swelling from being hit." Also has a long association with obs. bum "to make a booming noise," which influenced surviving senses like bumper crop, for something full to the brim. Bumpers first recorded 1839, on railroad cars; 1926 on automobiles. To bump into "meet" is from 1880s; to bump off "kill" is 1908 in underworld slang.

Answer 4

Bumper crop.

it's a crop, sheeved and harvested like any other growing plant that bumpers others for accidents.

Say you have a field of wheat and a field of rye growing.  It's harvest time and the rye has been 1/2 infected with a mold or disease but the wheat is fine, infact producing more than you estimated.

You have bread that needs to be made but you will not get enough rye to complete your orders because you were estimating a full field of rye and all you were able to salvage was half a field.  This is not a bumper crop.

However,

The wheat is producing more than what you estimated and you may be able to fill all your orders for wheat and then have much left over to sell individually or so.  Filling your order completely is a solid crop and the excess is the bumper allowing you to survive the "accident" of the diseased rye.  Because of the bumpedr crop you may even beable to recoop your losses for not being able to fulfill your rye orders.

the term bumper has never changed it's definition.  A bumper is still an item or thing that helps to alleviate suffering.  I kow it's been around since the 17th century, but I am unable to corroberate anything further back due to a lack of records and possibly differing languages.