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Words come into usage from a variety of sources. Sometimes finding out the source of a word opens a window into a whole lot of history. The word "shoddy" is one of those words.
Using the term “shoddy” in the 1860's denoted an inferior fabric made from ground up recycled wool, underhanded manufacturers who sold the Federal government defective uniforms, refurbished outmoded guns that didn’t work properly or at all, and poorly made shoes that dissolved if they got wet or wore out in a few days.
"Shoddy millionaires" was a derogatory term for the war profiteers in the North during the American Civil War. Allegedly, they supplied the Union army with faulty uniforms made from reprocessed "shoddy" wool rather than virgin wool. I imagine the fabric was more like felt, compressed together and not as sturdy as anything woven.
Cheating the government, graft, kick backs, corruption, and showing the buyers good samples but shipping poor quality goods, food and fodder was rampant at the start of the Civil War. There was really no oversight and no laws to prosecute the wrong doers. It was a greed based free for all, and a big mess.
Song about shoddy uniforms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPDfUGLKRo8
And more about the life of a soldier in the Civil War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuAH32LwZ0Q
Lyrics to another Shoddy Song:
Shoddy on the Brain.
In times like these, the nation sees,
Dear friends, and not a few,
Who deal in rags, and coffee bags,
Press’d out, and dyed in glue.
These patriots strive to keep alive
The war, from Gulf to Maine,
They don’t propose, the strife to close,
While Shoddy’s on the Brain.
Dear Mister Lamb, has now a plan,
Since brown stone looks so coarse,
To build a stall with marble hall,
In which to keep his horse.
The stable nigh offends his eye,
Though proof ’gainst wind and rain.
For castles fair float in the air,
Since Shoddy’s on the brain.
A soldier bold, in town was told,
That Shoddy walked the street,
With cautious eye, he louged to spy,
The monster on his feet.
Just then a stoop, to tie his boot,
Gave pants a tighting strain,
A lady’s shriek! across the street,
Brought Shoddy on his brain.
’Tis sweet to muse upon the news,
How Shoddy at the ball,
Wore skirts of lace, with witching grace,
That fairly captur’d all.
And then those pearls, ’mid Grecian curls,
Appear’d like drops of rain,
That sparkle bright, in rain-bow light,
While Shoddy swayed the brain.
When church bells ring, the coaches bring,
The pious and elite,
The vulgar walk, and perhaps would talk,
Had Shoddy used her feet
A man in black, so sleek and fat,
’Tis—Jenkins with his cane,
Bows down so meek—shows them a seat,
For Shoddy’s on his brain.
While prayers are read, the hands and head
Are moved to catch the light,
That finger rings, and diamond pins,
Might tempt the feeble sight.
The eye grows dim—the choir now sing
Some operatic strain,
The vision past, too bright to last.
O! Shoddy on the brain.
link where original print of words is posted:
https://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/songsheets_bsvg200565/
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