Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) an alternative choice, a preference; esp. in phr. have one’s druthers, to gain one’s preference.

1870		Overland Monthly (CA) Jan. 84: A man can’t always have his ’drathers.
1897		‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer, Detective 74: There ain’t any druthers about it, Huck Finn; nobody said anything about druthers.
1935		Z.N. Hurston Mules and Men (1995) 123: She could have had mo’ sense, but she told God no, she’d ruther take it out in hips. So God give her her ruthers. She got plenty hips, plenty mouf and no brains.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 175: I’d rather not be whupped [...] if I got my rathers.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 103: ‘You want to pass it?’ ‘Hell [...] I ain’t gambling my rathers.’.
1965		J. Thompson Texas by the Tail (1994) 176: I’d’ve broken it up before then, if I’d had my ruthers.
1966		G. & K. Swarthout Whichaway (1967) 81: my druthers — my choice.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 49: If they’re gonna give me my druthers, I’d druther be a fucker than a fuckee.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 71: If Nadine Ackley had her druthers, she would have used surgical gloves to collect their money.
2006		R. Antoni Carnival 125: ‘If I had my druthers,’ he laughed, ‘this pag-face wouldn’t appear on my books either.’.
2015		P. Beatty Sellout (2016) 43: Now, if I had my druthers, I couldn’t care less about being black.