before Abe, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

before Abe n.

[for Afro-Americans any time before 1 January 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation ]

1. (US black/Harlem) the era of slavery; the period before Emancipation.

1994

(ref. to 1940s) C. Major Juba to Jive.

2. in fig. use, work, a regular job [plays on slave n. (2)].

1946

Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 145: [We’d] sit there talking until the squares began to come to their before-Abes.

before Abe jive (n.) [jive n.¹ (4)]

(US black/Harlem) hard, thankless work.

1943

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 9 Oct. 20: The skull, for a while, kept his word, and she didn’t have to put down on the Before Abe jive.