Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the main street of a town or city.

1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 218/1: He ‘patters’ very little in a main drag (public street). [Ibid.] 424: They goes into the by-courts in Windsor, because this bouncing caper wouldn’t do in the main drag.
1876		Besant & Rice Son of a Vulcan I 267: Cardiff Jack’s never got so low as to be gridling on the main drag—singing I mean, on the high-road.
1884		Leicester Chron. 7 June 12/2: We must quit this main drag and keep across country.
1895		J. London ‘’Frisco Kid’s Story’ in High School Aegis X 15 Feb. 2–3: I wuz mopin’ down de main drag, I mean de main street.
1907		J. London Road 120: We begged together on the ‘main-drag’ that day for pennies, and what we received was spent for ‘shupers’ of beer.
1913		J. London John Barleycorn (1989) 122: Another jingle was financed with pennies begged on the main-drag.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 163: He detailed a couple of them to take the main ‘drag,’ another to make the railroad men’s boarding houses, another to the saloons.
1934		R. Chandler ‘Finger Man’ in Pearls Are a Nuisance (1964) 75: I went from there to De Cazens Boulevard, which was the main drag of Las Olindas.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 6: Main drag:Main road or street.
1939		J. Worby Spiv’s Progress 9: There’s a brick-kiln further up, just off the main drag .
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 19: Strutting down the main drag blowing my sax while the chicks lined up along the curb.
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 449: He turned left on the main drag.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 21: A big tavern called Nick’s, a noisy place on a main drag called Del Monte.
1975		Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Apr. 45/3: ‘Anyway, we fell on a jewellers in the main drag’.
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 21: At the Silchester roundabout a signpost to Bramley took me off the main drag.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 46: Then the main drag and the car.
1983		A-Team Storybook 51: B.A. [...] drove off down Charity’s main drag.
1986		C. Bowles G’DAY 59: He gets in the Kingswood, chucks a u-ey and heads back towards the main drag.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 212: The Nirvana Casino was off the main drag.
2004		T. Winton ‘Small Mercies’ in Turning (2005) 75: They were full-on people [...] They would never settle for just a meeting on the main drag.
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 44: His pizza place was on the main drag.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] The cab driver pulled up at what I assumed was the main drag. It was wide street with more of those grand old buildings.
2013		Guardian On Line 24 Aug. 🌐 Main drag Colefax Avenue is lined with stores selling medical marijuana.

2. the main road.

1910		Derbys. Advertiser 2 Dec. 25/4: I saw a little wizened old vagrant turn out his ‘scran pocket’ by the roadside on the Ashby ‘main drag’.
1962		F. Norman Guntz 153: I found myself [...] tearing along the main drag to Kent.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 62: Fate had me cruising along a main drag in Toronto behind the wheel of a V-8 Ford.
2023		M. Herron Secret Hours 361: Which meant ushering Singer from the main drag before he hopped into a cab.

3. (US black) 7th Avenue in Harlem, New York.

1994

C. Major Juba to Jive.