Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a tourist, esp. to New York City; also attrib.

[1895		Atlanta Constitution 3 Oct. 7/6 : The average fakir is selling all sorts of invaluable goods [...] ‘Now say,’ said one when notified that he must get a license by morning or stop business, ‘yer ain’t t’rowin’ de merry giggle at us, is yer? Now, on de level, I ain’t got no rubber in me neck; don’t try yer guys on me; try me nex’ door neighbor and yer gets a dead proper take-out ef yer runs him out er de biz.’].
1897		Siler & Houseman Fight of the Century 41: He was followed [...] by a curious crowd of ‘rubber necks.’.
1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 55: rubber-neck, n. One who turns and stares or gazes with attention.
1901		‘Hugh McHugh’ Down the Line 31: Pipe the gang to quarters and all rubber! [...] a somewhat demure looking Proposition in rainbow rags had been sampling the scenery.
1905		Eve. World (NY) 2 Dec. 10/2: [headline] What Chinatown ‘Rubber-Necks’ Think They See, And the Reality.
1913		‘J.W.L.’ Slave Stories 11: Yah! rubber neck!
1919		El Paso Herald (TX) 24 June 6/2: Washington has long been one of the greatest rubberneck towns in America [...] During the war the rubberneck business fell off.
1922		B. Hecht A Thousand and One Afternoons [ebook] I join a rubberneck crowd in one of the carryalls with a megaphone guy in charge.
1933		J. Spenser Limey 8: I joined a ‘rubberneck’ (sight-seeing) party on the next public visiting day at the Tombs.
1949		National Geographic Mag. Dec. 783/2: Twice daily a horse-drawn stage leaves the Plaza on a ‘rubberneck’ tour [DA].
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 145: The rubberneck who walks up Grant Avenue sees a layout for tourists.
1958		W. Motley Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1959) 112: A man yells, loudly, ‘Rubbernecks!’.
1964		E. Wilson Earl Wilson’s N.Y. 287: Be shameless, be a rubberneck, to appreciate the new New York.
1986		B. Geldof Is That It? 326: Wherever we went we would come across little crocodiles of rubber-neckers and their guides.
2000		Indep. Rev. 21 Jan. 5: A crowd of rubberneckers outside.

2. a very inquisitive, curious person, usu. naïve; also as adj.

1896		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 20 Dec. 19/2: When Mrs Lutz passed me I said ‘There goes a rubberneck,’ right out loud, your honor. She is a rubberneck and—.
1898		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 14 Oct. 4/4: You have seen him a street car, / Peering out of bulging eyes / [...] / He pursued you with his glances / [...] /Genus homo rubberneck.
1899		J.W. Davis Gawktown Revival Club 28: High-toned Rubberneck people have a humanitarian desire to see how the other half of the world lives.
1899		W.J. Kountz Billy Baxter’s Letters 8: Teddy always was a rubber. [Ibid.] 51: I used to think I was the Village Rubber – but not any more.
1900		T. Dreiser Sister Carrie 42: ‘Aw, let me go,’ she exclaimed angrily. ‘Duffer.’ He only grinned broadly in return. ‘Rubber!’ he called back.
1905		‘Hugh McHugh’ You Can Search Me 53: Suppose a manager were to call in a rubberneck, hand him a tool box and send him to a newspaper office to look for a splashy production on a busy night.
1913		Van Loan ‘The Bachelor Benedict’ in Lucky Seventh (2004) 228: Miss Virginia [...] accustomed herself to attending places of amusement with a young man who seemed to attract more attention than the performers themselves. ‘I hope it does n’t annoy you,’ apologized Bertie. ‘Awful rubbernecks in this town.’.
1922		Sunset Mag. Dec. 10/2: I became what is known as a ‘rubber’ — one who has no money for stakes but who is fascinated by ‘rubbering’ at the play of those who have [DA].
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 37: The girls laughed and joked on the way to the station and shouted ‘rubberneck’ at everybody that looked in at the back of the open wagon.
1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 16: Solemn, half-scared rubber-necks, asking stupid questions.
1942		E. Ferber ‘Grandma Isn’t Playing’ in One Basket (1947) 546: This would have sounded as dated and ineffectual as the ‘nit,’ ‘rubberneck,’ ‘skiddoo’ of a still earlier day.
1951		J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye (1958) 110: I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.
1962		T. Berger Reinhart in Love (1963) 6: Reinhart the rubberneck lurked behind their linkage.
1975		L. Dills CB Slanguage.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 55: There was a big crowd of rubber-neckers hanging around.
1983		T. White Catch a Fire 121: More salvos were fired [...] to restore order among the thousands of mourners and unruly rubbernecks.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 24: Window lights popped on; rubberneckers opened doors.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 17: That milkmaid had more rubberneckers than a ten-car pile-up.
2006		B. Matthews Intractable [ebook] The rubbernecks stopped to watch the action as the cop slammed his cuffs onto my wrist.
2007		W. Ellis Crooked Little Vein 3: Scabs dropping off their faces onto the heads of the rubberneckers below.
2013		D. Whish-Wilson Zero at the Bone [ebook] Rubbernecks gathering at the train station to get a better view.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] [T]he small crowd of rubberneckers that had grown around him.

3. (S.Afr.) a nagging woman.

1963		B. Modisane Blame me on Hist. 57: ‘Heit, bricade,’ he said, ‘this is my cheerie; take a walk, friend, this cheerie is a rubberneck – a real Delilah.’.
1980		M. Melamu ‘Bad Times, Sad Times’ in Mutloatse Forced Landing 42: I just can’t figure out how meester ever got himself mixed up with an old rubberneck like that Georgina of his.

4. see rubberneck wagon