1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, II., Works (1872), i., 122. The philosophical gimcrack.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
2. (colloquial).—A showy trifle; anything pretty to look at but of very little worth.
1632. Chapman and Shirley, The Ball, Act iv. Lu. There remains, To take away one sample. Wi. Another gimcrack?
1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 3, ch. i. Rifled all his pokes and fobs. Cf., gimcracks, whims, and jiggumbobs.
1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. 7, p. 148. I suppose there being little else to lose except scenes, machines, or some such jim-cracks.
1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. i. There was the harp of Brian Boru, and the sword of some one else, and other cheap old gimcracks with their corollary of lies.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 63. Such rum-looking gimcracks, my pippin.
3. (provincial).—A handy man; a jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A gimcrack also means a person who has a turn for mechanical contrivances. [[146]]