Earliest use of the term 'Hip'?

[Talbot]

I'm sure other loungers are more scholarly than I on these matters, but here goes

I'm currently reading 'The Big Money' written in 1936 by John Dos Passos (good read BTW).

In he writes about the Wright Brothers:

'The folks claimed it was the bishop's bringing home a helicopter, a fiftycent mechanical toy made by two fans worked by elastic bands that was supposed to hover in the air, that got his two youngest boys hipped on the subject of flight.'

I was surprised to see the term used as early as 1936.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

The origin of the term was discussed once here I think. Something to do with those that frequented opium dens I think? Perched on one hip on those divans that opium dens had for their clients. [huh] Not sure of the exact time period in which the term was coined though.

 

[Shangas]

If it does refer to the reclining pose of an opium-smoker, then it probably dates back to the early 1800s at least.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Now to add to the confusion, I just found this obscure reference.
Hip~ "Informed, up to date, fashionable, contemporary, relevant. Being modern in dress, attitude and interests. From "hepi," meaning "well-informed" from the West African language of Wolof.

The word was probably introduced to America by slaves imported from West Africa, and was still in use in 1930's era black speech. Hip/hep probably entered the mainstream American lexicon by way of the Beatnik subculture, who believed in racial integration, listened to black music and used words borrowed from black speech."

Also this one:
adj. cool, derived from heroin slang. William Burroughs traces the etymology in Junky to heroin addicts, who carried paraphenalia on their hips and had (in the C19) laid on their hips on chaise lounges in opium dens. The original connotations involved sloth and anhedonia--themes that carry over into today's usage of the word (the too-cool-for-anything-you-have-to-say mindset).

 

[DNO]

I found an article on the origin of 'hip' and 'hep':

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2004/12/crying_wolof.html

 

[Doctor Strange]

This Wiki article cites a printed usage in 1914:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_(slang)