Where did the saying "Can't cut the mustard" originate? What is it's meaning?

Hello Dorothy and thank you for your question.


When you are not able to perform at the required level, you can't cut
the mustard. If you don't work hard enough, or if you just aren't good
enough, you can't cut the mustard
Source: Go English
http://www.goenglish.com/CantCutTheMustard.asp

According to Mrs. ESL, someone who can't cut the mustard does not meet
a standard or expectation, or is unable to cope or to deal with a
problem that arises.
Source: Mrs. ESL
http://gepc.org/ESL/mustard.html


According to the QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert
Hendrickson the meaning and origin of can't cut the mustard is:

“not to be able to handle any job for any reason, not just because of
old age. Preceeding the derivation of 'too old to cut the mustard' by
about half a century, it derives from the expression 'to be the
mustard'. "Mustard" was slang for the “genuine article" or “main
attraction" at the time. Perhaps someone cutting up to show that he
was 'the mustard', or the greatest, was said 'to cut the mustard' and
the phrase was later meant to mean to be able to fill the bill or or
do the important or main job.
(..) 
O. Henry first used the words in this sense in his story "Heart of the
West" (1907) when he wrote: “I looked around and found a proposition
that exactly cut the mustard". Today, 'can't cut the mustard' is
usually 'can't cut it' or 'can't hack it'. A recent variant on 'too
old to cut the mustard' is 'if you can't cut the mustard, you can lick
the jar'.
http://www.unm.edu/~dave/words/mustard.html

Etymologies & Word Origins:

“Cut the Mustard: deriving from the slang sense of mustard meaning the
best (flavorful, what makes something else taste good). O.Henry uses
the word in the 1904 Cabbages and Kings in this fashion. The phrase
cut the mustard comes from about the same period, first appearing in
print a year earlier. The cut refers to harvesting the plant. If you
can't cut the mustard, you can't supply what is best.”
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorc.htm


Additional information that may interest you:

Idioms & Axioms currently used in America - Meanings and Origins
http://www.pride-unlimited.com/probono/idioms2.html

The derivation of the phrase "cut the mustard".
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/2/messages/198.html


Search Criteria:
"Can't cut the mustard"


I hope you find this helpful. 

Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

very satisfied with answer and timeliness.  my first time using google
answer, but certainly not my last.  thanks.