Fender Skirts!

[Mickey Richaud]

A friend e-mailed this to me:

FENDER SKIRTS - What a great blast from the past! I haven't thought about fender skirts in years. When I was a kid, I considered it such a funny term. Made me think of a car in a dress. Thinking about fender skirts started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice.

Like "curb feelers" and "steering knobs." Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.

When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake."

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed."

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore-"store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of
candy.

"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "worldwide" for granted. This floors me.

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered their hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company. So we had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply expecting."

Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now. "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - "Rat Fink." Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

Here's a word I miss - "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffeemaker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "ElectraLux." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!"

Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening their kids with castor oil anymore.

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most - "supper." Now everybody says "dinner."

Save a great word. Invite someone to "supper." Discuss fender skirts.

 

[Steve_S]

Great stuff, thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Never heard of foot feed but I did install wall to wall hardwood flooring in my house a few years ago.

 

[screenprinter]

Mickey,

A couple I remember, a similar term to your "steering knobs" was "suicide knobs" ( I assume your referring to the clamp-to-the-steering wheel gizmos that Truckers used to employ quite a bit - )

Or, how about those round, dish-shaped shiny hubcaps - "Baby Moons"

How about a "tailor-made"? Refers to a commercially made cigarette, as opposed to a Home-Rolled

It used to be that if your car didn't have an automatic transmission it had a "Standard Transmission" ( I'm old enough to remember when Automatic trannies were mostly optional) Or a quaint Southern term, if your car has a manual gearbox it's referred to as a "Straight Drive" (still standard terminology, even today)

Another Southern term , in this case referring to the "emergency" or "parking" brake is "Snatch Brake" - An angle grinder fitted with a cut-off disk is a "Zizz Wheel".

And let's not forget some regional terms for a carbonated sugary beverage.

If you're from around New York state or thereabouts you'll drink a "Pop", If you're in New England you must ask for a "Tonic", Whereas South of the M-D Line you can only buy a "Soda", as well as the neat, catch-all term for any small pack of snack crackers, regardless of Manufacturer, Brand, or variety - a Pack of "Nabs"

Sandwiches: At Hampton Beach, when you want a long, torpedoe shaped sandwich you go out for a "Grinder", New York you get a "Hero" or A "Sub Sandwich ( Sub Sandwich possibly got it's name because sooner or later it will usually surface again)
Down South, it can be "Sub" but sometimes Older folks refer to em' as a "Poor Boy" - this probably came about because if a poork child was invited to have a sandwich with you and was given free reign he'd have 2 slices of everything and all the fixings - ( Note, One of the most endearing things of living in the South is that If your at somebodies house and you're hungry It doesn't matter who, or what you are, rich or poor, you're ALWAYS welcome to " Sit and Eat a Bite"

And in this age of computer proliferation, somebody who is adept at these sciences, but not particulary handsome, popular, or "with it" is a "geek" or a "nerd" - Back when I was young you were a "square"

When my Dad wanted me to clean my room, rake leaves, or pick up branches, etc. he asked me to "police the area" or get the yard "squared away"

Can anybody out there add to the growing list of "Homey Homilies"? - I'm always looking to improve my vocabulary!

 

[William]

I always called those steering wheel mounted knobs "necker knobs", cause you used them while driving around with one arm around your best girl on the bench seat of your Dad's '64 Falcon with a three on the tree.

I hear "store-bought" all the time. Usually it's reserved for derogatory uses, such as "Oh, how lovely! You brought dessert! Store-bought cheesecake! I'll just go put this in the fridge." As in, if you didn't make it yourself, it's just not good enough. (For clothing substitute "off the rack")

A friend of mine (and myself, if I'm truly honest) refers to the different denominations of American currency by such names as "fin", "Sawbuck" (and "Double Sawbuck"), and "two bits". This same man also regularly dresses like Kramer from Seinfeld, less the hairdo.

-William

 

[Bruce Bowker]

I was just going to say Necking Knobs also. Anyhow I have wondered what generation will no longer use the term "dial" a number when calling someone on a telephone. We still say dial although dials have been mostly gone for at least one generation now.

Bruce

 

[steve99]

Here in West Central Wisconsin some people drink from the water fountain, and others drink from the bubbler

 

[screenprinter]

Bruce - I never thought of it but you're right about "dialing" - How about the folks in the UK when they say "Ring me up" as in "give me a (phone)call" - not to be confused with the rather ambiguous "Knock me up" - "come up to my place and see me" -

Looks like we're on a roll - keep em' coming - I'm starting to feel not quite so antiquated with each new entry!

 

[William]

My Dad, a man who has been working with computers for well over twenty years now (anyone else remember the TRS-80?)still occasionally calls the "enter" key on the computer keyboard the "carriage return".

-William

 

[Steve_S]

Ha! I do that too occasionally. I call it "return" more often than not, which came from the early home computers like Commodore.

sys64738

 

[screenprinter]

William, The TRS-80 was a fairly sophisticated computer for it's time - That was my second - My first was a Texas Instruments TI-99 4a - Talk about a learning experience - There wasn't hardly any software and it got discontinued before much could be written, but it sure taught you "Basic" programming language - But Carriage return is quaint term - My older sister should remember it from typing class!

But on a lighter note - a friend of mine sent me this this afternoon, if you're over forty this should hit home.

Black and White
(Under age 40? You won't understand.)


You could hardly see for all the snow,

Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.

Pull a chair up to the TV set,

"Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."

Depending on the channel you tuned,

You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.

It felt so good. It felt so right.

Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys,

Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys,

Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,

Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.

Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,

Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,

Donna Reed on Thursday night! --

Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white.

Everything always turned out right.

Simple people, simple lives...

Good guys always won the fights.

Now nothing is the way it seems,

In living color on the TV screen.

Too many murders, too many fights,

I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone in bed, they slept,

A promise made was a promise kept.

They never cussed or broke their vows.

They'd never make the network now.

But if I could, I'd rather be

In a TV town in '53.

It felt so good. It felt so right.

Life looked better in black and white.

I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,

If I could just turn back the clock tonight

To when everybody knew wrong from right.

Life was better in black and white!

Pass this to someone (over age 40, of course), and brighten their day by helping them to remember that life's most simple pleasures are very often the best!

Start each day, by looking UP!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif