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Leroy and Jessica
Our Memories
Taking Time To Remember
Words and Phrases
of Leroy's teenage decade
1950's
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Song: Old Time Rock
N' Roll - By: Bob Seger
some of us
of a "certain age" will remember most of these.
BUT, The younger generation
might have to
have an old-timer explain
some
of these terms.
I ran
across the phrase "fender skirts" the other day. It started me thinking about
words and phrases that have disappeared from our vocabulary without even being
noticed.
These
"FENDER SKIRTS"
are obviously from a '57
Chevy. My
'46 Chevy coupe, My '49
Ford coupe and my '53 Ford Victoria were equipped
with "fender skirts".
"curb feelers" are
another obsolete item.
I would like to have a pair, but wouldn't be able to find them in an Auto
Parts store.
"steering knobs" (AKA)
suicide knob. I put one on my '46 Chevy coupe and it quickly started eating
on the steering wheel.
I stopped at a fund raiser
car wash being held by the local high school cheer leaders. I asked the young
lady to make sure they did a good job on the 'White Walls'. She looked at me
puzzled and said: what are "White Walls"?
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. I really wanted one
but they were like $150.00 and that was too much to spend on a $300.00 car.
When did they quit being
calling "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper
term. there was always the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake".
almost all the old folks
are gone who would know the accelerator was once the "foot feed". Before that,
the acceleration was a hand operated lever on the steering column, below the
steering wheel, along with the "spark advance".
Did you ever wait at the
street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up
to the house? We had a car that sat in the back yard, a while, that had
'running boards' but not a 'running engine'.
Here's a phrase I heard
throughout my youth, but never anymore, - "store-bought." Nearly, everything
is store-bought now, But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought
dress or a store-bought bag of candy."
Can you remember when smokers
rolled their own cigarettes each time they smoked. Then came a cigarette
rolling apparatus. one could roll enough to last all day. After that, "Ready
rolleds", without filters, were getting popular.
"Coast to coast" is a
phrase that once held excitement, but now means almost nothing. Now we take
the term "world wide" for granted.
On a smaller scale,
"wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50's, everyone
covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today,
wall-to-wall carpeting is being replaced 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 use. 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.
I always enjoyed going to
the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation.
Most of these words go back
to the '50's, but here's a pure-'60's phrase 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,
"Coffee maker", How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for that.
I miss those made-up
marketing words that were meant to sound so modern, and now sound so retro,
Words like "DynaFlow" and "Electrolux", and 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 of mothers threatening kids
with castor oil anymore, either.
I can remember when, for
$2.00 a "service station attendant" would pump a half tank of gas in your
vehicle, wipe your windshield and windows, check your oil, check the water in
the radiator and make sure you had the right air pressure in your tires... oh
how things have changed!
Some words
aren't gone yet, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that
grieves me most is "supper." Now some are saying "dinner". Save a great
word... Invite someone to supper and Discuss fender skirts.
