WORDS WE NO LONGER USE -

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Rokinronda sent me a wonderful pm. It was cute and the gist of the message were words that we no longer use, meanings changed or a word that is presently out of vogue. Rok doesn't know I am posting this - Rok I hope I have your permission.

I recall -rouge, refrigerator, suitcase,

The one that grieves me most 'supper.' Now everybody says 'dinner.'

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about 'fender skirts' started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice lie 'curb feelers'

Curb feelers were little wires you had on the outside of the car to let you know if you were to close to the curb.

And 'steering knobs.' (AKA) suicide knob

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.'

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the 'running board' up to the house?

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 'world wide' 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 his or her 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.

I always loved going to the 'picture show'

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? 'Coffee maker.' 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 'Electrolux.' Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with 'Spectra Vision!'

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 kids with castor oil anymore.

HB

[ouma1938]

What fun. Thanks to Rok and HB!

[JohnnyM]

Thanks HB and RR....Lot's of memories there.

[Rokinronda]

HB, Thanks for posting! :hot: Have a rokin good time with this one, everyone!

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Rok, thanks.

You are to young to remember the gadget they used to give a woman a permanent. It looked like a hair dryer with all of the curlers hanging down from it.

I also remember tube radios, black and white TV. To get color TV then you put a piece of plastic over the screen that had the three primary colors on it - wallah color TV.

How did you know what my hair looks like? Wish you did not post it on your avatar.

HB

[Peggy D]

Remember the TV's by Sylvania that it lit up white around the picture tube?

Now that's another word that brings back memories--remember how BIG they were?

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Peggy you just reminded me of the ad for Castro Convertible sofas with the girl opening them up.

Uh oh I am showing my age.

HB

[graciegirl]

Thank you both.

I have sent it on to those who speak our language.

It was terrific.

GracieGirl

[Peggy D]

Peggy you just reminded me of the ad for Castro Convertible sofas with the girl opening them up.

Uh oh I am showing my age.

HB


Oh my gosh!! My parents had one!!

How could I forget that!

[Rokinronda]

OMG They were built in RI!!! Castro Convertables made in , I believe, warwick, RI. HB, dahlink, that avatar dipsy-do is all mine, my mane is not nearly as tame as yours! On another note, my daughter pulled out a box of BORAX the other day!! She asked, Mom have you ever seen this stuff??!! Hadn't seen BORAX in a LONG time! Great multi purpose cleaner!

[chelsea24]

Oh I love this post because I love words. I remember my 7th grade teacher saying we weren't allowed to wear lip rouge. Also, hose became nylons, then panty hose.
Remember slit skirts and Mix Master. Please write some more HB. I love this. :bigthumbsup:

[KathieI]

Peggy you just reminded me of the ad for Castro Convertible sofas with the girl opening them up. HB

HB, yes, I had one too growing up. Slept in the living room on one until I was 18, would you believe that. Now everyone has to have their own rooms!!

BTW, that wasn't any little girl, that was Bernadette Castro, owner's daughter!

Got another word for you, "johnny pump" now known as fire hydrant! Love this post!!

[Muncle]

BTW, that wasn't any little girl, that was Bernadette Castro, owner's daughter!



You mean NY Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro. Though I'd never heard of Castro Convertibles, I really enjoyed her on the Imus show. She was, and I assume still is, quite a character. I thought for the longest time that her family had sold cars with retractable roofs.

By the way, I just had to change the load in the washing machine. Went by the frig (hey, I quit calling it an icebox) and got a can of pop. I can't remember. Did mom keep the patent medicine like Carter's Little Liver Pills and Geritol in the ice box?

But think how hard it's going to be in a few years explaining why you say "dial the phone" or even dial tone. How and why do you listen to music on a record or tape or even CD? Grandpa, tell me again what film is and how you got pictures from it. You really had to take it somewhere and wait 3 days to see the pictures! And tell me again about how your telephones were these big boxes that were connected to your wall by a cord. Gramps, I think maybe you're losing it.

[redwitch]

78s, 45s, 33s -- try explaining a record player and speeds to a kid today.

Coke in the machines with the lids you opened and slid your soda out -- in a glass bottle.

Wringer (washing machine).

Dude before it became duuuuude.

Woodie to describe a car as opposed to a male state of mind.

Our grandkids are not going to believe what we did at drive-ins. They'll all be flea markets.

[Rokinronda]

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj267/rokinronda/gas.jpg

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Muncle did Gramps tell you all about the Cheesecake pictures he had? Did he show you the Pinup pictures he saved of Betty Grable when he was a young boy?

HB

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Rok, I remember those days. My windows were always clean.

I remember being told never let them check your oil, because some attendants wore a ring with a gadget on the underside that could cut through a belt on the car.

Went to get gas the other day and we decided to get $5.00 worth of gas - so that we could get to a less expensive gas station. Then realized that would only get us a little more than a gallon of gas.

HB

[KathieI]

You mean NY Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro. Though I'd never heard of Castro Convertibles, I really enjoyed her on the Imus show. She was, and I assume still is, quite a character. I thought for the longest time that her family had sold cars with retractable roofs.

Yep, Mr. Muncle, one in the same! How did I know you were an Imus fan? Me tooooo! Sure do miss that show. I would wake up every morning at 3am so I could see it in L.A. --Now that's an addiction.

Smart man, Imus is, too bad he sometimes spoke before thinking what he was saying!

[Muncle]

Yep, Mr. Muncle, one in the same! How did I know you were an Imus fan? Me tooooo! Sure do miss that show. I would wake up every morning at 3am so I could see it in L.A. --Now that's an addiction.

Smart man, Imus is, too bad he sometimes spoke before thinking what he was saying!

I used to trap the MSNBC simulcast of his show every morning and then watch it after work. Even though half his guests were certified commies, especially the Newsweek and NY Times crew, I generally enjoyed them and learned something. Loved Meachem's discussions of religion and any time Big & Rich were on.

His comment about the Rutgers women was downright stupid, no question, but I thought the reaction grossly overstated. It was, to me, especially appalling to see all the politicos and media types, who'd been feeding off of Imus for years, desert him. Guys like Harold Ford and David Gregory who'd been helped tremendously in their careers either disappeared or couldn't wait to knife him. The Newsweek crew was abysmal. They and others who'd appeared regularly for years couldn't wait to reveal that secretly they'd been disgusted with Imus and had really been torn about being on his show. However, some politicians like Lieberman, McCain, & Dodd have stuck with him, as have Carville, Greenfield, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and, of course, Bo.

I'm glad he's back. I wish Comcast carried that C&W network that carries his show. I need my fix of Kinkie, Jack Jacobs, and the Higgins Clark girls.

[SteveZ]

I'm hoping to add "WORK" to that list.....

[Rokinronda]

I'm hoping to add "WORK" to that list.....
GOOD ONE Steve! I will always probably have to use that word. >:(

[Sidney Lanier]

Once in a while we still sometimes hear the expression television set. Why a set? After all, it's only one, not a set....

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Remember a hair cut called the DA?

HB

[jimt49]

HB

DA=Duck Tail I never knew that Tail began with an A

JimT

[Hyacinth Bucket]

I do not know if I will be censored for this or not - we called it a duck ass.

HB

[chuckinca]

packard
studebaker
edsel
nash
desoto
plymouth
kaiser
henry j
tucker

[redwitch]

telephone booth (the thing Superman changed his clothes in)

dial phone

Princess phone

bullet bras (I hope, anyway)

[nONIE]

Bullett Bras??? Red, you got me on that one, care to explain? :dontknow: :dontknow:

[nONIE]

OK, I got one, Im so embarrassed :redface: but here goes:

LSMFT Lucky strike means fine tabacco
LSMFT loose straps mean floppy t------! OMG did I say that ?? :redface:

[Boomer]

packard
studebaker
edsel
nash
desoto
plymouth
kaiser
henry j
tucker



Chuck,

Corvair.

You just made me remember going to pick out a Christmas tree for my first married Christmas. I was so excited about finding a big, fat one that I thought would look perfect. I was so caught up in the moment -- until it was time to load the tree into that Corvair trunk and try to drive home. I don't even remember what happened then, but I think I cried.

Boomer

[nitehawk]

The classic French dessert called charlotte russe is an elegant mold of ladyfingers, filled with flavored Bavarian cream. But to old-time Brooklynites, a charlotte russe was a round of sponge cake topped with sweetened whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, and sometimes a marashcino cherry, surrounded by a frilled cardboard holder with a round of cardboard on the bottom. As the cream went down, you pushed the cardboard up from the bottom, so you could eat the cake...these were Brooklyn ambrosia." ---The Brooklyn Cookbook, Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, Jr. [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1994 (p. 386)

Bought for a dime, if I remember (if one had a dime), eaten --- slowly--- on the way home from junior high.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

nitehawk, I forgot all about them. Memories.

Do they still make chocolate egg creams, at least the way the soda jerk made it way back then.

HB

[nONIE]

I've just gotta put this out there again! BABUSHKA!!! lol lol
Does anyone still wear a babushka? Havant seen them in TV, Thank goodness!

[chelsea24]

Yes, Nonie, I still wear a black on on my chin with light pink lipstick. Old habits die hard! LOLOLOL (Only my Chicago girlfriend would understand this.)

[nONIE]

Chels LOL LOL< or my great great polish grandmother! I bet there are still some of those left in Chicago, Polish grandmothers that is.

[redwitch]

We're back on babushkas on the chin again? sheesh .... Style still sounds awful.

Hmm -- Possibly the worst outfit possible:

plaid or neon lime green babushka between the lip and chin
bullet bra (for those who don't know, the 40s bra that ended in a point)
paisley bermuda shorts
white go-go boots

There, that should cause a nightmare or two!

[nONIE]

Red, that actually caused a little pick me up!(no pun intended)

I didnt wear a bra in the 40's!!! yep, that made me feel real good.

Thanks for the definition, makes perfect sense to me. ;)

[nitehawk]

chocolate egg creams have gone the way of the vanilla 'mellow rolls" - gone

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Nitehawk - all I can say is "oh no."

Are two people who are going out still use the word "steady" or "item" or "pinned"?

HB

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Nonie I forgot all about that word.
Thanks for thinking of it. Perhaps we should have a babushka night? I think I still have a couple.

I might also have my Peter Pan collars that I word on long sleeve buttoned down cardigans that were turned around so that the buttons were in the back.

Then there were the rabbit collars. To go with the neon socks that you wore with your saddle shoes.

These words are bringing back so many visual memories - :a20: :a20: 1rnfl 1rnfl 1rnfl 1rnfl I feel sorry for the younger generations that doesn't even know about these things.

HB

[redwitch]

I kinda envy the younger generation. They just have to live down multi-colored hair, pants that don't fit and underwear showing.

My brother's generation has saddle shoes and penny loafers (okay, not too bad), cuffed jeans (ugh!), white t-shirts with a pack of smokes rolled into the arm, poodle skirts and crinolines (talk about a word long gone), rabbit collars, cardigans (another dead word, I think) worn backwards, pastel sweater sets. Peter Pan collars and Peter Pan shoes were kinda on the dorky side, too. And let's not forget spit curls, beehives with petals, two-tone ratted flips.

My generation started with those styles but quickly went to English mod -- micro minis, hot pants, go-go boots, babuskas tied behind the head (unless you were from Chicago apparently), 30s-style gangster pantsuits and, of course, madras anything. And let us not forget the extreme black eyeliner with the wings and white lipstick. Yep, true things of beauty if you were into the vampire in neon look. Then, the hippie era: paisleys, tie die, Nehru jackets, bellbottoms (okay, those were cool and looked good), headbands tied around the top of the skull, neon colors, flowers and peace signs. Makeup was painted faces, no shaving anything, bathing was optional.

We won't even discuss the disco era. That was just too painful, especially those leisure suits!

Today's gangsta style is slowly losing some popularity -- I've noticed that girl's jeans are a little higher and the boys can actually walk a full stride.

(Do you get the feeling I rather like the history of clothing and fashion?)

[chuckinca]

Chuck,

Corvair.

You just made me remember going to pick out a Christmas tree for my first married Christmas. I was so excited about finding a big, fat one that I thought would look perfect. I was so caught up in the moment -- until it was time to load the tree into that Corvair trunk and try to drive home. I don't even remember what happened then, but I think I cried.

Boomer


BBB:

Didn't the Corvair have the trunk in the front?

[chuckinca]

Chels LOL LOL< or my great great polish grandmother! I bet there are still some of those left in Chicago, Polish grandmothers that is.




Logan Square; home of the Polish Cannonball

[Boomer]

BBB:

Didn't the Corvair have the trunk in the front?




Yes Chuck,

You read between the lines.

It was my new husband's car, the first, the car and the husband. It was all a very long time ago. And I was so caught up in the whole first grownup Christmas thing that I completely forgot about the trunk. Until it was time to take the tree home. That's why I cried.

Not exactly the stuff of which those Christmas specials on television are made, is it? I truly can be a complete bubblehead at times. I wrote a big long story about one of my bubbleheaded episodes the other night and then lost it to cyberspace. Another bubbleheaded move on my part.

Boomer

[graciegirl]

Did anyone else hear a lot of German words? Schmier(?) case (cottage cheese) bumbershoot, Achy (pronounced AH-kee) but back in the throat, fercuts(?) broken.

We called each other "kid" when I was a kid and some of us wore crocheted "facinators".

[Boomer]

OK. Just one this morning. Then I am logging off. Immediately. But I can't forget to ask this one.

Did any of you girls ever wear a feedsack dress?

In case you do not know about feedsack dresses, I am not talking about Boomer in Burlap.

Feedsacks were made of pretty printed cloth, calico I guess. My grandparents lived on a farm.

Did any of you girls ever have a cowgirl outfit, complete with 2 six-shooters and holsters? I did. It was a girly version of Hopalong Cassidy's outfit. It was black with lots of fringe. And, of course, I had a cowgirl hat, too.

So feedsack dresses? Cowgirl outfits complete with six-shooters? Hopalong Cassidy? Do our granddaughters have any idea what we are talking about?

Boomer

[redwitch]

No to feedsack dresses but I think I know what you're talking about.

Yes to the cowgirl outfit. I hated it! It was a skirt!!! But I loved the boots, hat, gun and vest. I actually made Jess a cowgirl outfit one year. She was doing a biography as Annie Oakley and they had to dress in costume if at all possible. So, she had vest, skirt, hat, boots (boots were first, bright red, so rest of outfit was yellow with red trim) and rifle. No six-shooters -- couldn't find them.

[nONIE]

Chuck,

Im so embarrassed, :redface: my best friend lived in Logan square and my dad had his tailor shop there for many years but I must confess, I dont know what the Polish cannonball is :dontknow: can ya fill me in?

[graciegirl]

YES to feedsack dresses. My grandmother sewed for me and she had friends who lived on a farm who didn't sew and gave her stacks of material, beautiful prints. Most of Ohio at that time were farm people and wonderful folks to know when milk and eggs were rationed during the mid 40's.

My grandmother could make a designer dress out of a piece of pretty feedsack cotton. I never felt anything but like a princess. I had Penneys dresses too.

I had a cowgirl outfit and two holsters with cap pistols. I "killed" my share of varmints, but never wanted to shoot anyone when I grew up. (Well hardly ever)

I also had a WAC purse, I was awfully proud of.

[TomW]

I remember when we had a PARTY LINE where 4 families shared one phone line. Each family had a different ring pattern (Long, two shorts) if the call was for your house. When we wanted to make a hole in a board, we used a BRACE and BIT. Has anyone had any hand cranked ice cream lately? That was the ony way we got ice cream years ago.

[nONIE]

Tom, those party lines were a hoot!

Listening in on conversations was rather shocking at times! :yikes:

[Hyacinth Bucket]

A-Line dress or the Princess waist.

Schmier(?) case (cottage cheese) bumbershoot, Achy (pronounced AH-kee) but back in the throat, fercuts(?) broken.

I remember all of those.

HB

[TomW]

Nonie,
I remember it being very difficult to "court" a girl if you had a party line. Sometimes you would here another click or two after you said goodby and then waited a few seconds. Of course there was only one phone in each home back then.

[swrinfla]

TomW:

I grew up with a party line on Cape Cod. 147 Ring 22. (That was two longs and two shorts).

Never could figure out how you could tell that the call was going to be for "22" even before the first short ring?

Most of the rest of the party line were of my parents' age and I suspect they listened in on mother's conversations now and then. I didn't have any girl friends at the time (I was barely even a teenager) and so don't recall mysterious noises after I talked!

;D

SWR

[chuckinca]

OK. Just one this morning. Then I am logging off. Immediately. But I can't forget to ask this one.

Did any of you girls ever wear a feedsack dress?

In case you do not know about feedsack dresses, I am not talking about Boomer in Burlap.

Feedsacks were made of pretty printed cloth, calico I guess. My grandparents lived on a farm.

Did any of you girls ever have a cowgirl outfit, complete with 2 six-shooters and holsters? I did. It was a girly version of Hopalong Cassidy's outfit. It was black with lots of fringe. And, of course, I had a cowgirl hat, too.

So feedsack dresses? Cowgirl outfits complete with six-shooters? Hopalong Cassidy? Do our granddaughters have any idea what we are talking about?

Boomer




BBB:

There is a dairy in the Fresno area that sells milk with a Hopalong Cassidy picture on the carton. They must make some great milk if it last this long.

[chuckinca]

Chuck,

Im so embarrassed, :redface: my best friend lived in Logan square and my dad had his tailor shop there for many years but I must confess, I dont know what the Polish cannonball is :dontknow: can ya fill me in?



(I usta live near Logan Square when I was at Circle in the late 60's)

The Ell line that now runs to O'Hare airport used to end at the Logan Square Station (about 10 miles East of the airport). When they were extending the line to the airport and going thru startup and testing they had three or four accidents where the trains ran past designated stop locations and ran into the rear of the train in front or into something it wasn't supposed to hit. The Papers started calling the new line the Polish Cannonball (since the end of the old line was the Polish neighborhood of Logan Square)

[chuckinca]

I remember when we had a PARTY LINE where 4 families shared one phone line. Each family had a different ring pattern (Long, two shorts) if the call was for your house. When we wanted to make a hole in a board, we used a BRACE and BIT. Has anyone had any hand cranked ice cream lately? That was the ony way we got ice cream years ago.



My grandmother's phone number in rural Indiana was two longs and a short.

We recently tried to give a hand crank ice cream machine to Goodwill and they wouldn't take it.

My maternal grandfather had a pay phone in his house. He had five daughters.

We had a Kelvinator that had a quarter pay machine attached - you want cold you pay a quarter a day.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi I forgot about the party line. My main memory of that was all the fun we had. When we knew someone was listening we would start making up all these stories about people in the town, but never named a name.

They were referred to "as you know who" or something similar.

Remember the term "chewing the fat"?

HB

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Speaking of phones do you recall when the phone numbers started with words - Butterfield 8,

HB

[chuckinca]

"Hudson three two seven hundred Magickist Carpet the kiss of beauty" or so said the radio and TV jingles in Chicagoland in the mid 50's

[nONIE]

OMG, I cant believe you remember that phone number, I guess we heard it a million times tho. That is tooooo funny!

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Do you remember a Morris chair?

HB

[Peggy D]

Yes, Nonie, I still wear a black on on my chin with light pink lipstick. Old habits die hard! LOLOLOL (Only my Chicago girlfriend would understand this.)


.....on Saturdays, with your hair in rollers under it. That meant you had a date or where going to the dance that night.

Hot stuff!!

[nONIE]

Yes, HB, I have one in the barn for sale! (NO Kidding) Its a beauty, can I interest you?

PeggyD, you got it, where are you from?????

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Nonie, we had one. It was made of oak and had fancy scroll work on it. I have seen lounge chairs made similar to the old Morris Chair.

HB

[nONIE]

It sounds exactly like ours HB. Im letting the auctioneer take it, hope it brings a few bucks!

[Hyacinth Bucket]

I hope it brings more than a few bucks. I don't recall what we sold ours for.

We just sold our glider. I thought it was great as I had always wanted a rocking chair for the living room.

Oh well. Now the casket... please tell me more about it.

HB

[Peggy D]

Nonie

Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Not all that far from Philadelphia.

It was that South Philly influence...aka BANDSTAND!!

And yes, I was on there several times in the early 60's.

[chuckinca]

Problem

No more problems - just issues.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

A friend and I came up with the following;
valise
bundling
floor walker
kerchief
sad iron
wooing
percolator
sheath - dress style
courting
pill box - hat
tangene
chingnon
oleo
horseless carriage
spuds
dumbwaiter
trunks - bathing suit
nehru
beehive
icebox
tin foil
wax bax divan
fainting couch

a word to be soon lost in or vocabulary used car they are now pre-owned