# Of topic,maybe.... but.....



## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Seeing as we deal in models that are in themselves "nostalgia", I thought this may be of amusement to someone.
It was sent in an Email by a friend.

Subject: Great Memories

Fender Skirts 

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." 

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 "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 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. 

It's hard to recall that this word was once said in a whisper -"divorce." And no one is called a "divorcee" anymore. Certainly not a "gay divorcee." 

Come to think of it, "confirmed bachelors" and "career girls" are long gone, too. 

I always loved going to the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation. 

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. You can't find the brush we used to clean out the stem that held the coffee basket in the old coffee pots either! I miss them. 

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "ElectraLuxe." 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. 

Someone forwarded this to me, and I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Thank you, Dabbler! It was awfully KEAN of you to share this! I found it to be really CHOICE!


- GJS

P.S. It was also NEAT-O.


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## irocer (Aug 22, 2000)

Was this back when stock cars really were stock, color tv was yet to come, Andy Taylor was the new sheriff in town, Kirk had not yet met Spock and most important Aurora ruled the model world? Had to a special time! I am vintage 1964, so I remember very little of the era.


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Does anyone remember "rubbish" ?
Now it's just all garbage.

Back in the 1930's-1940's, the word "wallet" was new.
Until then, it was called a "purse".


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

"Bill fold".


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

They aren't "purses", they're "European carry-alls"!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Gear, Fab and Ginchy!

When I was a kid, we didn't have a couch or a sofa, we had a "davenport."

The refrigerator was a "Frigidaire" whether it was made by Frigidaire or not!

"Freezer" or "Ice Box?"

And oh, we actually had a real bread box!

Dad had an "Easy Chair," while I now have a "Recliner."

And Gramma draped an "Antimacasser" over the backs of her chairs. (That's a decorative cloth, to protect the chair from a person wearing hair tonic. Macasser was a brand of hair tonic)

Hell, my dad was old enough to remember where phrases like "Gee-hawed" came from! (When you drive a team of horses, you call out "Gee!" to get the left horse's attention, and "haw!" for the right. If you screw up and get the harness tangled up, you've gotten yourself "all gee-hawed.")

Dad's first car was a Model-T (no, he's not THAT old, it was well-used). On a T, you didn't have "gas pedal" or an "accelerator." The throttle was a lever on the steering column, and to go faster you had to move it up to "advance the spark" or down to "retard the spark."

Okay, enough sounding old outta me.


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

Sounding?


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## AZbuilder (Jul 16, 1999)

*Very Timely*

Hi Dabbler and everyone else, that e-mail that your friend sent you is very timely for me, I remember most of those terms and items. As of tomorrow I will turn 50. A lot has come and gone in the past half century and I fully expect a lot more will come and go in the future that is just the nature of time. I remember a time there was no color T.V. everything broadcast in B&W and only 13 broadcast stations in the Los Angeles area and movies for under a buck and a full McDonalds meal (burger,fries and driink) for under a buck as well. a Thrifty's drug store scoop of Ice Cream was .05 cents and of course A model was between a buck to 5 whole dollars. there was real Penny candy. you redeemed soft drink bottles for the money. Fizzies soft drink tablets, I remember when Lays potato chips were introduced to the market and their slogan "Betcha Can't Eat Just One". as well as "Doritos" . When NASA missions were big media events unlike todays 30 second blurb. The day when John "Jack" Kennedy was murdered and the events that followed. The '65 Watts Riots I was about 10 mile or less from them at the time, made quite impression on a then 10 year old kid. so a lot has happened in the last 50 years and a lot more will happen in the future. Who knows maybe one day we will have a public close encounter of the 3rd. kind before all is said and done.

AZbuilder
John Davis


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Now in color!

Don't forget:

- tube testers in grocery stores

- plastic covered upholstry in cars that acted like napalm on your legs if you were wearing shorts.

- Space Food Sticks

- when "Granola" was an new exotic food in the U.S.

- when TVs and radios had to "warm up" before you could see or hear anything.

- when phone numbers started with an exchange, i.e. JU5-4741

- when there was no such thing as unleaded gas or catylytic converters.

- when all kids got polio and smallpox vaccinations.

- when it was thought that computers would have lots of blinking lights.

- when McDonalds was new, and going there was a big deal. There was no other real fast food. There were no drive throughs.

- when TV dinners were a big deal; imagine not having to prepare food for dinner!

- when electric car windows were new and amazing.

- when VCRs were $2,500 and covered the entire top of the TV console.

- when a 'carphone' didn't mean a cellphone.

- when no one had a 'home computer' and few people had a color TV.

...and finally...

The Frito Bandito.


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## AZbuilder (Jul 16, 1999)

*"I am The Frito Bandito"*

You forgot Laura Scudders Corn Chips called waumpum or something like that both corn chips had very un-PC spokepersons or characters.

AZbuilder
John Davis


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## Brent Gair (Jun 26, 1999)

AZbuilder said:


> ..only 13 broadcast stations in the Los Angeles area


ONLY ?! 13 broadcast stations?

Man, I was 14 years old before we had more than two TV stations (1972).

We had the CBC and CTV. With a big antenna, we could bring in the ABC network affiliate from Pembina, North Dakota. When cable came to town in 1971, we could get SIX!! TV stations. Unfortunately, three of them were just barely viewable because the cable company's antenna was rather crappy. So we could hardly get the CBS and NBC station.

When I was in high school, KTHI from Grand Forks ND started broadcating ALL NIGHT on Friday into Saturday. It was just on the weekends but, by God it was 24 hour television!

Incredible, I could actually turn on the TV at 3:00AM and there would be a show on television!


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Big Chief Wampum - http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/pix529.jpg

...and Space Food Sticks - http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/pix378.jpg
http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/pix379.jpg


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

I had four Television stations when I grew up.

ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS.

I personally didn't own a color tv until 5 years ago! 
I bought a 13" which I still have.
One speaker on the side.

There really isn't that much to watch, so I don't think 
it is worth having all that HD-5.1-surround-sound-TiVo-DVR-digital-satellite 
equipment.


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## PhilipMarlowe (Jan 23, 2004)

Remember when you if you were small enough, you could lay on the ledge above the back seat on trips. My Dad was in the Army, we were always moving, and I used to travel across states wedged up there out of reach of my little sister in our old Pontiac. If I let my boy do that they'd bury me _under_ the jail.

Remember when even on cheap cars, the hoods stayed up by themselves? I never have understood why exactly we lost that technology, safety or weight?


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

"My name Jose' Jimenez."


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Zorro said:


> "My name Jose' Jimenez."


Ah, yes, comedian Bill Dana's alter ego, from those innocent times before Political Correctness.

I'm not quite old enough to remember those knobs that you attached to a car's steering wheel. But my mother once told me that when she was a teenager, they were called "necking knobs" or "necker knobs" — for obvious reasons.

As long as we're wallowing in nostalgia, remember when TV stations ended each broadcast day by having a sermonette or other inspirational program, a few public-service messages, and the National Anthem — and then actually "signed off" at one or two o'clock in the morning?

And who could forget those cigarette commercials? (Okay, so maybe some things aren't worth getting nostalgic about).


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## spe130 (Apr 13, 2004)

Hell, I still live in a town where they do the "American flag, shut the station down" thing about 1-2am everyday. Open back up about 5-5:30.


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## ost15jr (Apr 4, 2002)

Remember milk boxes? Before you parents had them bricked up, you used to use them to slip your baby brother (in my case me) through when you'd forgotten your house key?

How about jugs of milk? Now the caps from those jugs are actually worth money!

Sleeping across the ledge in the back seat of your parent's car? How about coming home frome your grandparent's house and being able to sleep sprawled out in the back seat - no seatbelt?

13 channels on tv? How about that rotor for turning your tv arial? Because only the rich nabours had cable (if there was even cable in your area).

Forget about all that -- remember how when you used to buy a model and all you could think about was whether you could finish it by the end of the day?
:dude:


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

:wave: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AZ !! And many more to come.
Sadly ( for me) I was in highschool when you were born  .
I remember ALL the above, and more even earlier. Cigarettes in machines for $0.25 and 3 cents change in the cig. pack. $0.18 in stores. Gas $0.24 per gallon. Sometimes on a 4-station intersection, a "price war" at $0.18 cpg.
Is it me, or does time really go faster as you get older ?? I think I'll take a nap ! 
Dabbler

"If it ain't broke, 
you ain't tryin' "
-Red Green-


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Hmm, I'd forgotten about the car hoods. I certainly don't think it was safety as the manual hoods today are less safe. It's probably cost cutting. The two massive springs used on the old hoods couldn't have been as cheap as a 4' long piece of thick wire, unhardened.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

In the 70s Monogram 1/48 scale WWII airplane models, most with some working features, came in two box sizes and two prices: $1.00 and $1.50. HiWay Hobby House (where I still shop!) had a standard 30% discount, so the kits cost 70 cents and $1.05. I went to HHH with $5 once, and came home with 5 models. Some of those same kits from those same molds are still available, and are now $10 and $15.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

AZbuilder said:


> As of tomorrow I will turn 50.
> 
> AZbuilder
> John Davis


Happy Birthday John!!! :hat: :hat: :hat:


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

I remember going to the _service_ station and getting $5.00 worth of gas (which hardly starts my lawn mower now), pumped by an attendant, having the windshield washed and the oil checked without being asked, then being given a free glass or some other premium before leaving.


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Al, your comment reminds me of one of the funniest parts of the original Back to the Future movie; McFly ends up back in time in the 1950's. While he's trying to get his bearings he sees an old car pull into a service station and hit the bell. McFly is clearly dumbfounded when 2-3 attendants *run* out of the station and start fueling, checking, and cleaning the windshield of the car. Only someone who remembers those days will be able to appreciate the humor in that scene.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

The first show on in the morning was either "Sunrise Sermon" or the local agriculture report for the farmers.

Do they still make Tang?


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## almostvirgin (May 26, 2002)

I remember the days of 'blue laws' - maybe that was only in the deep south. Not much was open on Sunday - but I remember lots of areas in the grocery store taped off.....don't remember what kinda stuff except...not 4 sale on Sunday. 

Does anybody remember when the first mall (not shopping center) opened in their area?

Oh yeah, I remember us city slickers riding in the back of our country relatives pickup trucks...who the heck in the city owned a pickup for god's sake...we sure didn't stay seated and the adults weren't arrested for endangering our lives. lol


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## MangoMan (Jul 29, 1999)

almostvirgin said:


> I remember the days of 'blue laws' - maybe that was only in the deep south. Not much was open on Sunday - but I remember lots of areas in the grocery store taped off.....don't remember what kinda stuff except...not 4 sale on Sunday.


It's still that way around here. In Baton Rouge, you can buy beer and wine on Sunday, but nothing harder. One store I went in actually did tape off the shelves! :freak:


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

almostvirgin said:


> I remember lots of areas in the grocery store taped off.....don't remember what kinda stuff except...not 4 sale on Sunday.


Are you sure that wasn't a Jewish grocery store during Passover?:jest:


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## almostvirgin (May 26, 2002)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Blue Laws are still going strong in the U.S. After the last election this should come as a surprise to no one.

In 1985 I was in El Paso, Texas, for work. On Sunday we could buy 2 x 4's but not nails. A couple years later I was in New Jersey. There we couldn't buy wine at the local Italian place we ate dinner at, and when we trried to buy a bottle to take with us the next night we found that the stores closed at something like 7pm. After that you had to drink in 'clubs' which were often just a liquor store with a bar built in. In Washington state the gov't owns the hard liquor stores and they're (still?) closed on Sunday. In one county in Washington the, um, adult entertainment businesses couldn't serve liquor, period. But they still required that you had a drink in your hand at all times so they sold soda pop at liquor prices.


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## spe130 (Apr 13, 2004)

Otto, Missouri does that with the "adult" establisments. That's the only reason anyone in St. Louis ever goes to Illinois.


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

Chris, Tang is still available in all of the grocery stores (including WalMart) that I shop at here in Pekin, Illinois. I understand, though, that Astronauts no longer drink it...


Larry


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