OT....some old time terms....like "fender skirts"

[BobT-47P15]

Lifted from an e-mail. There were some pictures, but they didn't seem

to transfer. Some stuff us "old timers" (aka..old farts, Ed) will recall.

I came across this phrase yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS".

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

And "steering knobs." (AKA) suicide knob

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 hou se?

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 q uaint 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," 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? "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 "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 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. I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these.

Just for fun, Pass it along to others of "a certain age"!

[dezeldoc]

Damn I remember them!! guess I am old!!

[rolliejoe]

it's sad that curse words like "horse sh*t!" have lost their meaning.

[rolliejoe]

we have a guy at work that uses the word supper, we all look at him strange.

[Frank Elder]

Griddle cakes instead of pancakes, and yes it was a treat to go into town every month to buy things we couldn't make or grow. Store bought replaced homemade and home grown in the 80's.

[Hounddog]

I know that most of these words are gone or going from todays youths but Growing up out in the country outside a small town of galena we used quite a bit of the words I think alot of country folk still do that I know I still say supper even if people look at me wierd.

[Aussie D25]

Im only 29 and know what pretty much all of those words are... thing is I'm a sucker for retro stuff.

I'm making a tiki bar as soon as I move to my new place.

I saw a Compact Fairlane the other week that was lowered and had curb feelers on it and I almost threw my arm out of socket pointing at it telling my girlfriend all about what they are for.

My friends think I'm trapped in some weird time continuum. We have email conversations at work and someone will send through what they think are hot alloy rims ... I then return serve with some spoked hoops dressed with pie crust white walls and they ask me what drugs I'm taking.

I don't understand it either. I see old cars and I just flip out, I say fender skirt, dress rings, or Fulton Visor and people look at me like I'm talking gibberish.

If you asked someone at a parts shop these days about NOS spares they would try to hook you up with Nitrous Oxide.

[Fluid drive]

I hadn't thought of most of these good oldies for a while. Fun!

Just for fun do any of you know what a flat foot floogie with the floy floy(some called it floy doy ) is ? It hasn't anyhing to do with a car!--Give all of you a clue . It's a person with a problem.

[Fluid drive]

Oh , did anyone mention exhaust cut outs?

[Hounddog]

Oh , did anyone mention exhaust cut outs?

Exhaust cut outs are very boss

[Niel Hoback]

Mud flaps.

[John Reddie]

I remember when I was a teenager in the '50s, we used to buy those tailpipe dress up extentions. We called them Bazookas or echo cans. Somehow they seemed more appealing than these monsterous sewer pipe sized ones I see today on the foreign cars.

John R

[BobT-47P15]

Mud flaps.......got 'em.

Along with fender skirts, blue dots, exhaust extension, reflectors to hold on license plate at the top.

[LAKOTA169]

I hadn't thought of most of these good oldies for a while. Fun!

Just for fun do any of you know what a flat foot floogie with the floy floy(some called it floy doy ) is ? It hasn't anyhing to do with a car!--Give all of you a clue . It's a person with a problem.

"Slim and Slam's first hit was a nonsense ditty entitled "Flat Foot Floogie." It shot to the top of the Hit Parade where it stayed for eight weeks. Years later, both Slim and Slam admitted that their biggest hit almost had a different name, one that could have affected its commercial appeal. 'The song was called before we recorded it 'Flat Foot Floosie.' Now you happen to know what a floosie would be—a street walker," Stewart told Cadence. "We got together with someone down at the station who said they wanted to record us, and when we started to record the number, we said 'flat foot floosie.' Then somebody got smart and said 'no, I don't think you'd better use that word, because it wouldn't be quite kosher. It might be commercial but it wouldn't be good for the recording. So we had to do some fast thinking, and the closest thing to that would be 'the flat foot floogie with the floy floy'." The song was first recorded for Decca but never released; Block accepted a better offer for the duo to cut it for Columbia-Vocalion."

I've got the song on a cab Calloway cd. Seems all the videos have been removed from the web.

[BobT-47P15]

I seem to recall that the NRBQ (Nashville Rhythm & Blues Quartet) did a

version called Flat Foot Floozie on an album, maybe in the 1970s or late

60s. Don't know if it was the same song, however.

[jimainnj]

I remember every one, and used them all in the 50's, along with the flame thrower out the tail pipe, also supper as I'm from Pitts, Pa we still say supper in this house in NJ. Jim

[Don Jordan]

I remember my grandmother telling me when they had their house in San Francisco back in the 20s they took out all the stained glass (leaded) windows and tossed them. If you had stained glass it meant you had an "old house." I was in an antique store the other day and they wanted $1200 for a little window and frame.

A little off topic: I hate going into an ANTIQUE store and see stuff that I had when I was a kid.

While we're remembering things: did anyone have a 'fanner 50', Daisey, put bubble gun cards in the spokes of your bicycle, or balloons? Following the ice man around on your bicycle because he would give you chips. We had a milk man (also delivered eggs and cottage cheese, cream). And I delivered papers - on foot. And collected money at the end of the month.

Spin and Marty? Circus Boy? Sky King? Rin Tin Tin? Anyone remember NOT having a TV?

Sorry - got carried away. I can't remember the meeting I had yesterday but I can remember all the words to the "Purple People Eater.":D

how sad that life is wasted on the young.

[Dennis Hemingway]

My forgetter's getting better, .

But my rememberer is broke

To you that may seem funny

But, to me, that is no joke

For when I'm 'here' I'm wondering

If I really should be 'there'

And, when I try to think it through,

I haven't got a prayer!

Often times I walk into a room,

Say 'what am I here for?'

I wrack my brain, but all in vain!

A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away

Where it is safe, but, Gee!

The person it is safest from

Is, generally, me!

When shopping I may see someone,

Say 'Hi' and have a chat,

Then, when the person walks away

I ask myself, 'who the hell was that?

Yes, my forgetter's getting better

While my rememberer is broke,

And it's driving me plumb crazy

And that isn't any joke.

CAN YOU RELATE???

[RobertKB]

Understand and have used all those words and terms. Language is constantly changing and the younger generation will feel sad about losing some of the terms they now use. It wasn't that long ago that to have a "walkman" was the ultimate in modernity. They are now "old hat". Ipods rule and cell phones carry tunes. The VHR is soon to be a thing of the past, replaced by the DVD. I still like all the old terms mentioned in the first posting and use some of them occasionally. Sitting on a running board drinking a "cool one" is still one of life's little pleasures!