Fender skirts! What a great blast from the past!

[Robby (imported)]

The other day I picked up a copy of an essay collection, "Tom Dodge Talks About Texas."

Well, one of those little pieces sent me off on a reverie almost immediately. It was about Big Jim Tidwell of Whitney - "The Fender Skirt King of Texas." And I thought, "Fender skirts!" What a great blast from the past! I hadn'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. You 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 cackled. 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 "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."

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

[Studlover (imported)]

The other day I picked up a copy of an essay collection, "Tom Dodge Talks About Texas."

Well, one of those little pieces sent me off on a reverie almost immediately. It was about Big Jim Tidwell of Whitney - "The Fender Skirt King of Texas." And I thought, "Fender skirts!" What a great blast from the past! I hadn'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. You 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 cackled. 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 "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."

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

Robby, you certainly did a good job making me "feel my age." How well I remember those terms. At the present moment I can't think of more words and phrases from the 50's but those are a good start. Yes, I remember listening to my older brother talk about getting fender skirts for his car. It seems that in Texas in those days that was just what each teenager had if you wanted your car to be "souped" up. Oh man!! There you go, "souped up."

Studlover (Native Texan).

[Riverwind (imported)]

yes Robby, I too remember some of those words, moons were hub caps that every cool car had, white wall tires, the first remote controls that had a cable from the remote to the tv, and now most people call it a clicker. the Microwave oven, is now refered to as a nuker. Dipers that were made of cloth that you folded just so and pined them on the baby followed by plastic covers so leeks would be stopped. ABC Diper service. jelopy, coop, fins, rails, three tone paint jobs on new cars, In those days we had new cars and used cars but today we have preowned cars. ? arnt they still used? popcorn poppers, today its all nuked. Everybody owned a bug, or wanted one. yes Robby yet another trip down memory lane. I seem to be taking more and more of them lately...... hmmm

RW