"Fender Skirts"

[Bad Bowtie]

I came across this phrase yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS".

 

 

These things look foolish now--but I have to admit, we thought them the "Cat's Meow" back then!!!

 

A term I haven't heard in a long time & thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like "curb feelers", "steering knobs." (AKA) suicide knob.

 

Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturallywent 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 & 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," 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 & 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 efinitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most is "supper". Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper & discuss those fender skirts...

 

[NipRing]

 

"steering knobs." (AKA) suicide knob.

 

 

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."

 

 

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!

 

Some words aren't gone, but are efinitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most is "supper". Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper & discuss those fender skirts...

 

 

I'll be 40 this summer. A lot of those terms are from before my youth. However, some I use.

 

A few years ago I bought a 1965 Chevy G10 van and since then I have a much greater appreciation for the 60's and 70's (especially the vanning culture). My manual brake, manual steering van has a suicide knob. It'd be a bear to drive without it.

 

I still refer to it as the emergency brake. Parking brake sounds dorky, lol

 

Rat Fink, only one thing comes to my mind, Big Daddy Roth.

 

My mom and dad still invite us over for supper. But I do find myself calling my kids down for dinner. I guess supper sounds poor in some way. Which is something most people try to elevate themselves from. I don't know.

 

Good post though, thanks!