FENDER SKIRTS AND SUPPER

[ray10]

I read this evening thought I’d share.

http://www.sierrasportscargroup.com/Newsletters/Winter%202014%20Newsletter.pdf

FENDER SKIRTS AND SUPPER

I know some of you will not understand this

message,but I bet you know someone who might.I

came across this phrase yesterday.

‘FENDER SKIRTS’

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 like ‘curb feelers’ And ‘steering

knobs.’ (AKA) ‘suicide knob,’ ‘neckers knobs.’

Since I’d been thinking of cars, my mind naturally

went that direction first. Any kids will probably have

to find some older person over 50 to explain some of

these terms.

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.’

Many today do not even know what a clutch isor

that the dimmer switch used to be on the floor. For

that matter, the starter was down there too.

Did you ever wait at the street for your daddy to

come home, so you could ride the ‘running board’

up to the house?

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-towall

carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

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 ‘Dyna Flow’ and ‘Electrolux’ and ‘Frigidaire’.

We were introduced to the 1963 Admiral TV, now

it’s ‘Flat Screen Video’

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 is ‘supper.‘ Now

everybody says ‘dinner.’ Save a great word. Invite

someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.

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.’

The end

Thanks to Ron, Dick, Nigel & others who contributed to this newsletter ??? without your help

you???d be reading blank pages!

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