FENDER SKIRTS   Oldies but memorable if you’re the right age!

Fender skirts

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 disappeared 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 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 it the  'emergency brake'?  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  is or that the  dimmer switch  used to be on the floor.   For that matter,  the starter was down there    too.

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 was 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 use.  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 1950's, but here's a pure 1960's word I came across  the other day:  'rat fink.'    Oh, 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.'

Then they  introduced the1963 Admiral TV . . . with  'Spectra  Vision!'

Food for  thought:  Was there a telethon that wiped out  lumbago?   (Nobody complains about 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 the 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.