Fender Skirts What a great blast from the past! I haven'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 *****." 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."

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 cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now.
"Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all.

It's hard to recall that this word was once said in a whisper
-"divorce." And no one is called a "divorcee"
anymore. Come to think of it, "confirmed bachelors" and "career girls"
are long gone, too.

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." Now everybody says "dinner". Save a great word. Invite
someone to "supper. Discuss fender skirts.

 

Reminds me of a Fina (petroleum company) promotion promising pink air. All of us kids pedaled up the the corner gas station and got free pink valve caps, shaped like little crowns (IIRC). I don't think pink air ever happened, though.

Saw an old car the other day, and not only did it have wing windows, the wings also had their own crank handles.

When I was about 9 or 10 I saw a new Ford that had a one-piece, green glass, see-through roof. I was really surprised that anybody kept making cars after that, because that was about as modern as anyone could get.

 

I don't like how words today have lost their meaning... it's kind of a disappointment, and people don't or can't mean what they say anymore.

I've always referred to it as the emergency brake, and at my aunt's house we usually have homemade pie, rarely store-bought. Oh, and to my grandpa, it's still the percolator

 

I liked talking to My Grand Pa about the OL days but he is 97 now so the mind aint what it use to be

 

Ever try to change a rear tire on a car with fender skirts while utilizing a bumper jack? Not safe or fun !

It is probably good that some things go the way of the dinosaur.

 

Remember dual antennas? I only knew one guy that they actually worked. How about scavenger pipes, reversed shackles for that ever loving jacked up rearend look, two tone horns to call the babes, reverberation radio with TWO speakers, dual mufflers that soon became glass packs with tips, flipping the air filter lid to get that throaty sound, bucket seats, floor shifter, three speed standard transmission on the column, oil bath air cleaner, points and condenser, cutouts, lake pipes, rolled and pleated interiors, oil filters that were inside the cartridge with the rubber washer that never went back right, and the ever popular but gone today, CHROME! YOOO buddy, dem was da days!

 

I'm only 19, but I call it supper, i never use dinner. It's also an emergency brake.

 

Automotive related thread moved to the GAD forum

 

How about mohair upholstery that itched you all over and smelled like a wet dog when damp? This was replaced by the new space age miracle - vinyl upholstery. Nothing like being a kid in shorts with no shirt getting into a hot car with the new - vinyl upholstery, and leaping back out with 2nd degree burns.

 

I've changed tires on cars with fender skirts many times without a problem.
Clue: remove fender skirt first.
Dono

 

The Ford with the green glass top mentioned.
54 Ford Skyliner Glass Top, is this the one you saw?
Cindy 88 F150

 

A geezer like me is old enough to remember all that stuff. There were lots of aftermarket skirts available...including chrome, cruiser and bubble skirts. The cruisers would go all the way back to the extended bumber of the continental kit. The steering wheel spinners were called 'necker's *****'. Speaking of *****, if you had three on the floor you had to have a real piston or 8-ball mounted on it. Flame-shaped ***** were cool for the dash controls...'49 Fords looked great with them. Don't forget dummy-spots and port-a-walls! Without those curb-feelers you'd tear up your wide-whites or port-a-walls, and nothing looked worse. In the 50's, guys with money would have a 45 rpm record player mounted on the hump. In the 60's, you had to have a Vibe-Ro-Sonic...I still have mine, and will put it in my '65 Cutlass when I finish it. Don't forget 'blue-dots' or the very rare 'yellow-dots' for the tail lights. Got blue-dots on my Cutlass. They even sold 'jeweled' flattened exhaust tips! I can go on and on, but I'll give someone else a chance.

I always said 'supper'...still do. I use the term 'couch' instead of 'sofa' or 'devan'. I don't think anybody uses 'devan' anymore.
Ahhh, the good old days.

MR

 

I'm only 30, but was brought up using 90% of those terms... My dad was a greaser back in the day (just turned 64 this year), so I was taught all about cars and the words...lol. I would like to thank my father for making me a modern-day greaser. Gotta luv the e-brake.

 

There is a butt-ugly green and brown 90's 2wd chevy pickup in this city with rear fender skirts.

it kind of makes your eyes ache.

 

The term "Fender skirts" always conjures up the feelling for "hideously ugly" to me.
I do lament some of the things you bring up though, and I try to teach my kids that dinner is served at noon, but not with much success.

The words "Standard transmission" are going the way of the foot-feed too.
we used to call those wheel spinners "suicide *****", but suicide ***** and doors are gone now.

What about push-button transmissions, and fox tails on the antenna? West coast mirrors?
Black and white television must be a real phenonmena for people who didn't grow up with one

Anyone remember the teletype and carbon paper? Computers that used thousands of those 3x5 punched cards?

and a couple of my pet beefs. purely Canadian. No one calls them Chesterfields anymore. Too much American television, and now they are "sofas" And thanks to Sesame street,it took me ten years to re-teach my kids that the last letter of the alphabet in every English speaking country except the US is ZED, not ZEE
Then try and explain ZZTop or La-Z-Boy. But Zee-28 just don't sound right, no how.