Fender Skirts

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.

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 tomake 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 and now means almost nothing.
Now we take the term "world wide" for granted.
This floors me.(I now always think of 'coast to coast'
as going from home...the FL gulf coast to the east
coast like Ft Lauderdale)

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical
term in our homes. In the '50's, 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 '50's, but here's
a pure-'60's 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 "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 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

Someone forwarded this to me. 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"!

IF YOU AREN'T OF A CERTAIN AGE. YOU MUST KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS.