This one is cute…

Fender Skirts And Supper Source Unknown

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' 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 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 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.  That 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 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 and now sound so retro.  Words like  'Dyna Flow' and 'Electrolux' and 'Frigidaire'. Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now  with 'Spectra Vision!'       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.   Someone forwarded this to me.  I thought some of us of a 'certain age'would remember most of these. Just for fun, maybe pass it along to others of 'a certain age.'       IF   YOU AREN'T OF A CERTAIN AGE, YOU MUST KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS.