The lost Model A vocabulary

[700rpm]

I was thinking today about words and phrases that were common in the Model A era, and how they have all but disappeared from our everyday language. For example:

Tin Lizzy
Flivver
Oh You Kid!
Swell
So's yer old man
Flapper
Shingle-bob haircut
Jalopy
Bowler (hat)
Cat's Meow
Cat's Pajamas
Cat's Whiskers
Hootch
Gat
Spats
Swank (and Swanky)

I'm sure there are others. Anybody want to share what they remember?

[newshirt]

Jeepers creepers, where'd ya get those peepers?

[james hitchcock]

What about Daddy-O. Actually my daughter keeps that one alive. I'm always called Daddy-O.

[kp]

Hubba ,hubba .

[gweilbaker]

I'm much obliged sir.

[Roadster62]

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Gas is going to eighteen cents a gallon!

[700rpm]

Those are good. How about:
Gas war
Knickers
Newsboy
Golly!
Soda jerk

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Those are good. How about:
Gas war
Knickers
Newsboy
Golly!
Soda jerk

TURTLE SHELL (trunk)
TOE SACK
POKE (paper bag)(not poke salad)
FROG STICKER (cheap pocket knife)
SLOP BUCKET (kitchen wastes for the hogs)
SQUIRREL & DUMPLIN'S (delicacy!)

[mnherb]

Here is the definitive list: http://local.aaca.org/bntc/slang/slang.htm

There are some doozies in here!

[Ken B]

And then there's:
Hootenannay
Jittney Bus
Flim Flam Man
Dame
Boogie-Woogie
Hep Cat
Juke Joint
Vamp
Mickey-Finn
Moxie
Speakeasy
Dizzy with the Dames
Gin Joint
Hooch
Double Cross
Hotsy Totsy
Rot Gut Bathtub Gin
Pip
Scram
23-skidoo
Trip the light fantastic
G-Man
Flatfoot, Gumshoe
Peachy Keen
Clam-bake
Bee's Knees
On the lam
Spiffy
Nifty
Heebie-Jeebies

[Roland/Pittsburgh]

How about "dear" meaning expensive or valuable?

[Mike V. Florida]

Here's another site;

http://www.sagedragonfly.com/sayings/1930s_slang.htm

[700rpm]

Those web sites are the berries! Just bully!

[allison-tech]

HOT DOG!......Yowza,Yowza,Yowza !

[Chris Haynes]

Originally Posted by Roadster62

Gas is going to eighteen cents a gallon!

Gas was $.12 9/10 when I was in high school in the '60's.

[Hicktick]

I remember pumping Esso Extra when it went to , 36.9 , I think reg. was 29.9 .

You could pump some in a glass jar and it looked like tea .

[John Kennedy]

I'll add "Please" and "Thank you" to the list, please.

Thank you!

[kp]

some day gas is gonna be fifty cents a gallon .

[Gary/IA]

Originally Posted by kp

some day gas is gonna be fifty cents a gallon .

Would that have been "Regular" or "Ethyl"?

[Purdy Swoft]

The cheapest gas that I remember here in Alabama, in the sixties was 29.9 regular, 31.9 ethyl. In 1972 gas prices dropped to a low of .25 cents per gallon. I remember filling several 55 gallon drums, because I didn't figure the low price would hold for long. The best that I remember, it stayed at 25 cents pe r gallon for over a year. At the time regular was 94 octain and ethyl was 100. I remember visable gas pumps in the very early fifties in remote places.

[Richard/Ca]

Gas my have been only 17 to 23 cents a gal. rent may have been 50.00 to a 100.00 a month also but what were your wages. I remember (picking up) 2 cent then 3 cent pop bottles to get enough gas money to cruise on Friday and Saturday nights. Was not working at the time. May have mowed a lawn or two for a couple of bucks.

[amodel25]

In 1966 gas was 24.9 a gallon and I was making $1.10 to pump it.

[raprice]

Actually, Tin Lizzy and Flivver are from the Model T era. And Daddy-O is from the '50s.
Rog

[Huckster Dave]

Gay - when it meant to be happy, and a variation a Gay blade, meant a sharp dresser or party guy.
Went to work in independent gas station in Michigan 1961 gas was 29.9 and 32.9 and I made .50cents per hour. I was loaded man.

[MrTube]

How about "humdinger" and how did this go from a slang \ word thread to a I remember when gas was X thread?

[Benson]

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Standard Oil (before AMOCO) sold the "White gas" was unleaded. The coupe ran MANY miles on the Unleaded blue pump gas! Was good for Coleman stoves and lanterns too!

Pumps had a small glass "dome" with a plastic red colored piece inside near the "sale' and "Gallons" windows that wiggled around to show that the gas was flowing.

Some pumps with the globe on top had a pump handle on the side and a scale to measure the gallons. After you pumped the gas up there, removing the hose let the gas feed by gravity down to the tank. No electric power needed.

Originally Posted by Ed

I can remember gas wars in southern California. The cheapest I can recall was 17.9 cents per gallon in the early to mid 60's.

Remember going to the gas station and asking for two dollars worth of gas? Not only did you recieve about ten gallons of gas, but the oil was checked, the tire pressure was checked, and the windshield was cleaned.

I do recall a few of the visible gas pumps at this time. However most of the pumps being used at that time had the globes on top of the pumps.

Chevron, Mowhawk, Union 76, and Richfield are just a few brands that come to mind.

[Richard in NC]

If you want your A model to "crank", you need to "step on the starter"

[700rpm]

Parlor
Lime Phosphate
Soda fountain

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Richard in NC

If you want your A model to "crank", you need to "step on the starter"

OLD POEM:
STEP ON THE STARTER, STEP ON THE GAS,
SLIPPED THROUGH THE FLOORBOARD & BUSTED MY--------SHHHH,!
DON'T GET EXCITED, DON'T GET ALARMED,
JUST SLIPPED THROUGH THE FLOORBOARD,
AND "BUSTED MY ARM!" (COURTESY OF CHIEF!)
Bill W.

[broommaker]

Purr's like a kitten.

At 15 mph she's humming a song.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by broommaker

Purr's like a kitten.

At 15 mph she's humming a song.

Yo broommaker,
Remember this song?
"In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, and you shiver when the cold winds blow."
On Route 66, through Flagstaff, Az. in the winter, Chief would always sing it, as he stared straight down the road and as if his thoughts were a 1087 miles away. Great stuff to remember as that's about the only time he EVER sang.
Bill W.