Terms Which Have Disappeared

[2jakes]

I always associate the odor of cigars with guys in suits that
work in banks from the 30s.
Those beautiful buildings
with nice leather chairs,
wood furniture and brass spitoons.
I do enjoy from a distance the
aroma of cherry blend pipe
tobacco. But just for a moment.
Too much of that sweet stuff &
I'll get sick. I realize that this
pipe blend is in the same league
as drinking "Mogen David" for
wine .
My spelling correction mode is
not working.

 

[tonyb]

Purely academic interest. I love the music, but could never understand the attractiveness of the "substance".

Back in my college days (and for many years thereafter) my vice was cigar smoking. A dozen or more a day.

How I yet crave them.

I quit cigarettes over a decade ago. Haven't had so much as a puff since. I still get the occasional urge, which I've found easy enough to shake off, but the persistence of the addiction haunts me in my sleep. My dreams are occasionally darkened by smoking. Yup, in my dreams I still smoke, and in every one of those smoking dreams (which I recollect during consciousness) I know I'm killing myself.

Having taken up the deadly habit in the first place tops my list of regrets. (Sometimes it shares that spot, or momentarily relinquishes it, but ... )

 

[BlueTrain]

There were a couple of men in my working class neighborhood when I was little, in the 1950s, who would visit the closest tavern and come home staggering, falling down drunk. But nobody called them winos. I doubt anyone in the whole neighborhood had ever tasted wine, except for the old Italian woman who went to church every morning. So wine wasn't on the radar for most people. But those two men were not alcoholics. One was a linesman for the power company, the other a paper hanger. I'm pretty sure they never drank anything but beer, too, since there was no liquor by the drink, and they didn't drink at home. I knew those men fairly well, too. Other men in the neighborhood who I knew less well may have had their own vices.

Terms have slightly different meanings overseas and in British service, a reefer jacket is the double-breasted coat or jacket worn by officers in the Royal Navy. For a while, in the 1920s, a similiar jacket was an optional garment in the army in "drab." Pea Coats, as we use the term, are of course double breasted. It's like the word "vest," which conveys different meanings in different places.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^
"Wino" was used as a derogatory
term.
Regardless of the fact that it
was beer which they were drinking
and were drunk.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We had a lot of drunks in my town, and the only term I ever heard was "drunks." I didn't hear "wino" until I heard Redd Foxx use the word on "Sanford and Son." Wine itself was not common in our town -- certainly not in the Prohibitionist family in which I grew up. Alcohol was never served at the table, or allowed in the house by my grandmother, and if my grandfather wanted a nip, he'd have to go up to the gas station to do it. Because we were Methodists, we never even saw wine at church -- communion was little glasses of Welch's Grape Juice and pieces of bulkie roll.

Just judging from the bottles you'd find lying around in the gutter or out in the woods behind the high school, the potables of choice for those who abused alcohol were malt liquor (Haffenreffer's "Green Death"), cheap whiskey, rum, or Allen's Coffee Brandy, a vile substance which is still very much a thing here.

Wine seemed to catch on locally in the late '70s and early '80s when they changed the state liquor laws to allow it to be sold in grocery stores. Suddenly you'd see middle-aged women walking out of the Al-Rose Superette with a big jug of Wild Irish Rose under their arm. My mother got into wine after she quit smoking, but gave up after getting soaked one Fourth of July and throwing glassware at a cop.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^
I guess it depends on where one
grows up and the names or
words that are used in the
neighborhood.

About the only time alcohol was
available on our table was on Thanksgiving Day.
It was "Mogen-David" wine.
Not sure of the spelling.
It was pretty cheap stuff .

One favorite treat was eating
"Kool-Aid" straight from the
package.
Walking around with purple
or maroon lips and tongue
all day!

 

[BlueTrain]

Tang?

 

[Fading Fast]

Purely academic interest. I love the music, but could never understand the attractiveness of the "substance".

Back in my college days (and for many years thereafter) my vice was cigar smoking. A dozen or more a day.

How I yet crave them.

I truly read this sentence twice as I assumed I read it wrong, "A dozen or more a day." Are you talking about a full-sized cigar (not those cigarette-like cigars) - you smoked 12 or more a day? I've never smoked, but I would have thought that almost impossible - maybe physically possible, but the time and envelopment would overwhelm.

Growing up, I knew some heavy cigar smokers via my dad, but 12 a day - of the full-sized ones - would have been too much for those guys. Three, four, maybe five or even six was about it - all from memory. To be fair to you, I was a kid and maybe I wasn't paying close attention.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Tang?

I ate Tang right out of the jar with a spoon. I had fillings in my baby teeth.

 

[Fading Fast]

... My mother got into wine after she quit smoking, but gave up after getting soaked one Fourth of July and throwing glassware at a cop.

I don't remember them all, but you have some very colorful stories about you mom. She seems to have no reticence about expression her emotions.

 

[LizzieMaine]

None whatsoever -- she is the fiercest, most unfiltered human being I have ever known. And her use of language is truly that of a master -- I wish I could write dialogue as hilarious as that which spontaneously comes out of her mouth. When I was doing comedy, I based my characterization on her.

"Well, ain't you the cat's arse!" -- Ma.

 

[2jakes]

I truly read this sentence twice as I assumed I read it wrong, "A dozen or more a day." Are you talking about a full-sized cigar (not those cigarette-like cigars) - you smoked 12 or more a day? I've never smoked, but I wouldn't have thought almost possible - maybe physically possible, but the time and envelopment would overwhelm.

Growing up, I knew some heavy cigar smokers via my dad, but 12 a day - of the full-sized ones - would have been too much for those guys. Three, four, maybe five or even six was about it - all from memory. To be fair to you, I was a kid and maybe I wasn't paying close attention.

A "full" cigar takes a while and
smokers will have it on
the side of their mouth even though it's not lit.

I've known of folks that can go through several packages of cigarettes in a day.
Smoking a dozen full
cigars a day is quite a feat.
Although not sure feat is the
right word.


And "Tangs" to BlueTrain.

 

[vitanola]

I truly read this sentence twice as I assumed I read it wrong, "A dozen or more a day." Are you talking about a full-sized cigar (not those cigarette-like cigars) - you smoked 12 or more a day? I've never smoked, but I would have thought that almost impossible - maybe physically possible, but the time and envelopment would overwhelm.

Growing up, I knew some heavy cigar smokers via my dad, but 12 a day - of the full-sized ones - would have been too much for those guys. Three, four, maybe five or even six was about it - all from memory. To be fair to you, I was a kid and maybe I wasn't paying close attention.

Yes. A dozen. Mostly Panatelas (long, thin cigars - 5 1/2" long, 34 ring) Usually a couple of those little "Guinea Stinkers" thrown in for good measure. Never more than one big cigar (a Churchill or Lonsdale) in a day. Some would be discarded before being entirely smoked, for the ends would get awfully sloppy.

I had a cigar in my mouth from the time I sat down at my desk in the morning until I went to bed, save at meals . I made a point of never smoking in a room where anyone else may be eating, for smoke is pretty penetrating. Could smoke in the office without worry because I owned the company (and installed effective ventilation in my office), and my secretary claimed to like the aroma. Would never have been possible in the Corporate world.

I quit about 10 years ago after developing an antique disease, a version of cardiomeagly once known as "smoker's heart". President McKinley's autopsy after the tragedy in Buffalo showed an advanced case of this disease. This manifestation of nicotine poisoning was once common, but became rare after cigarettes came into fashion. They kill in a different fashion.

 

[2jakes]

My folks only threw "salty"
words at each other in a
heated argument.
Never at us kids, no matter
how bad we misbehaved.
That doesn't mean they spared
us from spanking.

It was a reporter colleague from
Equador who spoke like Lizzie's
mom.
I could never keep up with her in
an argument or debate.
The plethora of verbal barrage
aimed at me was overwhelming.
At a certain point.. I was reduced
to just looking at her in awe.
I'm sure Lizzie knows the feeling!

 

[ChiTownScion]

None whatsoever -- she is the fiercest, most unfiltered human being I have ever known. And her use of language is truly that of a master -- I wish I could write dialogue as hilarious as that which spontaneously comes out of her mouth. When I was doing comedy, I based my characterization on her.

"Well, ain't you the cat's arse!" -- Ma.

From what you've said before in these threads, she had to learn to swim against a fierce current just for her and her kids to survive. People who are thrown into those situations and manage to emerge in one piece at the end of it all, don't always dot the i's and cross the t's to everyone's satisfaction.. but they usually get the job done and develop a great nose for smelling BS a mile away. That's a great life skill, and I've the impression that you learned much in that regard just by watching her in action.

 

[vitanola]

As for that other exchange, nobody can say they didn't have every chance to express their views as publicly as possible and to make it unmistakably clear exactly where they stand. Sometimes that's the best way to handle such situations.

I'm with you, kid, and Justice Brandeis:

"Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh yes, you should hear me when a piece of equipment fails to do what it's supposed to do in a tight situation. I am fully my mother's daughter.

She's gotten even funnier as she's gotten older. When she was working, she had to quell herself in order to keep her job, but now that she's not working she can let it all out. She'll call me on the phone to vent, and will roar for ten minutes straight without taking a breath or pausing for punctuation. She also never bothers to say hello -- pick up the phone and the first thing you hear is "well, them GD SOBs are at it again..."

I've often thought of using that as my sig line.

 

[vitanola]

I've often thought of using that as my sig line.

It's taken.

 

[Fading Fast]

From what you've said before in these threads, she had to learn to swim against a fierce current just for her and her kids to survive. People who are thrown into those situations and manage to emerge in one piece at the end of it all, don't always dot the i's and cross the t's to everyone's satisfaction.. but they usually get the job done and develop a great nose for smelling BS a mile away. That's a great life skill, and I've the impression that you learned much in that regard just by watching her in action.

My grandmother and father were one step from the street in the depression and, like Lizzy's mom and as you describe, came out the other side with their very effective BS meter always turned on. By current standards (and according to my girlfriend) my upbringing bordered on abusive because I was told the unvarnished harsh realities of life from the day I learned to talk, wasn't given any of today's platitudes about "the higher things in life," and was told job 1 (and the only job) was to work to pay the bills.

I get that it was atypical - and it wasn't fun - and while I had to unlearn some of the things that they said didn't apply / don't work in our current world, so much of what they taught me (or, more accurately, I absorbed by listening and taking in the snide aside to my query) was right, albeit, not unicorns and rainbows, that I think it made me a better adult more able to face the harsh realities of life.

Who knows, it could have broken another kid, I might have thrived in a different environment - we'll never know, but man did those - as you said - who "had to learn to swim against a fierce current...to survive" have a hard but pragmatic view of life. And very little time for niceties, platitudes, social conventions, etc. Those two - my grandmother and father - where a bit like human tornadoes blasting through the world.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yes. A dozen. Mostly Panatelas (long, thin cigars - 5 1/2" long, 34 ring) Usually a couple of those little "Guinea Stinkers" thrown in for good measure. Never more than one big cigar (a Churchill or Lonsdale) in a day. Some would be discarded before being entirely smoked, for the ends would get awfully sloppy.

I had a cigar in my mouth from the time I sat down at my desk in the morning until I went to bed, save at meals . I made a point of never smoking in a room where anyone else may be eating, for smoke is pretty penetrating. Could smoke in the office without worry because I owned the company (and installed effective ventilation in my office), and my secretary claimed to like the aroma. Would never have been possible in the Corporate world.

I quit about 10 years ago after developing an antique disease, a version of cardiomeagly once known as "smoker's heart". President McKinley's autopsy after the tragedy in Buffalo showed an advanced case of this disease. This manifestation of nicotine poisoning was once common, but became rare after cigarettes came into fashion. They kill in a different fashion.

The best news - "I quit about 10 years ago." I know you miss them, but we'll hopefully have you around for a much longer time.

Edit: typo corrected courtesy of 2jakes.