FENDER SKIRTS

FENDER SKIRTS  by Jodee Scott

How many of you remember these words or phrases?
'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,' 'neckers knobs.'

 

 

 

 

Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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?

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!

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list.