Life as it was lived then

[zetwal]

Perhaps wax could be used to seal jars of preserved foods. Home canning used to be very common.

 

[Shangas]

I think a more practical use for wax was sealing wine-bottles.

If you were the kind of person who lived in a country town or on a farm/vineyard, and you made your own alcohol, you could bottle it yourself, hammer in a cork, and then dip the neck of the bottle into a tin of melted wax to seal it.

If you were VERY careful, you could press a sealing-stamp or signet-ring into the wax on your bottle, and create a nice seal with your family crest on it.

 

[Big Man]

Perhaps wax could be used to seal jars of preserved foods. Home canning used to be very common.

Wax (actually, paraffin) is used to seal jars of jelly (blackberry is my favorite).

Around here, home canning is still very common.

 

[Viola]

Great stuff. My grandfather wore a wedding ring, but most of the other men I knew from his generation did not. Jewelry on blue-collar men was considered both effete and potentially dangerous if it got hooked on moving machinery.

Heh, my maternal grandfather wore his wedding ring, his Masonic ring, and I want to say maybe a class ring (not all at once on the same hand!) and this was not uncommon in Philadelphia, at least among the "ethnic" population of Jews and Italians. That's leaving aside wristwatches and necklaces with religious medallions and stuff on them as well.

Plenty of old, well-dressed men (the kind who are eighty and wear fedoras and suits to go to the corner store) still wear sometimes several pieces of jewelry at once, as in wedding ring, one extra pinky ring, watch, chain. More than that is considered gaudy. lol

I was especially fond, as a small child, of old men who'd sit out by the pool in summer wearing swim trunks, sandals, and a big honkin' gold chain with a pendent nestled in their white chest hair.

 

[CopperNY]

mom's side of the family are farmers, dad's are factory workers. the farmers wear wedding bands, the industrials do not.

my grandmother always used wax seals for canning, but i haven't seen it for years at the local farmers' markets. i was shown how to use wax to harden leather, but i really can't remember why at the time.

bread crumbs were a wartime staple to pad out other foods. my grandmother never was able to quit. meatloaf was always mainly breadloaf with some meat thrown in.

 

[LizzieMaine]

bread crumbs were a wartime staple to pad out other foods. my grandmother never was able to quit. meatloaf was always mainly breadloaf with some meat thrown in.

Suet + breadcrumbs = Depression Hamburger

 

[skyvue]

At the venerable Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, you can still order a burger with bread crumbs mixed in with the beef (or, at least, you could when I last passed through, though that's been some time now). They ask you if you want your burger with bread in it or regular. It's apparently been a popular menu item ever since the Depression.

I tried one, and it was pretty tasty.

 

["Skeet" McD]

At the venerable Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, you can still order a burger with bread crumbs mixed in with the beef...It's apparently been a popular menu item ever since the Depression. I tried one, and it was pretty tasty.

Mario Batali, well-known NYC chef and an early proponent of regional Italian cooking frequently makes the point that polpetti (meatballs) are spoiled in American--and Italian American--cookery, because they are usually made with...all meat. Once the immigrants got here and began to participate in the American way of life...they began to use all meat, because they could.

The back-home way is to make an admixture of breadcrumbs with the meat, and the soft, luscious texture on the tongue is a direct result of that. Not that that was the intention, exactly: it was to stretch meat, a very rare commodity in the peasant Italian diet. And so, as you remark, was your Depression-era hamburger. I'll bet it WAS good.

"Skeet"

 

[Viola]

Breadcrumbs are still a staple in my mom's cooking for chicken, meatloaf, and burgers. Cocoa is good in baking as well as drinking straight or in coffee. Steel wool is pretty useful in the kitchen and garage.

For emergency home repair I'm more likely to use a used candle than new wax, though.

 

[mike]

That's where the phrase "This is where I came in." came from.
You could watch a movie three times over if you felt like it, or were unemployed and had nothing better to do, a common occurance during the Depression.

The Coney Island Side Show maintains this operating schedule all through the spring/summer/fall seasons!

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I remember people arriving at a movie theater part way during the showing. They were often accompanied by an usher with a flashlight.

Some theaters had more comfortable seats at the rear called louges (I doubt I spelled that correctly) and tickets were slightly more expensive for those seats.

I lived in Palm Springs during the 40s and the theater was one of the few places that was air conditioned so I saw many double features, newsreels, coming attractions, a cartoon, sometimes a 'follow the bouncing ball' sing-a-long, and a serial - my favorite was Buck Rogers. If you want a good laugh, you can get a Buck Rogers serial from Netflix. Opps, that would be Flash Gordon - I get the two mixed up sometimes.

In the L.A. area when a new movie premiered it was in Hollywood until Hollywood became so junky and then they opened in Westwood. There was usually a searchlight out in front that could be seen from some distance. Searchlights were also used to attract attention to a new supermarket or a car dealership having a promotion.

I assume the searchlights were surplus from the War and maybe they all wore out as I have not seen one in many years. The searchlights got a good workout in 1942 as did the Anti-Aircraft guns as it was thought we were under attack. No Japanese planes were shot down primarily because there were none in the sky. I slept through the whole affair much to the amazement of my parents.

 

[Viola]

I remember searchlights in my childhood for restaurants and car dealerships, so if they WERE still from WWII they were doing pretty good to still be kickin' in the late '80s to mid '90s, though I don't remember them more recently than that.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I don't remember them since then either. I don't think they were used much during The War except for that night in 1942 that I mentioned.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

At the venerable Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, you can still order a burger with bread crumbs mixed in with the beef (or, at least, you could when I last passed through, though that's been some time now). They ask you if you want your burger with bread in it or regular. It's apparently been a popular menu item ever since the Depression.

I tried one, and it was pretty tasty.

Ah, the hometown of Andy Griffith, my favorite TV star. We were going to move there a few years back and plans changed. Would love to visit there someday.

 

[Cigarband]

You can still rent WWII Searchlights for events, just Google
WWII Searchlight rental. Lots still working just fine. They were made well in those days!

Things have changed in Italy. My girlfriend's Mother came to visit us from Rome last month. She did all the cooking for the week, and made the best Italian food I ever had, and her daughter is a great cook. No filler in the meatballs, all meat.
She cooked them by making the sauce first, bringing it to a
boil, then rolling up the meatballs and putting them right in the sauce to cook. No browning first. THE BEST MEATBALLS I'VE EVER HAD!

 

[flipper]

I don't have any idea what wax would be commonly used for -- anyone know?

I think the wax was used typically for canning purposes. I have an old box of "Gulfwax" paraffin "for sealing jam and jelly glasses" 1/4# box sold for .08 cents, amazing. Flip

 

[skyvue]

Ah, the hometown of Andy Griffith, my favorite TV star. We were going to move there a few years back and plans changed. Would love to visit there someday.

You should. It's a nice little town (not as small as it was in Andy's day, of course). It's the hometown of country singer Donna Fargo, too.

I like listening for vanished word usage in old movies, too, and I heard a good one this morning while watching LADY BY CHOICE (1934), starring Carole Lombard and May Robson.

Lombard's a fan dancer trying to go legit, and she asks her singing teacher if she has what it takes. She's told that she has possibilities, but "you know how it is today -- a lot of crooners and wah-wah singers." (Note: quote is approximate.)

I like that -- wah-wah singers.

 

[flipper]

Wouldn't that be what they called White Gas back in the day?

White gas was a term for Gasoline with no lead or additives, not the other term used for naphtha.

What I remember being called "white gas" was a common reference to Amoco's premium product (leaded gas in the day, un-leaded later in time) it was clear, had no color at all. Alot of their customers swore by it. Flip

 

[skyvue]

Mark Kurlansky has a new book that caught my eye and piqued my interest: The Food of a Younger Land: A portrait of American food--before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional--from the lost WPA files. (Phew -- that's quite a subtitle!)

Here's an excerpt from the jacket copy:

In the 1930s, with the country gripped in the Great Depression and millions of Americans struggling to get by, President Roosevelt created the Federal Writers' Project under the New Deal's Works Progress Administration as a make-work initiative for authors. Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Nelson Algren were among the writers dispatched across the country to chronicle the eating habits, traditions, and struggles of local people at a moment in time right before they began to disappear. The project, called "America Eats," was abandoned in the early 1940s because of the war, and never resumed.

The Food of a Younger Land unearths this forgotten literary and historical treasure and brings it to exuberant life. Featuring authentic recipes, anecdotes, and photographs, these pages evoke a bygone era when Americans had never heard of fast food and the grocery superstore was unimaginable. Mark Kurlansky brilliantly documents the remarkable stories and fills in the historical spaces with his own context and commentary, serving as a guide to this hearty and poignant look at the country's culinary roots.​

And here's what convinced me to take the leap and buy the book:

New York Soda-Luncheonette Slang and Jargon

A.C. -- American cheese sandwich
ALL BLACK -- Chocolate soda with chocolate ice cream
ANGEL'S DELIGHT -- Cake with vanilla icing
ARKANSAS CHICKEN -- Salt pork
ARM WAITER -- Waiter who stacks piles of dishes on his arms
AXLE GREASE -- Butter
A YARD OF -- Dish of spaghetti

BABY -- Glass of milk
BANG ONE -- Order to mix a malted milk
BAY STATE BUM -- Customer who demands much service and leaves no tip
BELLYWASH -- Soup
BERRIES -- Eggs
BLACK AND WHITE -- Chocoate soda with vanilla ice cream
BLACK COW -- Root beer with ice cream
BLIMP -- Woman
BLIND 'EM -- Two eggs fried on both sides
BLOND -- Coffee with cream
BLUE HEAVEN -- Bromo Seltzer
B.M.T. -- Bacon and tomato sandwich with mayonnaise
BOILED LEAVES -- Tea
BOOL -- Soup listed on a table d'hote menu
BOTTLE O' RED -- Ketchup
BOTTLE WASHER -- Assistant cook
BREAK IT AND SHAKE IT -- Malted milk with egg
BRUNETTE -- Black coffee
BULL'S EYES -- Two fried eggs
BURN 'ER BLACK -- Chocolate malted milk
BURN ONE -- An order of toast
BURN ONE UP -- See "Burn 'er black"
BURN THE BRITISH -- Order for toasted English muffins
BURN WITH A CACKLE -- See "Break it and shake it"
BUSS -- To carry dirty dishes

CHEWED FINE WITH A BREATH -- Order for a hamburger with onion
CHERRIES -- Prunes
C.J. ON A RAFT -- Cream cheese and jelly on toast
C.O. COCKTAIL -- Castor oil in soda
CODFISH -- See "Bay State bum"
C.O. HIGHBALL -- Castor oil
COKE -- Coca-Cola
COW -- Milk
COW JUICE -- See "Cow"; also, cream
CUP OF MUD -- Cup of coffee

DEEP DOWN BLEEDING -- Root beer with cherries
DEEP ONE THROUGH GEORGIA -- A glass of Coca-cola with chocolate
DRAW ONE -- Order for coffee; also, water
DRAW ONE IN THE DARK -- See "Brunette"
DRAW ONE ON THE SIDE -- Coffee with cream served separately
DRESS ONE PIG -- Ham sandwich
DYNAMITE -- Baking powder

84 -- Four glasses of water
81 -- A customer
86 -- Supply is exhausted
82 -- Two glasses of hot chocolate
EMERSON HIGHBALL -- See "Blue heaven"

51 -- Hot chocoalte
FOUL BALL -- Mistake
FOUNTAINEER -- Soda fountain attendant
49 -- Look at the beautiful girl
14 -- See "49"
14 1/2 -- A beautiful girl, a little on the plump side
FREEZIT -- Pepsi-Cola
FRY 'EM BLIND -- Order to baste frying eggs

G.I. -- Garbage can (general issue)
GEE -- Man
GOB -- See "Fountaineer"
GRAVEYARD STEW -- Milk toast
GREASER -- A cook
GRIT -- Dishwashing powder
GUINEA FOOTBALLS -- Jelly doughnuts

HEBREW ENEMIES -- Pork chops
HOLD -- Cancel the order
HOLSTEIN HIGHBALL -- See "Baby"
HOUSEBOAT -- Banana split
HUG ONE -- Orange juice

ICE THE RICE -- Rice pudding with ice cream
I.R.T. -- Lettuce and tomato sandwich

JACK BENNY IN THE RED -- Strawberry Jell-O
JEEP -- Sandwich cutter and salad man
JERK, OR JERKOR -- See "Fountaineer"
JERSEY COCKTAIL -- See "Baby"
JIGGS -- Corned beef and cabbage
JUGGLE DISHES -- To wait on tables

LAKE WHITNEY -- See "Draw one" (second definition)
LOVERS' DELIGHT -- Chocolate eclair
MAKE TWO LOOK AT ME -- See "Bull's eyes"
MARY GARDEN -- Citrate of magnesia
MONEY BOWL -- See "Bellywash"
MONKEY -- Caramelized sugar (used in verbal directions for making gravy)
MURPHIES -- Potatoes

NERVOUS PUDDING -- Gelatin dessert
95 -- An expression describing a customer who leaves without paying
NOAH'S BOY WITH MURPHY CARRYING A WREATH -- See "Jiggs"

ON A RAFT -- On toast
ONE AND A HALF -- Ham and American cheese sandwich
ONE LUMP -- A Camel cigarette
ONE ON A PILLOW -- Hamburger on a bun
ONE WITH DYNAMITE -- Coca-Cola with ammonia
ONE WITHOUT THE THUMB -- See "Bellywash"
PAINT IT RED -- Cherry Coca-Cola
PAINT IT YELLOW -- Lemon Coca-Cola
PIE BOOK -- Meal ticket
POP ONE -- See "Coke"
POT WALLOPER -- See "Greaser"
PUT A STRETCH ON IT -- Sandwich to go out
RED LEAD -- See "Bottle o' red"
REPEATERS -- Beans

SALVE -- See "Axle grease"
SAND -- Sugar
SCANDAL SOUP -- See "Boiled leaves"
SHAKE A WHITE -- A plain milk shake
SHEET ONE -- See "Coke"
SINKERS -- Doughnuts
66 -- See "49"
SKIN TAKER -- See "Grit"
SMEAR ONE, BURN IT -- Order for toasted cheese sandwich
SOP -- Dish rag
SOUTHERN SWINE -- Virginia ham
STACK O' BERRY -- Strawberry ice cream
STACK O' WHITE -- Vanilla ice cream
STARVED -- An expression meaning a bad day for sales
STRETCH ONE -- A large "Coke" (q.v.)
STRETCH SWEET ALICE -- A large "Baby" (q.v.)
SWEET ALICE -- See "Baby"

TAXI ONE -- Orangeade
TAXI STRAIGHT -- See "Hug one"
TEAM OF GRAYS -- Sugared crullers
THE WORKS -- Banana split
THIN MAN -- Dime tipper
TOASTWICH -- Toasted sandwich
TONIC -- Soda
TURN ON THE RADIO -- Light the gas stove
TWIST IT, CHOKE IT AND MAKE IT CACKLE -- Chocolate malted milk with egg
TWO AND A HALF -- Ham and Swiss cheese sandwich
TWO CACKLES IN OINK, IN THE SOUTHERN WAY -- Ham and eggs
TWO FLOPPED -- See "Blind 'em"
TWO IN THE DARK -- Two pieces of rye toast

UNCLE EZRA -- Alka-Seltzer

VANILLA -- Nice looking girl
VERMONT -- Maple syrup

WATSON, THE NEEDLE -- See "Coke"
WHISTLEBERRIES -- See "Repeaters"
WRECKS -- Broken dishes

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER -- Hash

 

[Miss Neecerie]

At the venerable Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, you can still order a burger with bread crumbs mixed in with the beef (or, at least, you could when I last passed through, though that's been some time now). They ask you if you want your burger with bread in it or regular. It's apparently been a popular menu item ever since the Depression.

I tried one, and it was pretty tasty.

Russian hamburgers-Kotleti...are made like this...and no bun....

I had no clue others did not make them like -small- meatloaves, until I started getting served all meat hamburgers at other peoples houses....