Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

I used "Chuck Tatum" as a cover name once in South America. That's what it feels like when you're down there. You 'can't get any chicken livers'.

Feliks wrote: "Great Gosh-a-Mighty

Does anything top this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dole_Ai...

An utterly different age."

Frickin incredible some of those flyers had no radio equipment in their planes. I guess they may have been trying to keep the weight down, but damn.

Yea! Like:

What's that, tower? Four crashes in the race already? Well ...what? Why yes, of course we're going on with it! What are you, a superstitious sissy? C'mon, give us clearance already--"

Del Monte makes their famous tomato catsup with 'pineapple vinegar'. That's the race I'd have chosen; a burger eating contest or grill-off or something. Dole, avoid

It's well known that on Amelia Earhart's last flight, she deliberately left off several pieces of equipment pertaining to her radio, including a telegraph code key and a trailing antenna to save weight. Of course, her real problems began when she crashed her plane on the planned trip west, which then changed the final flight to one west to east, leaving Howland Island to the end.

Lindbergh had no way to communicate on his trans-Atlantic flight. He stripped the Spirit of St. Louis down to make room for more fuel and had to use a periscope to see straight ahead because of the extra fuel tanks..

Another thing that has been lost....pork pie hats. I'm glad since they are really ugly. Plus nobody wears hats anymore.

Wha? The hell you say! Hats are still very popular.

Look at the whole 'knit' style favored by those silly skateboard kids. Wearing a wool knit cap even in summertime, shows hats are still 'in'.

Now you know I mean the great old snap brims, derbies, etc. I don't consider the "knit" caps as hats.

You're driving down the road at night where you see that the car in the oncoming lane has a burnt out headlight. Immediately you shout . . . .

"PADIDDLE!"

In our family, whenever we drove past a cemetery, we held our breath out of respect for the dead.

Jill wrote: "The only exception I can think of is Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver and then to top it off, in real life she married the young man, Richard Ney, who played her son!!..."

Richard Ney was one of our quizzo challenges.

I forgot about that.

Why is it acceptable for an older man to marry a much younger woman but not for a woman to marry a younger man?

Remember, never let "three on a match" happen to you. Light a new one!

And of course never carelessly toss your hat on a bed if you're a man. (The Hat on the Bed)

Next:
"Hey lady next time you paint your legs, try sandin' em down foist!"

During the war, (nylons being scare) some women used to buy bottles of 'Nylon in a Bottle'. A kind of temporary ink which let their legs look as if they had hose.

(Of course it was real hard on some, to squeeze one's legs into jars that small). Nyok nyok.

You are a maniac!!!!!! And they would paint seams up the back of their legs since almost all hose had seams.

ahaha.

Husbands! Never alert your wife that her stockings are sagging --if she hasn't got any on, that day

some superstitious folks follow rules like "if you exit the front door of your hours for an errand (emptying garbage, watering yard) you must always go around the the rear of the house to enter again"

I heard of some females who --when dressing --are wary about dropping any dress on the floor. if so, they must quickly "snatch it up, hold it before them. spin themselves around three times, and 'lick' the fabric before putting it on"

Getting your shoes shined or going to the barber for a shave.

If someone went outside and forgot something in my family, they had to sit down briefly before leaving again. Don't know where that came from.

I think all families had their customs which are unusual and their reason is unknown......just passed down through the family. My father could whistle very loudly and if we were outside playing and it was near supper time, one whistle meant that we could stay out for a little while longer and two whistles meant "come home". It worked.

Tykes today are hardly permitted such 'quaint' liberality. They must wear leashes, blinking sneakers, knee-pads, elbow-pads, and blinking help whenever outdoors. Soon, likely RFID emitters, embedded in their ear cartilage.

It is sad that times have changed so dramatically. My best friend and I, when were maybe 12 or 13 would go on "bike hikes". Our mothers would pack a lunch for us and we would spend all day on the back roads on our bikes. Living in a rural state had its advantages. Can you imagine that happening in this day and age?

My buds and I did the same. Free to roam and gallivant all over creation!

Smooth seas never make smart sailors.

The wilder the colt, the better the horse!

Crude weather forecasting:

Red skies at night--sailors' delight.
Red skies in the morning--sailors' warning!

We still say that!

"Rub of th' brush...?"

I just thought of a quaint custom that was really ugly.....men parting their hair in the middle. Ugh.

What? Huh?

Like Alfalfa, except for the cowlick? Of course, he was a kid. I must admit I'm not crazy about middle parts on women either, but men are worse.

How about mutton chop sideburns? Talk about ugly......but they certainly were the style at one time.

Yazstrzemski muttons and Raleigh Fingers handlebar mustache. Great look.

What kind of man reads Playboy?

Yeah Ambrose Burnside and his sideburns. Too bad he wasn't as famous for his generalship.

a walrus mustache and muttonchop sideburns...and a pince-nez as well!

Here is one from the mutton chop days. Men wore the same dress shirt for several days in a row and just changed the removable collar every day.

'boiled' shirts and 'arrow' collars made of ...celluloid?

Rudy Vallee was the spokesman for Arrow collars I think, you can hear it referenced in Lee Wiley's fun song 'Give me a Primitive Man'

a boiled shirt, green galluses, an alpaca coat, bonaroo britches, and a Mohair jacket! now that's an ensemble!

Arrow shirts were the epitome of fashion in the 20-30s and how about spats?

here's the kind of smarmy guy who sports a center-part in his Brylcreem hair. Burton Guillam from 'Paper Moon'. The classic American 'goober'. Its interesting that this actor with his cartoonish facial features seemed to have zero career for so long. He finally did get a comedy franchise at some point.

At first glance, Gilliam looks like Warren Oates.

Feliks wrote: "a walrus mustache and muttonchop sideburns...and a pince-nez as well!"

Now you're talking!

Don't forget the time change tonight. "Fall back" as they say. Ah well, an extra hour to sleep.

Thanks for reminding me........I forgot all about it. Spring forward, fall back!

Kissing under the mistletoe? Does anyone still do that except in movies? I guess it wouldn't have the same appeal with masks on.

We never did do that for some reason. But you are right.....the masks would not be the conducive to kissing unless it was with someone you didn't care for and then it would be a blessing!!!

I just watched several films with Adolf Menjou and he was constantly wearing dressing gowns. He would take off his suit jacket and put on a dressing gown over his shirt, ties, and slacks. What was the point?

Perhaps it was to show he was relaxing? The one I could never figure out was a smoking jacket. Maybe that way only one jacket had the smell of smoke.

Maybe but it certainly was an odd look. My uncle actually had a smoking jacket but I never saw him wear it. I have no idea why he had it unless it was passed down from his father (my grandfather) who probably did wear it. He seemed the type!

I think my favorite 'custom' was the period when women wore hats for formal occasions and just in general. I love watching movies and television when women were always wearing hats. Of course, they weren't always as extravagant as the ones worn at Ascot in 'My Fair Lady.'. And some were downright ugly, but still worth a comment or two.

I love hats and am sad that they have fallen out of style....well, at least those that weren't so extravagant. Women in those periods didn't leave the house without a hat and gloves And those cloches of the the 1920s were great.