Name changes, or ‘Who wants a dope?’
Iwas thinking about things that have changed. Back when I was growing up, life was much simpler than it is today. Now days everybody is in a hurry to get somewhere with a telephone in their ear. Sometimes it seems the only ways they talk are on the telephone or texting. They will talk in a language like “.com” “yahoo” or just give you an initial of something.
Let’s look at what used to be common words used around the house.
For instance, for breakfast you had biscuits, loaf or light bread. I think everybody now days knows what a biscuit is. But do you know the difference between loaf bread and light bread? There was this small round pan with a top that looked like a loaf of bread. They would fill it and bake it until done. Then it was taken out and sliced. You had a loaf of bread. Then there was light bread, which you bought at the store. Today it is called loaf bread. Run to the store and get a loaf of bread. Loaf bread was baked at home. Light bread was bought at the store. Now you see the difference.
Back in those days mighty few houses had electricity. Most of the houses used lamps for light at night. Now what was burned in the lamp is known today as kerosene. Back then you were told to take the can and run to the store and get some coal oil. Kerosene of today was the coal oil of yesterday.
Back in the old days when you got a nickel to spare you went to the store and bought you a dope. Coca-cola was called Coke and all soft drinks was a dope. Can you imagine some kid now asking his mother could he go to the store and get him a dope? Ears would prick up for sure.
Your parents would go to the store and get some spuds and cackle beerys. Of course, spuds was potatoes and cackle beerys were eggs. With a big old cat head biscuit and couple of cackle beerys, fried spuds and a cup of Joe — man, you had a breakfast fit for a king.
I remember this old lady who lived across the street from us that was always ailing. You could hear someone ask her how she was feeling and she would say she had been ailing a lot lately. She would always say I will be better tomorrow for I have an appointment with the saw bone. A saw bone, or a quack as he was called, was the local doctor. When she got back from the saw bone she would be feeling tolerable ...
The old man would flip Junior two bits and tell him to go to the store and get them some dopes. Junior would ask for a buck so he could get him some hoop cheese. The old man would tell Junior to get some of those Nehi orange dopes and a box of soda crackers to go with the cheese.
There was all kinds of names for money. I remember dough, wampum and bread. Back in those days a buck was a dollar, today it is a deer. Two bits was a quarter or a 25-cent piece. I wonder how many today remember or ever drank one of those big Nehi orange dopes.
Then things began to change. The television came out. It was called the “tube” or the “idiot box.” Everybody had to have one. You were warned that sitting in front of the idiot box too much would make you go blind. If that had been correct, just think how many blind people we would have today.
Think back — then you went to the family doctor, but now it a general practitioner. The family doctor would sit down and tell you what your problem was, not send you to a specialist.
The one thing that most people did not want was to become an old grouch. Old grouchers of yesterday are now called senior citizens. I sure am glad that I did not turn into an old grouch but a lovable senior citizen.