Summer threads thread: regional/historical variations

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’m in need of one of our hysterical/nostalgic rambles through time and regional differences. How about one on warm weather gear? For example, how many variants can we find on: </p>

<p>slide on shoes: flip flops, go-aheads, zoris, thongs (now retired because it has become underwear.)</p>

<p>sleeveless shirts: tanks, poor boys, wife-beaters (!), </p>

<p>knee-length pants: pedal pushers, calypso pants, </p>

<p>shorts (longer version): bermudas, jams…</p>

<p>shorts (shorter version): board shorts, hot pants</p>

<p>sleeveless dresses: sundresses, shifts…</p>

<p>and we must have some good swimming gear stories: how about those “swimming caps” with glued on rubber flowers…</p>

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<p>slide on shoes : CFMs (for the high-heeled versions) was a crude version…</p>

<p>knee-length pants: clam diggers</p>

<p>how about all the versions for carbonated beverages: I grew up in the midwest, where it was pop. Then moved to California, where it was soda. Back to Illinois and pop…then to Philadelphia, where it was soda again. Now in NC, where it’s ALL Coke. (even the grocery aisle is labeled that way, LOL!)</p>

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<p>short shorts: daisy do’s (don’t know how to spell it)</p>

<p>lace up canvas/nylon shoes: tennis shoes (what they were called where I grew up), sneakers, gym shoes</p>

<p>above ankle pants: capris, high-waters</p>

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<p>What did CFM’s stand for? manufacturer’s initials? Like “PF” flyers???:</p>

<p>Which I suppose means we should add a line for:</p>

<p>tie on canvas shoes: sneakers, tennies, keds, pf flyers…</p>

<p>And summer food and drink is a good one too !!!:</p>

<p>pop, soda, “coke”, soft drink…</p>

<p>ah…cross-posted on the shoes with mkm</p>

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<p>For ladies shorter-length pants: capris, clamdiggers, cropped pants, and my personal favorite “toreador pants” (from an episode of I Love Lucy-- sort of lame, I know!)
These are not to be confused with “floods,” which are regular pants that are just too short or outgrown.</p>

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<p>CFM…for the suggestive nature of the high-heeled slide shoes…“come **** me”… hey—I SAID it was crude. And I didn’t make it up, honest.</p>

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<p>there was a time in california when ‘flip flops’ were called jap flaps</p>

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<p>Growing up here (suburban NY) we called flip-flops “slaps,” but haven’t heard that term used in at least 35 years!</p>

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<p>hey MKM, those short shorts are Daisy Dukes (as in Dukes of Hazzard).</p>

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<p>Soft drinks in Maine go by the generic word “tonic”–as in “would you like a tonic?”</p>

<p>Years ago when I drove across the country, I divided the country into these regions:
Sweet iced tea region (southeast)
Green jello salad region (Ohio, Indiana)
Biscuits and gravy region (Illinois and west)
Biscuits and honey region (overlaps with sweet iced tea region)
Buffalo burger region (Montana, Wyoming, parts of Idaho)
Perrier region (NYC)
Skinny fries region/fat fries region (disregarding McDonald’s) (the coasts vs. the middle)
Lobster region (New England)</p>

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<p>you forgot the Mexican food region (from Colorado west.)</p>

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<p>hoagie region (Philadelphia) vs. grinders and subs in other regions</p>

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<p>lace up canvas shoes when I was growing up (Washington, DC area): chucks (for Chuck whoever, the athlete after which they were named); I think they had to be black and high-top to get this name</p>

<p>lspf, I have heard the wearers of slide on shoes called “sandal slappers”, as a kind of pejorative indicating they were less stylish and moneyed than wearers of “higher class” sandals. Of course, this was before you could pay in the mega-hundreds for your flip-flops (or wear them to the White House :wink: ).</p>

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<p>right…now the kids just refer to them as Rainbows.</p>

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<p>Actually, I would add three Mexican food regions: Tex-Mex region (which spreads into Arizona), New Mexico red chile region, and California-Mexican region, which spreads up the west coast as far as Seattle, weakening as it goes. </p>

<p>There’s also the sushi region (west coast).</p>

<p>And in Seattle, we have the wild-salmon region (western Washington north to Alaska).</p>

<p>And I concur with MotherofTwo about the hoagie region. A true hoagie is unique to Philadelphia.</p>

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<p>That’s right Packmom—must be the accent (lol)…makes it hard to spell phonetically. And somehow I lost the last consonant!</p>

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<p>Anyone wear cutoffs in the 60’s? Those were originally shorts made from cutting off the worn out knees from jeans, but then could be bought (and no one ever bought pre-washed/faded/torn jeans…).</p>

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<p>Everyone wore cutoffs! After you cut them off, you had to remove some threads to that you would have nice frayed edges.</p>

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<p>LOL, we got a big chuckle out of college age S this past weekend when telling him about DH’s fav. cutoffs from the 70’s that were sooo short and worn with those athletic socks with stripes around the top.</p>

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<p>Oh my gosh…reading some of this makes me cringe to remember. Oh…those athletic socks with the stripes. Ouch!</p>