Recently I was buying a cup of coffee, and the barista taking my order asked me how I was. I smiled at her and said, “I’m spiffy thank you.” Her eyes lit up, and she said, “I love that word.” I smiled back, “then use that word.” I say the word spiffy at least several dozen times a week. I’m not sure why, perhaps because it sounds so spiffy. I like the way it rolls off my tongue. It’s just one of those words that not only means something fun, but is simply fun to pronounce.

 Of course for many of you readers you might wonder what does spiffy mean. According to Merriam-Webster’s College Dictionary, spiffy is fine looking, smart. I believe it can mean a lot of things. I feel spiffy; you look spiffy; gosh that was a spiffy; the list can be endless. Basically spiffy is a way of expressing something that is good, which now-a-days the slang for good is bad. So I suppose I should say wow the word spiffy is really bad. Who knows and who can keep up with slang?

 Where does spiffy come from? My first thought was the “Leave it to Beaver Show.” Golly gee the Beaver said the word spiffy a lot so it must have come from the 50s. I was wrong. In fact, the slang word spiffy comes from the 1920s.

 Slang is the informal style of language that everyone uses occasionally and is usually metaphorical in that it substitutes a colorful image for the standard word. Slang usually has a short life, because it is invented to fit a particular situation at a given moment; however, it is interesting to see how slang impacts what we say today.

 Since I am so focused on the word spiffy and there is nothing I would love more than to bring the word back into common language, I want to explore the era that spiffy came from. So the retro buff that I am, the search began, lots of spiffy iced coffee, open the books and log onto the internet, and here is a small list of the slang that came out of the spiffy 20s. I will be glad to do the 30s and 40s next article.

 All wet—Describes an erroneous idea or individual, as in, “He’s all wet.”

Applesauce—Same as horse feathers, As in “Ah applesauce!”

Bee’s knees—An extraordinary person, thing, idea; the ultimate

Big cheese—The most important or influential person; boss

Blind date—Going out with someone you do not know

Bump off—To murder, to kill

Cake eater—An effete ladies’ man, or someone who attends tea parties

Carry a torch—To have a crush on someone

Cat’s meow—Something splendid or stylish; the best or greatest, wonderful

Cat’s pajamas—Same as cat’s meow

Cheaters—Eyeglasses

Crush—An infatuation

Dogs—Feet

Drugstore cowboy—a guy that hangs around on a street corner trying to pick up girls

Fall guy—Victim of a frame

Flapper—A stylish, brash, hedonistic young woman with short skirts and shorter hair

Flat tire—A dull-witted, insipid, disappointing date

Frame—To give false evidence, to set up someone

Giggle water—An intoxicating beverage; alcohol

Gin mill—An establishment where hard liquor is sold; bar

Hard boiled—A tough, strong guy

Heebie-jeebies—The jitters

High hat—To snub

Hooch—Bootleg liquor

Hoofer—Dancer.

Horse feathers—Same usage as applesauce

Hotsy-totsy—Pleasing

Jake—OK, as in, “Everything is Jake.”

Jalopy—Old car

Joint—A club, usually selling alcohol

Keen—Attractive or appealing

Kisser—Mouth

Line—Insincere flattery

Lounge lizard—A guy that is sexually active

Moll—A gangster’s girl

Neck—Kissing with passion

Ossified—A drunk person

Pet—Same as neck, but more so

Pinch—To arrest

Pushover—A person easily convinced or seduced

Ritzy—Elegant

Scram—Ask someone to leave immediately

Sheba—A woman with sex appeal

Sheik—A man with sex appeal (from the Valentino movies)

Speakeasy—An illicit bar selling bootleg liquor.

Spiffy—An elegant appearance, neat, good, nice, smart

Struggle buggy—the backseat of a car

Stuck on—Having a crush on

Swanky—Ritzy

Swell—Wonderful. also: a rich man

Take for a Ride—To drive off with someone in order to bump them off

Torpedo—A hired gun

Upchuck—To vomit when one has drunk too much

Whoopee—To have a good time

 

Stay tune next time and we will explore slang such as dibs, grody and germsville.

Until then, have a spiffy weekend.

Preparing to host a dinner party the other night, I could not figure out what to serve. Though it was nothing fancy, I am a Food Network junkie, so making sure a dinner party goes right, whether it be two people or a dozen, I like to have the right menu and everything must be just so. I debated for days about what to serve. Tucson is too hot right now to cook in the house, and in fact, it’s just plain too hot to eat; however, the dinner party must go on.

I did some research on the internet to see if I could figure out what would be a good palatable treat to serve. Of course what did I happen to bump into when I was searching for the perfect menu? You guessed it; foods with a retro twist. I discovered the fascinating foods of the 1950s. The 50s were called the casserole decade thanks to many new varieties of canned soups that they were introduced onto the market. Tuna-noodle and green-bean casseroles were all the rave. People were surprised at what some kind of meat and a can of soup could do in the oven.

The 1950s were abundant with processed and ready-to-eat foods. After a decade of rationing food during WWII, a typical diet consisted of plainly-cooked, high in fat, low-cost meals that would fill everyone’s bellies. Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book became a best seller and consequently we all grew up eating meatloaf, pot roast, chicken pot pie, turkey with stuffing, and fried spam.

The 50s were a decade of quick, canned, and frozen foods designed to give busy housewives more time to do what they wanted. The 50s played an important role in shaping modern American cuisine and many products were invented, discovered, and brought to market. The following products are some of these wonders, many of which are still prevalent today.

1950
Sugar Pops (Kelloggs)

Minute Rice (General Foods)

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (Lawry’s)

Gerber Products started using MSG in its baby foods to make them taste better

Swanson introduced beef, chicken, turkey pot pies

 1951

Ore-Ida Foods, frozen potato products

Duncan Hines Cake Mix (Nebraska Consolidated Mills)

Tropicana Products, Florida orange juice

 1952

No-Cal Ginger Ale (Kirsch Beverages)

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes

Pream non-dairy creamer (M & R Dietetic Laboratories)

Ms. Paul’s Fish Sticks

Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix

Clarence Birdseye introduced the first frozen peas

 1953

Lawry’s Original Spaghetti Sauce Mix (Lawry’s)

Sugar Smacks (Kellogg’s)

Cheeze Whiz (Kraft)

TV Dinners (Swanson)

Pepperidge Farm butter cookies

Star-Kist, canned tuna

Eggo, frozen waffles

 1954

Trix (General Mills)

Butterball Turkeys

Stouffer’s frozen meals

Nonfat dry milk

Marshmallow Peeps

 1955

Kellogg’s Special K, cereal

Pepperidge Farm, cookies

 1956

Imperial Margarine

TreeSweet, fruit juices

Certs, breath mints

 1957

Pam (nonstick cooking spray)

Refrigerated cookie dough (Pillsbury)

 1958

Tang, orange-flavored breakfast drink

Ruffles, potato chips

Rice-A-Roni, packaged flavored rice product

Sweet ‘n Low, sugarless sweetener

Cocoa Puffs, breakfast cereal (General Mills)

Jif Peanut Butter

Chicken Ramen, instant noodle product (Nissen Foods)

Instant Tea (Lipton)

 1959

Royal Crown Cola

Frosty O’s (General Mills)

Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice

Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream

 After researching the foods of the 50s, I decided no processed food.  I was going to serve a make-it-yourself salad bar with fresh-grilled chicken and a homemade sugar-free peach cobbler. I must say, it went over quite well.

  I had such fun remembering what it was like to be a 10-year-old hippie that I am not quite ready to leave 1968 behind. I sat and looked at old photos reminiscing once again about the good old days of my childhood living in Tucson. Memories sometimes come harder at my age. Being in my 50s and menopausal I am surprised my memory serves me at all. I walk into my office and decide to do some retro-meditation. I set the mood by putting on my 60s mix of songs from the Doors, The Beatles, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, The Rascals, and The Grass Roots and allow my mind to wander.

 As my trance begins, visions of me sitting in the Kgun 9 studios at the Uncle Bob Show, wearing my Campfire Girls’ uniform, come to my head. I was selected to be on one of the games to be played on live TV. I am fairly certain I did not win, but each time I went to the Uncle Bob Show, played by Bob Love, I came home with a bag of treats and a cheap toy. I would feel like a celebrity for the day because I was on TV. It’s too bad I was eventually kicked out of Campfire Girls. I guess they just did not allow wanna-be hippies.

 Next, I see my mother driving the old, white ‘63 Rambler downtown where McLellans, Sears, Penny’s, Lerners, Woolworths, and Kresge’s, a variety of small venders  and the Pioneer Hotel all once stood. Memory reminds me that it was like a huge shopping mall. A great time was to be had once upon a time ago in downtown Tucson when there were shops galore and fun places to eat.

 Speaking of eating nowhere was more fun to eat than at Johnnie’s Restaurant when it was still on 22nd St and Alvernon. The Fat Boy hamburger was to die for. Two all-beef patties and special sauce still make these taste buds water. Of course, Farrell’s at El Con Mall was a great hangout for a kid, and watching people eat the “pig trough” was something else. Eating an open-faced roast beef sandwich at the restaurant in Levy’s department store was also a scrumptious treat. However, for a good and fun time there was always Shakey’s Pizza on Drachman, a few slices of pizza and the old-time piano player made even this hippie child smile.

 Shifting views, visions of the super-slide on Alvernon dance through my head. As I took my burlap sack and walked up the stairs, which seemed like an eternity to climb, a single scream and I was down that slide in an instant. Of course, if super-slides were not my bag, then I could go to the corner of Swan and 22nd to the old Sunset Rollarama that had two rooms to skate in. One rink was for beginners like me and the other was loud and large. They had good food, flavorful fountain drinks, and live music occasionally.

 It’s time for me to come out of my trance and get back to work. Off with the music and open my eyes. Wow! All this leaves me wondering, what do you remember about Tucson when you were young?