Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Bond Clothes notepad, a swing glossary and old pigskin records

This miniature Bond Clothes notepad, just 2⅜ inches wide by 3⅞ inches deep, dates to the 1930s, I believe, and was never used. The front cover states:
Student Lane
The New Style Center
For Young Men
Bond Clothes

The notepad is personalized for a clothing store at 709 Penn Street in Reading, Pennsylvania. The store might be The Brusstar Co., based upon this advertisement from the June 20, 1919, edition of the Reading Eagle. I say "personalized," because I've found that there are other notepads like this out there that are identical except for the address printed on the bottom of the front cover. Here on Etsy.com, for example, is one for a clothing store in Fort Worth, Texas.

The back cover, pictured at right, also has some interesting advertising copy. But what I found most interesting in this pristine little notepad were the inside covers.

The inside front cover, clearly trying to cater to a younger set of customers, contains a glossary of "Swing Stuff." It's too wonderful not to print in its entirety:
  • Alligator - swing fan
  • Beat my socks - broke
  • Beat up - no coin
  • Blip - very good
  • Blowing his top - hot licks
  • Bunny - coat
  • Cat - swing addict
  • Corny - old-fashioned
  • Copasetic - everything's okay
  • Crawl into the nest - get some sleep
  • Dicty - high class
  • Diggit out - out to town, deliver
  • Early black - evening
  • Fews and twos - money, cash
  • Freeby - no charge, gratis
  • Gutbucket - low-down music
  • Hep cat - wise guy
  • Hipchick - snooty gal
  • Hot licks - improvised stuff
  • Icky - one who is not hep
  • Jam - swing session
  • Jelly - on the house
  • Jitterbug - swing fan
  • Jive - to kid along
  • Joint is jumping - place is lively
  • Killer-diller - thrill
  • Muggin' - making 'em laugh
  • Nix out - to eliminate
  • Riff - hot lick, high notes
  • Rug-cutter - good dancer
  • Schmaltz - sentimental
  • Sharpies - dancers who thrive on swing
  • Slide your jib - talk freely
  • Takeoff - play a solo
  • Tin ears - one who dislikes swing
  • Togged to the bricks - dressed up
  • Whipped up - exhausted
  • Woof-hound - alligator high on swing
Meanwhile, the inside of the back cover contains "Gridiron Gleanings" -- a list of all-time college football records. The latest of the dates is 1934, hence my initial thought that this notepad dates from the 1930s.

Here are a few of the then-records in college football:
  • Longest run from scrimmage: 115 yards, Wyllys Terry (Yale) vs. Wesleyan, Nov. 4, 1884
  • Longest scoring forward pass: 87 yards, Bradbury Robinson to John Schneider (St. Louis) vs. Kansas, 1907
  • Longest field goal from placement: 65 yards, James T. Haxall (Princeton) vs. Yale, 1882
  • Longest punt: 84 yards, Thomas Oliver (Catholic University) vs. Western Maryland, 1934
  • Most touchdowns in one season: 26, James C. Leech (Virginia Military Institute), 1920
There are a bunch of other football records listed. If there's one in particular you're interested in, drop me a line in the comments section.

Right now, though, I'm pretty whipped up. I'm going to crawl into the nest.

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