| Automat |
coin operated fast food restaurant |
Cornell Woolrich |
| automatic (or self operating) elevator |
In the 1920s – 1940s, many elevators required manual operation |
Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, W. T. Ballard, Carroll John Daly, George Harmon Coxe, Leslie Charteris, Erle Stanley Gardner |
| automatic wiper |
In the 1920s – 1940s, many windshield wipers required manual operation |
Dashell Hammet |
| beat the tattoo |
sound the drum |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Leslie Charteris |
| Borsalino |
Italian felt hat |
Frederick Nebel |
| Bromo Seltzer |
hangover remedy outlawed in the 1970s |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Cornell Woolrich |
| Button, button, who’s got the button? |
child’s guessing game |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Robert Reeves |
| cheroot |
cigar |
Frederick Nebel |
| clew |
alternate spelling of clue (evidence) |
Dashell Hammet, Erle Stanley Gardner |
| cloche hat |
flapper style |
Frederick Nebel |
| cluck |
dumb person |
James Cain |
| Dixie Flyer |
Chicago to Florida passenger train 1892 – 1965 |
Horace McCoy |
| do-funny |
gadget, also spelled doofunny (like doohickey) |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| Dreadnought |
early 20th century battleship |
Raymond Chandler |
| duck on a rock |
child's game |
Frederick Nebel |
| Duesenberg |
luxury auto company went bankrupt in 1937 |
Horace McCoy |
| electric refrigerator |
Non-electric ice boxes were common in the 1920s – 1940s |
Raymond Chandler |
| faro |
French card game |
Frederick Nebel |
| the fat's in the fire |
problems are about to begin |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| fire horse |
common prior to the use of motorized fire engines |
Roger Torrey |
| flagrante delicto |
Latin for caught in the act |
Horace McCoy |
| flivver |
cheap car (police car implied) |
Thomas Walsh, Frederick Nebel, Erle Stanley Gardner |
| four-flusher |
someone who bluffs |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Horace McCoy |
| Gay White Way |
Broadway NY (light bulbs) |
William Rollins, Jr. |
| gendarme |
police (French) |
Cornell Woolrich, C.S. Montanye |
| glad rags |
dressy clothes |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| Gladstone |
hinged leather luggage |
Frederick Nebel, Robert Reeves |
| gunny |
Gunnery sergeant |
Raymond Chandler |
| harness bull |
uniformed policeman |
Leslie T. White, Carroll John Daly, Dashell Hammet |
| hatless man/woman |
Unusual to not be wearing a hat in the 1920s – 1940s |
Raymond Chandler, Frederick Nebel, Robert Reeves |
| heap |
dilapidated automobile |
Roger Torrey, Mickey Spillane |
| herring-bone suit |
V-shaped weaving pattern |
George Harmon Coxe, Robert Reeves |
| highboy |
double chest of drawers |
Frederick Nebel |
| hogshead |
cask of specific volume used for shipping |
C.S. Montanye |
| Homburg |
flat brim hat |
Frank Gruber, Leslie Charteris |
| hooker |
an imprecise measure of an alcoholic drink (large gulp) |
Frank Gruber, Carroll John Daly, Robert Reeves |
| hoosegow |
prison |
Horace McCoy, Leslie Charteris |
| house organ |
company publication |
Horace McCoy |
| hummock |
mound |
Dashell Hammet |
| Kewpie Doll |
doll based on popular cartoon strip |
Roger Torrey, Robert Reeves |
| Lizzie |
Ford Model T |
William Rollins, Jr. |
| macadam |
asphalt |
Horace McCoy, Robert Reeves |
| major-domo |
highest member of household staff |
Horace McCoy |
| Malacca cane/stick |
Asian rattan palm walking stick |
Carroll John Daly, C.S. Montanye, Leslie Charteris |
| Meerschaum pipe |
sepiolite smoking pipe, color of sea foam |
James Cain |
| moll |
gangster's girlfriend |
P.T. Luman, Perry Paul, C.B. Yorke |
| money, marbles, or chalk? |
saying like "all the marbles" |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| Moorish coffee table |
antique |
Frederick Nebel |
| mules |
no back strap high heal shoes |
Dashell Hammet, George Harmon Coxe |
| the Narrows |
between Staten Island and Brooklyn |
Cornell Woolrich |
| Newberry store |
five and dime store chain 1911 – 2001 |
Horace McCoy |
| niblick |
short iron (golf) |
Paul Cain |
| oculist |
optometrist |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| Ossining |
Sing Sing prison |
Cornell Woolrich |
| palaver |
conference of people without shared language/culture |
James Cain, Erle Stanley Gardner |
| phaeton |
vintage touring car |
Horace McCoy |
| piker |
small bit gambler |
Frederick Nebel, Robert Reeves |
| pince-nez |
nose glasses (worn by Teddy Roosevelt and FDR) |
Frederick Nebel, Leslie Charteris, George Harmon Coxe |
| Prologue to Pagliacci |
famous opera overture (baritone song) |
James Cain, Raymond Chandler |
| puttees |
leather leggings |
Steve Fisher |
| raglan coat |
single sleeve coat |
Frederick Nebel, George Harmon Coxe, C.S. Montanye |
| rift in the lute |
disagreement |
C.S. Montanye |
| rotter |
objectionable person |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| Sam Browne belt |
military belt with shoulder strap |
Raymond Chandler |
| sauce for the goose [is sauce for the gander] |
treat the same way as another (like good for the goose…) |
George Harmon Coxe |
| serge suit |
wool fabric with diagonal lines, commonly blue |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Leslie Charteris, Robert Reeves |
| seydlitz-powder |
like Alka-Seltzer |
Cornell Woolrich |
| Shalimar perfume |
1921 popular |
Frederick Nebel |
| spats |
spatter guards, worn over shoes (usually white) |
Raymond Chandler, Frank Gruber, George Harmon Coxe, Carroll John Daly, Leslie Charteris |
| strap watch |
Non-strap watches were common in the 1920s – 1940s |
George Harmon Coxe, Horace McCoy |
| taboret |
low stool |
Erle Stanley Gardner, Robert Reeves |
| tartan |
kilt patterned blanket |
Horace McCoy |
| tête-à-tête |
a private conversation between two people |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| tonneau |
open part of automobile |
Frederick Nebel, George Harmon Coxe, C.S. Montanye, Leslie Charteris |
| tonsorial |
barber |
Paul Cain |
| traffic semaphore |
traffic signal before tri-colored standard in 1935 |
Horace McCoy |
| turnip watch |
pocket watch |
Erle Stanley Gardner |
| ulster |
Irish coat |
Frederick Nebel |
| Uncle Dudley |
Broadway play |
William Rollins, Jr. |
| Wobblies |
industrial workers |
Dashell Hammet |
| yegg |
safecracker |
Carroll John Daly, Roger Torrey |