eating bread and butter Butter was a treat not often enjoyed by the poor.
Black Draught a liquid, over-the-counter laxative; sometimes it is used to combat colds.
Vick’s salve a widely used medication to treat colds; sometimes it is taken internally, although directions on the jar warn against doing so.
take holt a dialectic pronunciation of “take hold of.”
Alaga syrup a brand of cough syrup popular in black communities, especially in the South.
our roomer People sometimes rent rooms within their houses (or even apartments) in order to supplement their incomes.
Mason jars glass jars used for canning homegrown fruits and vegetables.
Nu Nile Hair Oil a hair product used by black men.
Sen-Sen a breath freshener made of aromatic dried particles.
Greta Garbo This Swedish-American actress (1905–1990) began her career in silent films and successfully switched to “talkies” in the 1930s. Her most famous films include Mata Hari, Anna Karenina, and Ninotchka.
Ginger Rogers Best known for the movie musicals she made as Fred Astaire’s dance partner, Rogers (1911–1995) received a 1940 Academy Award for best actress for her role in Kitty Foyle.
Shirley Temple Adored by everyone, Shirley Temple, with her hallmark dimples, corkscrew golden curls, and twinkling blue eyes, was the highest-paid child actress of the 1930s and early 1940s.
Jane Withers A 1930s-40s tomboy actress with dark eyes and dark hair, she was the antithesis of the Shirley Temple icon.
Big Mama and Big Papa Claudia and Frieda’s grandmother and grandfather.
Henry Ford a car manufacturer; one of America’s richest men during the 1940s.
CCC camps the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal jobs program during the 1930s and ’40s.
Ministratin’ a youthful mispronunciation of “menstruating.”
Lucky Strike a brand of cigarettes.
Chittlin’ here, a nickname; chitterlings, the small intestines of pigs, are a soul food staple-battered, deep-fat fried, and served with lots of catsup, along with corn sticks and cooked greens.
