Pillow

Pillow (pronounced pil-oh)

(1) A bag or case made of cloth that is filled with feathers, down, or other soft material, and is used to cushion the head during sleep or rest.

(2) Any similar construction used to cushion the head; a type of headrest.

(3) In lace-making, a hard cushion or pad that supports the pattern and threads in the making of bobbin lace (also called lace pillow).

(4) In ship-building, a supporting piece or part, as the block on which the inner end of a bowsprit (a spar projecting over the prow of a sailing vessel to provide the means of adding sail surface) rests.

(5) In geology, as “pillow lava”, the rock type resembling the shape of a typical pillow, formed when lava emerges from an underwater volcanic vent or a lava flow enters the ocean.

(6) In engineering, as “pillow block”, a piece of wood or metal, forming a support to equalize pressure (historically known also a “brass”, an allusion to the alloy once commonly used for such purposes.

(7) In engineering, the socket of a pivot.

(8) A kind of plain, coarse fustian (a coarse fabric made originally from cotton and flax and now a coarse fabric of twilled cotton or a cotton & linen mix).

(9) With and without modifiers (love pillows; dirty pillows etc) and usually in the plural, yet another slang term for the human female's breasts.

(10) To rest on a pillow.

(11) To support with pillows.

(12) To serve as a pillow for some purpose.

1450s: From the Middle English pillow & pilow, (a head-rest used by a person reclining, especially a soft, elastic cushion filled with down, feathers etc), from the earlier pilwe, from the Old English pylwe, pylu & pyle (cushion, bed-cushion, pillow), from West Germanic noun pulwi & pulwin (source also of the Old Saxon puli, the Middle Dutch polu, the Dutch peluw, the Old High German pfuliwi and the German Pfühl), from the Proto-West Germanic pulwī (pillow), borrowed (possibly as early as the second century) from the Latin pulvinus (a little cushion, small pillow) of uncertain origin but some etymologists have speculated the construct may have been the Latin pulvis (dust, powder) +‎ -īnus (-ine) (in the sense of the filler of a pillow).  The suffix -īnus (-ine) was from the Proto-Italic -īnos, from the primitive Indo-European –iHnos and was cognate with the Ancient Greek -ινος (-inos) and the Proto-Germanic -īnaz.  In use it was added to a noun base (especially a proper noun) to form an adjective conveying the sense “of or pertaining to” and could indicate a relationship of position, possession, or origin.  The modern English spelling dates from the 1450s.  Pillow & pillowing are nouns & verbs, pillowed is a verb & adjectice and pillowless, pillowy, pillowlike & pillowesque are adjectives; the noun plural is pillows.

Pillowslips (left) in the typical combination of (1) a pair in a matching set with sheets & (2) a pair in a set matching the duvet cover and a quartet of pillowshams (right).  

Use of the pillowcase (washable enclosure drawn over a pillow and known also as a “pillowslip”) probably long predates the first known use of the term in 1745 but the emergence in the 1860s of the “pillowsham” is likely indicative of the tastes of the rising middle-class.  The pillowsham can be thought of as the archetypal middle class accessory and while structurally similar to a pillow case, in the jargon of interior decorators they are distinct.  A pillowcase (or pillowslip) is a basic and close-fitting cover which encases a pillow to protect it and provide a comfortable surface for sleeping.  Typically, pillowcases are made from soft, washable fabrics like cotton, linen, or microfiber and usually feature an open end with a flap; most are simple in design although there can be frills (though not fringes which are restricted to cushions) and the fabric tends to be either a solid color or matching the rest of the bed linen (ie as part of a set).  A pillowsham is a decorative cover for a pillow, often used on beds to add style rather than for everyday sleeping and some shams placed over pillows for decorative effect are removed or placed at the back when someone is sleeping.  Pillowshams are much associated with intricate designs (embroidery, ruffles, textured fabric and worse) and usually have an opening at the back, often closed with buttons, a zipper, or an overlapping flap to hide the closure.  Sham (intended to deceive; false; act of fakery) is thought probably to have been a dialectal form of shame (reproach incurred or suffered; dishonour; ignominy; derision) from the Middle English schame, from the Old English sċamu, from Proto-Germanic skamō.  Thus, while interior decorators may have no shame, they certainly have shams.

Pillowsham is the generic term for these items (whether put over a pillow or cushion) and “cushionsham” is not part of the jargon; the terms pillowcase, pillowslip & pillowsham appear variously also as separate words and hyphenated.  The pillowsham is notorious for its use as a platform for kitsch and Adolf Hitler’s (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) mountain home (the Berghof in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria) featured many, sent to him by his many female admirers.  At the aesthetic level, he of course didn't approve but appreciated the gesture although they seem never to have appeared in photographs of the house’s principle rooms, banished to places like the many surrounding buildings including the conservatory of Hans Wichenfeld (the chalet on which the was Berghof based).

Hitler's study in the Berghof with only matched cushions (left) and the conservatory (centre & right) with some pillowshams (embroidered with swastikas and the initials A.H.).

In the US, Life magazine in October 1939 (a few weeks after the Nazis had invaded Poland) published a lush color feature focused on Hitler’s paintings and the Berghof, the piece a curious mix of what even then were called “human-interest stories”, political commentary and artistic & architectural criticism.  One heading :“Paintings by Adolf Hitler: The Statesman Longs to Be an Artist and Helps Design His Mountain Home” illustrates the flavor but this was a time before the most awful aspects of Nazi rule were understood and Life’s editors were well-aware a significant proportion of its readership were well disposed towards Hitler’s regime.  Still, there was some wry humor in the text, assessing the Berghof as possessing the qualities of a “…combination of modern and Bavarian chalet” styles, something “awkward but interesting” while the interiors, “…designed and decorated with Hitler’s active collaboration, are the comfortable kind of rooms a man likes, furnished in simple, semi-modern, sometimes dramatic style. The furnishings are in very good taste, fashioned of rich materials and fine woods by the best craftsmen in the Reich.”  Life seemed to be most taken with the main stairway leading up from the ground floor which was judged “a striking bit of modern architecture.”  Whether or not the editors were aware Hitler thought “modern architecture” suitable only for factories, warehouses and such isn’t clear.  They also had fun with what hung on the walls, noting: “Like other Nazi leaders, Hitler likes pictures of nudes and ruins” but anyway concluded that “in a more settled Germany, Adolf Hitler might have done quite well as an interior decorator.”  There was no comment on the Führer’s pillows and cushions.

Whatever Life’s views on him as potential interior decorator, decades later, his architect was prepared to note the dictator’s “beginner’s mistake” in the building’s design.  In Erinnerungen (Memories or Reminiscences) and published in English as Inside the Third Reich (1969)), Albert Speer (1905–1981; Nazi court architect 1934-1942; Nazi minister of armaments and war production 1942-1945) recalled:

“A huge picture window in the living room, famous for its size and the fact that it could be lowered, was Hitler s pride.  It offered a view of the Untersberg, Berchtesgaden, and Salzburg. However, Hitler had been inspired to situate his garage underneath this window; when the wind was unfavorable, a strong smell of gasoline penetrated into the living room.  All in all, this was a ground plan that would have been graded D by any professor at an institute of technology. On the other hand, these very clumsinesses gave the Berghof a strongly personal note. The place was still geared to the simple activities of a former weekend cottage, merely expanded to vast proportions.”

He commented also on the pillowshams: “The furniture was bogus old- German peasant style and gave the house a comfortable petit-bourgeois look.  A brass canary cage, a cactus, and a rubber plant intensified this impression.  There were swastikas on knickknacks and pillows embroidered by admiring women, combined with, say, a rising sun or a vow of "eternal loyalty."  Hitler commented to me with some embarrassment: "I know these are not beautiful things, but many of them are presents.  I shouldn't like to part with them."

Life’s assessment of Hitler’s alternative career path as an interior decorator wasn’t the first time the observation had been made of a head of state & government.  Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924; US president 1913-1921) had gone to the Paris Peace Conference (1919) determined above all to secure the agreement of all parties to the creation of the League of Nations (1920-1946) and this he pursued with a vigour not matched by other leaders present, all of who had a focus on the immediate needs of their own countries.  Wilson, knowing political pressure on him was rising in the US and whose health had long been fragile, found the negotiations exhausting and doctors in recent years have concluded he likely suffered several small strokes while in Paris, a prelude to the major event later in the year which substantially would incapacity him for the remainder of his presidency.

Wilson’s personal physician (Cary Grayson (1878–1938) had accompanied him to the conference and in his diary noted one manifestation of what he described as “the strain” when, after hours of “intense discussion” on matters ranging from tiresome US senators to the treaty terms sought by the delegation from Japan to the arraignment of the former Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941; German Emperor & King of Prussia 1888-1918), the president suddenly made an announcement.

“I don’t like the way the colors of this furniture fight each other. The greens and the reds are all mixed up here and there is no harmony.  Here is a big purple, high-backed covered chair, which is like the Purple Cow, strayed off to itself, and it is placed where the light shines on it too brightly.  If you will give me a lift, we will move this next to the wall where the light from the window will give it a subdued effect.  And here are two chairs, one green and the other red.  This will never do.  Let’s put the greens all together and the reds together.”  He went on to relate to his doctor how at the “Council of Four” (the leaders of France, Italy, the US & UK) meeting how “…each delegation walked like schoolchildren each day to its respective corner.  Now, with the furniture regrouped, he said each country would sit according to its color.”  Dr Grayson attributed the “aberrant behaviour” to “stress” and prescribed only going for a drive in an automobile, remarking to his patient: “I think if you ever want a job after leaving the presidency you would make a great success as an interior decorator.”  Wilson concurred, answering: “I don’t mean to throw bouquets at myself but I do think that I have made a success of the arrangement of the furniture.”

Woodrow Wilson’s bedroom in the Washington DC townhouse where he lived after leaving office.

Mrs Wilson fitted-out the bedroom on S Street, Kalorama almost to exactly replicate the one he’d used at the White House, down to the footrests, pillows and reading lights.  Mrs Wilson commissioned the bed to be exactly the imposing dimensions (8 feet, 6 inches x 6 feet, 6 inches (2590 x 1981 mm)) of the White House’s Lincoln Bed; built in Grand Rapids, Michigan in a colonial revival style, it's made of mahogany.  After his stroke in October, 1919, Wilson substantially was confined to his bed and it was in this bed he died on 3 February, 1924, aged 67.  He was buried at the Washington National Cathedral, the only US president whose body lies in the national capital.

The "furniture incident" is now assessed in the light of the knowledge of the president’s previous neurological issues and analysts since have compared the behaviour to that of the anorexic who takes control of their diet because it is one thing they are able completely and immediately to control, in contrast to other aspects of their life which they have come to believe they are unable to influence and neurologists who have written on the subject do seem to agree a stroke would likely have induced the episode.  In October 1919, shortly after returning to the US, Wilson suffered a major stroke, us stroke, leaving him paralyzed on his left side, and with only partial vision in the right eye.  Despite this, he continued in office until his term expired in 1921 though he was physically isolated and few were able to see him except his wife and doctor, a situation not greatly different from the situation in 1953 when Winston Churchill’s (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) son-in-law for months acted as something of a prime-ministerial proxy in the aftermath of Churchill’s massive stroke.  The ad-hoc apparatus constructed by Mrs Wilson and Dr Grayson had led some claim she was, in effect, the nation’s “first female president” and while that’s drawing a long bow, it was something discussed in 2024 when Joe Biden’s (b 1942; US president 2021-2025) descent into senility was a topic of interest.  The roles played by of Dr Grayson, Lord Moran (Charles Wilson, 1882-1977, personal physician to prime minister Winston Churchill) and Ross McIntire (1889–1959; personal physician to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945)) remain controversial and reflect the sometimes conflicting duality of responsibility a physician has (1) to their patient and (2) their patient’s position as head of government.

Lindsay Lohan themed pillows are available.

“Pillow dictionary” was a synonym of “sleeping dictionary” (a sexual partner who also serves as a native informant or language teacher for an outsider).  It was thus something of a euphemism for a tutor in a foreign language who, as is implied, gives “tuition in bed”; the term said (as might be expected) to be used more commonly used by men of women than vice versa.  Those who practice hypnopaedic techniques use a different kind of dictionary.  Hypnopedia (or hypnopædia) was a form of “sleep-learning (or sleep-teaching) and was an attempt to convey information to a sleeping person, typically by playing a sound recording to them while they sleep.  Because the role of sleep in memory consolidation had come to be understood, the hypothesis of hypnopedia was not unreasonable but it has been wholly discredited.

The “pillow fight” (a form of domestic mock-combat fought using pillows as weapons) is presumably a most ancient practice but the first known reference is from 1837.  Pillows being much associated with beds, in idiomatic use, the pillow naturally features in phrases associated with sex.  The slang “pillow talk” (relaxed, intimate conversation between a couple in bed) is doubtlessly more ancient still but the term may not have been used prior to 1939 and it now carries the implication of some indiscrete disclosure, often in the context of politics or espionage).  A “pillow word” was a calque of the Japanese 枕詞 (makurakotoba) and described the use in Waka (和歌) (Japanese poem) of a poetic device in which a certain introductory phrase is commonly used to allude to something else.

Jeremy Thorpe arriving at Minehead Magistrates Court, 4 December 1978, for the famous "pillow biter" trial.

The matter was committal proceedings against him and three others on charges of conspiring to murder former male model Norman Scott.  Ultimately Mr Thorpe was acquitted of all charges.  The car is a Rover 3500S (P6).  3500S was the original designation of the 3500s sold during the model's abortive foray (1970-1971) into the US market but elsewhere was used to designate the version offered with a four-speed manual transmission (1971-1977), the original introduced in 1968 exclusively in automatic form.

A “pillow queen” was a woman concerned only with her own gratification during sex and interestingly, the equivalent creature among lesbians was apparently more often a “pillow princess”, both classified as “takers” rather than “givers”, the synonyms in the vernacular including “stone”, “rock”, “slate”, “cold fish”, “dead fish” and “starfish”.  The more evocative phrase “pillow-biter” seems first to have entered general use after it was used by Norman Scott (b 1940) when giving evidence in the 1979 trial of Jeremy Thorpe (1929–2014; leader of the UK Liberal Party 1967-1976), the witness describing the way he handled his unwilling participation as the alleged victim of Mr Thorpe committing upon him what in some jurisdictions used to be called “the abominable crime of buggery”: “I just bit the pillow, I tried not to scream because I was frightened of waking Mrs Thorpe.”  A pillow-biter is thus (in certain circles of the LGBTQQIAAOP communities) a “gay man who engages in passive anal sex”; a “bottom”, as opposed to Mr Thorpe who allegedly was a “top”.

Pillowbook describes a journal-type book kept to record sexual dreams and escapades, most intended only for the eyes of the writer.  It was a specific form of a quite commonplace book which appears to have originated in Japan as a compilation of notes & jottings, those periodic or occasional writings that might go into an extended diary.  The most famous example (and among the earliest extant) was the The Pillow Book (枕草子) (Makura no Sōshi) (Notes of the Pillow), a volume of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon (清少納言), circa 966–circa 1020, a lady of the court to Fujiwara no Teishi (藤原 定子) 977–1001 (known also as Sadako), an empress consort of the Japanese Emperor Ichijō (一条天皇) (Ichijō-tennō), 980–1011; 66^th emperor of Japan, 986-1011; the last entries in the book were made in the year 1002.  According to Japanese legend, the origin of the pillow book lies in a bundle of unused notebooks being brought to the empress who began musing on what should be done with them.  The lady-in-waiting suggested she should have them and make them into a pillow (which meant putting them into the drawers of “a wooden pillow” (a part of the Japanese sleeping apparatus).  Subsequently, she filled the notebooks with random facts, lists and discursive jottings and from this tradition came the traditional Japanese genre zuihitsu (随筆) (occasional writings) which exists still, describing a form of literature consisting of loosely connected personal essays and fragmentary ideas typically influenced by the author's surroundings and daily interactions with them.

1972 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency brochure.

“Loose pillow” upholstery had been in furniture for a while, implemented usually as detachable cushions designed to be removed for cleaning but it was Oldsmobile which first used the concept for automobiles.  Since the mid 1960s “luxury” versions (as opposed to mere “deluxe” editions which often included just a bundle of options anyway available on a “standard” car at a discount compared with ordering them individually) had begun to appear and this would evolve into what came to be called “the great Brougham era”.  That term seems to have been invented by Curbside Classic, a curated website which is a gallimaufry of interesting content, built around the theme of once-familiar and often everyday vehicles which are now a rare sight until discovered by Curbside Classic’s contributors (who self-style as "curbivores"), parked next to some curb.  These are the often the machines neglected by automotive historians and collectors who prefer things which are fast, lovely or rare.  According to Curbside Classic, the “great brougham era” began in 1965 with the release of the LTD option for the mass-market Ford Galaxie and that approach was nothing new because even the Galaxie name had in 1959 been coined for a "luxury" version of the Fairlane 500, a trick the US industry had been using for some time.

1972 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency brochure.  When the tufted, pillowed option was chosen in red velour, it was known casually as "mid-priced bordello chic".

Once, Detroit’s most elaborate interiors had been restricted to the top-of the range models (Cadillac, Lincoln & Imperial) but when Oldsmobile in introduced the “Regency” option for their Ninety-Eight range, it was quite a jump in middle-class opulence and it must have been galling for Cadillac: Oldsmobile, two notches down the GM pecking list from Cadillac had in one stroke out-done Cadillac’s interiors with not just tufted velour upholstery but the novelty also of the welcoming loose pillow style.  Cadillac had nothing like it but scrambled to respond, offering in 1973 the d'Elegance package, a US$750 option which included pillow-style velour seating as well as a more plush carpeting and bundled a few of the otherwise optional features.

1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman rear compartment in blue velour with optional pillows.  The pillows (which many would have described as "cushions") were also available on Talismans trimmed in leather.  The world should have more leather pillows but, unfortunately, while "Cadillac pillows" are available, they come only in fabric.  The so-called "holy grail" among Talisman collectors is a 1974 model in blue leather which was listed as a factory option but no such machine has ever been sighted and Cadillac's production records don't provide a color breakdown.  It's thought likely none were ever built.

However, all the d'Elegance bling did was match what others were doing and there was still the corporate memory of the Cadillac mystique, a hankering for the time when Cadillac had been the “standard of the world”, a reputation built in the 1930s on basic engineering such as almost unique sixteen cylinder engines and maintained a generation later with cars such as the Eldorado Brougham, times when the name stood for something truly impressive.  By 1974 the world had changed and such extravagances were no longer possible but what could still be done was to add more gingerbread and for 1974, Cadillac announced the Talisman package.  Much more expensive than the d'Elegance and consequently more exclusive, the Talisman included an extended centre console, the front section housing an illumined writing tablet, the rear a storage compartment.  This had been done before but never with this opulence although it had the effect of reducing the huge car, a size which historically been a six-seater, into something strictly for four.  The interior was available in four colors in "Medici" crushed velour at US$1800 or in two shades in leather at US$2450 at a time when the Chevrolet Vega, GM’s entry-level automobile of the era cost US$2087.  The Talisman additionally gained matching deep-pile interior carpeting and floor-mats, a fully padded elk grain vinyl roof, exterior badge identifications, a stand-up, full-color wreath and crest hood ornament and unique wheel-covers.  For those who needed more, for an additional US$85, a matching pillow and robe was available although the robe unfortunately wasn't cut in leather.  Optioned with the leather package, a 1974 Cadillac Talisman cost about US$13,200, matching what the company charged for the even bigger Fleetwood 75 limousines.  The additional gingerbread wasn’t all that expensive to produce; what Cadillac was selling was exclusivity and the market responded, 1898 Talismans coming off the production line that year, all sold at a most impressive profit.  Most prized today are the relative handful trimmed in leather, the urban legend being all were in medium saddle with none in the dark blue which was on the option list.  If any were sold with the blue leather, none appear now to exist and Cadillac’s records don’t record the breakdown.

1974 Imperial LeBaron four-door hardtop (left) in chestnut tufted leather though not actually “fine Corinthian leather” which was (mostly) exclusive to the Cordoba (1975-1983) until late 1975 when not only did the Imperial's brochures mention "genuine Corinthian leather (available at extra cost)" but for the first time since 1954 the range was referred to as the "Chrysler Imperial", a harbinger the brand was about to be retired.  Imperial's advertising copy noted of the brochure photograph above: “...while the passenger restraint system with starter interlock is not shown, it is standard on all Imperials.”; the marketing types didn't like seat-belts messing up their photos.  While all of the big three (GM, Ford & Chrysler) had tufted interiors in some lines, it was Chrysler which displayed the most commitment to the motif.

Fashions change and the 1997 Buick Park Avenue (right) was the last of the "pillowed cars".  The loose pillow style certainly caught on although the name was a little misleading because the pillows were loose only in the sense of moving a little to accommodate the frames sitting on them and were not removable.  In the showroom they looked good and attracted many buyers but were noted also for the propensity to trap crumbs, small coins and the other detritus of life in the many folds, tufts and crevasses.  The fad lasted for more than a generation and Detroit’s last fling of the pillow was the 1997 Buick Park Avenue.

Built-in foam pillows: 1972 Imperial LeBaron four-door hardtop (left) and 1977 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham four-door hardtop (right).

Chrysler corporation’s implementation of the “loose pillow look” was the industry’s most sumptuous and on the more expensive in the range, the look extended even to “built-in foam pillows” affixed to the C-pillars, a luxury for dozing customers and these were the sort of cars which were famous for “floating” effortlessly down freeways so probably it wasn’t uncommon for folk in the back to be lulled into sleep; the huge machines of the 1970s were nicknamed “land yachts” with good reason.  The pillows also proved to be dual-purpose.  Between 1969-1973, the Imperial’s rear map-reading lamps (maps used to be printed on paper) were located next to the rear windscreen and while they worked as intended, they had a sort of “stuck-on” look which didn’t suit the ambiance of the interior.  When illuminated, they also glowed in the driver’s rear-view mirror and because the stylists were anyway intending to better integrate the units, it was decided to do so in such a way that would make the light unobtrusive for the driver, removing a potential distraction.  The new design made it debut with the 1974 range.

1974 Imperial LeBaron brochure featuring "built-in foam pillows and lavaliere straps".

Chrysler made many mistakes during the 1970s but the basic engineering was usually sound and the new map-reading lamps were indicative of the approach.  Not only did the new lamps offer “increased luminosity” but the glow was now “warmer and softer” which sounds like advertising “puffery” but the terms are an accepted part of the jargon of light and the wider aperture of the lens meant what was cast was in a broader beam, better suited to maps or anything else being read.  The shape of the built-in foam pillows was used also to ensure the light couldn’t distract the driver, the engineers devoting some energy to working out just how much padding should be used to achieve this, while not detracting from the lamp’s functionality.  On the four-door models, there was also on each C-Pillar a “lavaliere strap”.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004; US president 1981-1989) in Cadillac presidential limousine demonstrating the correct grip of a lavaliere strap.

“Lavaliere” is a term from jewellery design which describes a pendant (typically with a single stone) suspended from a necklace and presumably Chrysler’s marketing department thought that sounded much better than the more brutish “grab handle”, typified by the later Subaru BRAT, a vehicle in which admittedly they were essential.  On his Californian ranch, Mr Regan kept a Subaru BRAT but removed the tariff-dodging jump seats so didn't have the pleasure of using the grab handles.  The jewellery style was named after Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (1644–1710) who was, between 1661-1667 (a reasonable run in such a profession), the mistress of Louis XIV (1638–1715; le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), King of France 1643-1715); it’s said the adaptation of her name for the pendants was based on the frequency with which the accessories appeared in her many portraits.

1977 Chrysler (Australia) Valiant Regal SE.

In the era, Chrysler's Australian outpost did cut a few corners when implementing the “pillowed look”, economies achieved by (1) using fewer buttons for the tufting of the fabric or optional leather and (2) attaching the tufted “feature sections” directly to the cushion & squab rather than creating an emulated “pillowed” look (in which a separate piece appears to sit atop the structure).  Even by the time of the release of the CL range (1976-1978) the feeling was the writing was on the wall for the once popular Australian Valiant (1962-1981) and the top-of-the-line Regal SE was created in the Q&D (quick & dirty) way by including all the lesser Regal’s options (including the 318 cubic inch (5.2 litre) V8) as standard equipment; only the tufted upholstery and optional leather was unique to the model.  Sales were modest but there remained a devoted following for the Valiant which was durable enough to endure the sometimes harsh environment and it was highly regarded for its towing capabilities, even when fitted with the lusty six cylinder engines which were the best produced by the local industry.  Built on the US A-body platform, when production ended in 1981 it had lasted a half-decade longer than the Plymouth and Dodge versions sold in the home market and only in Mexico would use continue until 1988.

Brat

Brat (pronounced brat)

(1) A child, especially one is ill-mannered, unruly, annoying, spoiled or impolite etc (usually used either playfully or in contempt or irritation, often in the phrase “spoiled brat”.

(2) As “military brat”, “army brat” etc, a child with one or more parent serving in the military; most associated with those moving between military bases on a short-duration basis; the derived form is “diplomatic brat” (child living with parents serving in overseas missions).

(3) In the BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism) community, a submissive partner who is disobedient and unruly (ie a role reversal: to act in a bratty manner as the submissive, the comparative being “more bratty”, the superlative “most bratty”).

(4) In mining, a thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.

(5) A rough makeshift cloak or ragged garment (a now rare dialectal form).

(6) An apron fashioned from a coarse cloth, used to protect the clothing (a bib) (a now obsolete Scots dialect word).

(7) A turbot or flatfish.

(8) The young of an animal (obsolete).

(9) A clipping of bratwurst, from the German Bratwurst (a type of sausage) noted since 1904, from the Middle High German brātwurst, from the Old High German, the construct being Brāt (lean meat, finely shredded calf or swine meat) + wurst (sausage).

(10) As a 2024 neologism (technically a re-purposing), the qualities associated with a confident and assertive woman (along the lines of the earlier “bolshie woman” or “tough broad” but with a more overtly feminist flavor).

1500–1520: Thought to be a transferred use (as slang for “a beggar's child”) of the early Middle English brat (cloak of coarse cloth, rag), from the Old English bratt (cloak) of Celtic origin and related to the Old Irish brat (mantle, cloak; cloth used to cover the body).  The origin of the early Modern English slag use meaning “beggar's child” is uncertain.  It may have been an allusion, either to the contemporary use meaning “young of an animal” or to the shabby clothing such a child would have worn", the alternative theory being some link with the Scots bratchet (bitch, hound).  The early sense development (of children) may have included the fork of the notion of “an unplanned or unwanted baby” (as opposed to a “bastard” (in the technical rather than behavioral sense)) had by a married couple.  The “Hollywood Brat Pack” was a term from the mid-1980s referring to a grouping of certain actors and modeled on the 1950s “Rat Pack”.  The slang form “brattery” (a nursery for children) sounds TicTokish but actually dates from 1788 while the generalized idea of “spoiled and juvenile” became common in the 1930s.  The unrelated use of bratty (plural bratties) is from Raj-era Indian English where it describes a cake of dried cow dung, used for fuel.  Brat is a noun, verb & adjective, brattishness & brattiness are nouns, bratting & bratted are verbs, brattish & bratty are adjectives and brattily is an adverb; the noun plural is brats.

New York magazine, 10 June, 1985.

First published in 1968, New York magazine is now owned by Vox media and, unlike many, its print edition still appears on surviving news-stands.  The editorial focus has over the decades shifted, the most interesting trend-line being the extent to which it could be said to be very much a “New York-centred” publication, something which comes and goes but the most distinguishing characteristic has always been a willingness (often an eagerness) to descend into pop-culture in a way the New Yorker's editors would have distained; it was in a 1985 New York cover story the term “Brat Pack” first appeared.  Coined by journalist David Blum (b 1955) and about a number of successful early twenty-something film stars, the piece proved controversial because the subjects raised concerns about what they claimed was Blum’s unethical tactics in obtaining the material.  The term was a play on “Rat Pack” which in the 1950s had been used of an earlier group of entertainers although Blum also noted another journalist's coining of “Fat Pack”, used in restaurant-related stories.

LBJ, the "Chicken Tax" and the Subaru BRAT

Subaru BRAT, advertising in motion (in a US publication and thus a left-hand drive model).

The Subaru BRAT was (depending on linguistic practice) (1) a coupé utility, (2) a compact pick-up or (3) a small four wheel drive (4WD) ute (utility).  The name was an acronym (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter), the novel idea of “bi-drive” (4WD) being the notion of both axles being driven, that linguistic construction dictated by the need to form the acronym.  “Bi-Drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter” certainly was more imaginative (if opportunistic) than other uses of BRAT as an acronym which have included: ”Behaviour Research And Therapy” (an academic journal), “Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast” (historically a diet recommended for those with certain stomach disorders), “Brush Rapid Attack Truck” (a fire-fighting vehicle), “Basenji Rescue and Transport” (a dog rescue organization), “Behavioral Risk Assessment Tool” (used in HIV/AIDS monitoring), Beautiful, Rich and Talented (self-explanatory), the “Bureau de Recherche en Aménagement du Territoire” (the Belgium Office of Research in Land Management (in the French)), “Beyond Line-Of-Sight Reporting and Tracking” (a US Army protocol for managing targets not in visual range) and “Battle-Management Requirements Analysis Tool” (a widely used military check-list, later interpolated into a BMS (Battle Management System).

Ronald Reagan on his Santa Barbara ranch with Subaru BRAT.  Like many owners who used their BRATs as pick-up trucks, President Reagan had the jump seats removed.

Built on the platform of the Leone (1971-1994) and known in some markets also as the MV Pickup, Brumby & Shifter, the BRAT was variously available between 1978-1994 and was never sold in the JDM (Japanese domestic market) although many have been “reverse imported” from other places (Australia favored because salt isn't used on the roads so rust is less of an issue) and the things now have a cult following in Tokyo.  The most famous BRAT owner was probably Ronald Reagan (1911-2004; US president 1981-1989) who kept a 1978 model on his Californian ranch until 1988, presenting something of a challenge for his Secret Service detail, many of whom didn’t know how to drive a stick-shift (manual transmission).  That though would have been less frightening than the experience of many taken for a drive by Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; US president 1963-1969) in the Amphicar 770 (1961-1965) he kept at his Texas ranch.  LBJ suddenly would turn off the path, driving straight into the waters of the dam, having neglected to tell his passengers of the 770’s amphibious capabilities.  Although “770” has been used in the industry (in the US and Australia) as a trim-level designation (often as part of the sequence 440, 550, 660 etc) , on the amphibious Amphicar it was a reference to it being able to achieve speeds of 7 knots (8 mph; 13 km/h) on water and 70 mph (110 km/h) on land, both claims verified by testers although the nautical performance did demand reasonable calm conditions.

The Subaru BRAT is remembered also as a “Chicken Tax car”.  Tax regimes have a long history of influencing or dictating automotive design, the Japanese system of displacement-based taxation responsible for the entire market segment of “Kei cars” (a clipping of kei-jidōsha (軽自動車) (light automobile), the best known of which have been produced with 360, 600 & 660 cm3 (22, 37 & 40 cubic inch) engines in an astonishing range of configurations ranging from micro city cars to roadsters and 4WD dump trucks.  In Europe too, the post-war fiscal threshold resulted in a wealth of manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, BMW, Ford, Maserati, Opel et al) offering several generations of 2.8 litre (171 cubic inch) sixes while the that imposed by the Italian government saw special runs of certain 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) fours, sixes & even V8s.  The US government’s “Chicken Tax” (a part of the “Chicken War”) was different in that it was a 25% tariff imposed in November 1963 (to come into effect in January 1964) by the Johnson administration on potato starch, dextrin, brandy and light trucks; it was a response to the impost of a similar tariffs by France and the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany, the old West Germany) on chicken meat imported from the US.

Wheeling & dealing: Walter Reuther (left) and LBJ (right), scheming something, November 1963.

In any president’s political horse trading there are always hidden agendas and ulterior motives and in LBJ’s White House there were more than usual because that’s the way he’d always done business and had he written a guide to the process, he might have called it "The Art of the Deal".  He was in his generation the most skilled of all, historians concluding after in 1937 having been initiated into the fraternity of Freemasons, he took the only first degree (as an “Entered Apprentice”) and opted not further to progress because soon he understood there was little even the Masons could teach him about the dark arts of plotting & scheming.  Year after the imposition of the chicken tax, the contents of the surviving tape-recordings of discussions in the White House revealed LBJ was negotiating with UAW (United Auto Workers’) president Walter Reuther (1907–1970) in the run-up to the 1964 congressional & presidential elections and the tariffs aimed at curtailing Volkswagen’s increasing market share were just one of the “quid pro quo chips” on the table.  Although it was the taping system used by Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) that became infamous, devices of this kind had been installed in the White House as early as the during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945) and Nixon actually had LBJ’s devices removed before his staff came to understand their usefulness and Nixon agreed to having them re-fitted, the rest being history. 

Subaru BRAT in use.

The post-war development in the US of large scale, intensive chicken farming had both vastly expanded production of the meat and radically reduced the unit cost of production which was good but because supply quickly exceeded the demand capacity of the domestic market, the surplus was exported, having the effect in Europe of transforming chicken from a high-priced delicacy to a staple consumer protein; by 1961, imported US chicken had taken some 50% of the European market.  This was at a time when international trade operated under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT (1947)) and there was nothing like the codified dispute resolution mechanism which exists in the rules of the successor World Trade Organization (the WTO (1995)) and the farming lobbies in Germany, France and the Netherlands accused the US producers of “dumping” (ie selling at below the cost of production) with the French government objecting that the female hormones US farmers used to stimulate growth were a risk to public health, not only to those who ate the flesh but to all because nature of the substances was such that a residue enter the water supply.  The use of the female hormones in agriculture does remains a matter of concern, some researchers linking it to phenomena noted in the last six decades including the startling reduction in the human male's sperm count, the shrinking in size of the penises of alligators living in close proximity to urban human habitation and early-onset puberty in girls.

Subaru BRAT Advertising (US).

Eventually, the tariffs on potato starch, dextrin and brandy were lifted but the protection for the US truck producers remained, triggering a range of inventive “work-arounds” concocted between various engineering and legal offices, most of which involved turning two-seater trucks & vans into vehicles which technically could quality as four-seaters, a configuration which lasted sometimes only until the things reached a warehouse where the fittings could be removed, something which would cost the Ford Motor Company (one of the corporations the tax had been imposed to protect) over US$1 billion in penalties, their tactics in importing the Transit Connect light truck from Turkey (now the Republic of Türkiye) just too blatant.  In New Zealand, in the mid 1970s, the government found the “work-arounds” working the other way.  There, changes had been implemented to make the purchase of two seater light vans more attractive for businesses so almost instantly, up sprang a cottage industry of assembling four-door station wagons with no rear seat which, upon sale, returned to the workshop to have a seat fitted.  Modern capitalism has always been imaginative.

Subaru "Passing Lamp" on Leone 1600 GL station wagon (optional on BRATs, 1980-1982).

In Fuji Heavy Industries’ (then Subaru’s parent corporation) Ebisu boardroom, the challenge of what probably was described as the “Chicken Tax Incident” was met by adding to the BRAT two plastic, rear-facing jump seats, thereby qualifying the vehicle as a “passenger car” subject in the US only to a 2.5 and not a 25% import tax.  Such a “feature” probably seems strange in the regulatory environment of the 2020s but there was a time when there was more freedom in the air.  Subaru’s US operation decided the BRAT’s “outdoor bucket seats” made it an “open tourer” and slanted the advertising thus, the model enjoying much success although the additional seating wasn’t available for its final season in the US, the BRAT withdrawn after 1987.  Another nifty feature available on the BRAT between 1980-1982 was the “Passing Lamp” (renamed “Center Lamp” in 1982 although owners liked “Third Eye” or “Cyclops”), designed to suit those who had adopted the recommended European practice of flashing the headlights (on high beam) for a second prior to overtaking.  The BRAT was not all that powerful so passing opportunities were perhaps not frequent but the “passing lamp” was there to be used if ever something even slower was encountered.  The retractable lamp was of course a complicated solution to a simple problem given most folk so inclined just flash the headlights but it was the sort of fitting with great appeal to men who admire intricacy for its own sake.

BRAT seat mountings 1983 (left) and 1984 (centre).  The BRAT on the right has been retro-fitted with the seats (note the safety wire attached to the frame!) using U-bolts, a satisfactory method provided (1) the U-bolts are of high-tensile steel and (2) there is a backing place of adequate strength and size.

The seats were bolted to a frame (the design of which changed) which was welded to the bed.  The use of welding rather than bolts was dictated by the regulations because, had the frame been bolted (and thus defined as “removable”), the BRAT's classification would have changed from “passenger vehicle” to “truck” and been subject to the very tax the seats were installed to avoid.  Amusingly though, the side impact regulations which applied to the BRAT were in a different act and for those purposes the thing was defined as a truck which meant the doors could be fitted with lighter reinforcing bars than those mandated for the Subaru Leone sedans, station wagons and hatchbacks.  The stronger mechanism can be installed in a BRAT's doors so safety conscious owners do have that option.

Two 1987 BRATs with retro-fitted seats, the one on the right also with an after-market roll-bar, something which, all things considered, seems a sensible addition.  Of the physics, those familiar Sir Isaac Newton's (1642–1727) First Law of Motion (known also as the Law of Inertia: "An object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will continue in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force") can ponder the possibilities while wondering whether to bother buckling up the seat belt or just rely on the "grab handles" (and probably never was that term used more appropriately).  Although the seats weren't factory-fitted after 1985, the parts could still be ordered and many later models have been retro-fitted.  The adjustable headrests were a nice touch although some did note they could be classified also as "rear window protectors".

Brat: Charli XCX's Summer 2024 album

Charli XCX, BRIT Awards, O2 Arena,  London, February 2016; the "BRITs" are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards.

“Brat” has been chosen by the Collins English Dictionary as its 2024 Word of the Year (WotY), an acknowledgement of the popular acclaim which greeted the word’s re-purposing by English singer-songwriter Charli XCX (the stage-name of Charlotte Emma Aitchison (b 1992)) who used it as the title for her summer 2024 album.  The star herself revealed her stage name is pronounced chahr-lee ex-cee-ex; it has no connection with Roman numerals and XCX is anyway not a standard Roman number.  XC is “90” (C minus X (100-10)) and CX is “110” (C plus X (100 +10)) but XCX presumably could be used as a code for “100” should the need arise, on the model of something like the “May 35^th” reference Chinese Internet users used in an attempt to circumvent the CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) "Great Firewall of China" when speaking of the “Tiananmen Square Incident” of 4 June 1989.  In 2015, Ms XCX revealed “XCX” was an element of her MSN screen name (CharliXCX92) when young (it stood for “kiss Charli kiss”) and she used it on some of the early promotion material for her music.

Charli XCX with Brat album (vinyl pressing edition) packaging in "brat green".

According to Collins, the word “resonated with people globally”.  The dictionary had of course long had an entry for the word something in the vein of: “someone, especially a child, who behaves badly or annoys you”, but now it has added “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”.  In popular culture, the use spiked in the wake of the album's released but it may be “brat” in this sense endures if the appeal is maintained, otherwise it will become unfashionable and fade from use, becoming a “stranded word”, trapped in the time of its historic origin.  So, either it enters the vernacular or by 2025 it will be regarded as “so 2024”.  The lexicographers at Collins seem optimistic about its future, saying in the WotY press release that “brat summer has established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life”.

Lindsay Lohan in Jil Sander (b 1943) "brat green" gown, Disney Legends Awards ceremony, Anaheim, Los Angeles, October 2024.  For anyone wanting to describe a yellowish-green color with a word which has the virtues of (1) being hard to pronounce, (2) harder to spell and (3) likely to baffle most of one’s interlocutors, there’s “smaragdine” (pronounced smuh-rag-din), from the Latin smaragdinus, from smaragdus (emerald), from the Ancient Greek σμάραγδινος (smáragdinos), from σμάραγδος (smáragdos).

The “kryptonite green” used for Brat’s album’s packaging seems also to have encouraged the use in fashion of various hues of “lurid green” (the particular shade used by Ms XCX already dubbed “brat green” although some which have appeared on the catwalks seem more of a chartreuse) and an online “brat generator” allowed users replicate the cover with their own choice of words.  The singer was quite helpful in fleshing out the parameters of the aesthetic, emphasizing it didn’t revolve around a goth-like “uniform” and nor was it gender-specific or socially restricted.  In an interview with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Ms XCX explained the brat thing was a spectrum condition extending from “luxury” to “trashy” and was a thing of attitude rather than accessories: “A pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.  That’s kind of all you need.”  Although gender-neutral, popular use does seem to put the re-purposed “brat” in the tradition of the earlier “bolshie woman” or “tough broad” but with a more overtly feminist flavor, best understood as “the qualities associated with a confident and assertive woman”.  In its semantic change, “brat” has joined some other historically negative words & phrases (“bitch”, “bogan”, the infamous “N-word(s)” et al) which have been “reclaimed” by those at whom the slur was once aimed, a tactic which not only creates or reinforces group identity but also re-weaponizes what was once a spent-insult so it can be used to return fire.