Shuttle

Shuttle (pronounced shuht-l)

(1) In weaving, a device in a loom for passing or shooting the weft thread through the shed from one side of the web to the other, usually consisting of a boat-shaped piece of wood containing a bobbin on which the weft thread is wound (ie the tool which carries the woof back and forth (shuttling) between the warp threads on a loom).

(2) In a sewing machine, the sliding container (thread-holder) that carries the lower thread through a loop of the upper thread to make a lock-stitch.

(3) In transport, a public conveyance (bus, train, ferry, car, limousine, aircraft etc) that travels back and forth at regular intervals over a particular route, especially a short route or one connecting two transportation systems; the service provided by such vehicles.

(4) In badminton, as shuttlecock, the lightweight object, built with a weighted (usually rubber-covered) semi-spherical nose attached to a conical construction (historically of feathers but now usually synthetic) and used as a ball is used in other racquet games. Shuttlecock was also once widely used as the name of the game but this is now rare.

(5) As space shuttle, vehicle designed to transport people & cargo between Earth and outer-space, designed explicitly re-use with a short turn-around between missions (with initial capital letters of the US craft).  The term shuttlecraft is the generic alternative.  “Space shuttle” most associated with the US vehicle (1981-2011).

(6) To cause (someone or something) to move back and forth by or as if by a shuttle, often in the form “shuttling”.

(7) Any device that repeatedly moves back and forth between two positions, either transporting something or transferring energy between those points.

(8) In electrical engineering, as "shuttle armature", the H-shaped armature in the that is an elongated shuttle with wires running longitudinally in grooves, used in small electrical generators or motors, having a single coil wound upon a the bobbin, the latter usually formed in soft iron.

(9) In diplomacy, as shuttle diplomacy, the practice of a diplomat from a third country shuttling between two others countries to conduct negotiations, the two protagonists declining directly to meet.

Pre 900: Shuttle was a merge from two sources. From (1) the Middle English shutel, shotel, schetel, schettell, schyttyl & scutel (bar; bolt), from the Old English sċyttel & sċutel (bar; bolt), the notion being shut +‎ -le.  Shut was from the Middle English shutten & shetten, from the Old English scyttan (to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt), from the Proto-Germanic skutjaną & skuttijaną (to bar, to bolt), from the Proto-Germanic skuttą & skuttjō (bar, bolt, shed), from the primitive Indo-European skewd & kewd- (to drive, fall upon, rush). The -le suffix was from the Middle English -elen, -len & -lien, from the Old English -lian (the frequentative verbal suffix), from the Proto-Germanic -lōną (the frequentative verbal suffix) and was cognate with the West Frisian -elje, the Dutch -elen, the German -eln, the Danish -le, the Swedish -la and the Icelandic -la.  It was used as a frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating repetition or continuousness.  From (2) the Middle English shitel (missile; a weaver's instrument), shutel, schetil, shotil, shetel, schootyll, shutyll, schytle & scytyl (missile; projectile; spear), from the Old English sċytel, sċutel (dart, arrow) (related to the Middle High German schüzzel and the Swedish skyttel), from the Proto-Germanic skutilaz, (related to the Middle High German schüzzel and the Swedish skyttel) and cognate with the Old Norse skutill (harpoon), the idea akin to both shut & shoot.  Shuttle is a noun, verb & adjective, shuttling is a noun & verb and shuttled and shuttles are verbs; the noun plural is shuttles.  The adjectival form shuttle-like is more common than the rare shuttlesque (which is listed as non-standard by the few sources to acknowledge its dubious existence).

A Lindsay Lohan advertising mural on the back of one of the airport shuttle buses run by Milan Malpensa International Airport in northern Italy.

The original sense in English is long obsolete, supplanted by the senses gained from the weaving instrument, so called since 1338 on the notion of it being “shot backwards and forwards” across the threads.  The transitive sense (move something rapidly to and fro) was documented from the 1540s, the same idea attached to the shuttle services in transport, first used in 1895 (although the intransitive sense of “go or move backward and forward like a shuttle” had been in use by at least 1843) in early versions of what would come to be known as the intra-urban RTS (rapid transit systems), the one train running back and forth on a single line between fixed destinations (often with intermediate stops).  This was picked up by ferry services in 1930, air routes in 1942, space travel in 1960 (in SF (science fiction)) and (real) spacecraft in 1969.  Shuttle in the sense it evolved in English is used in many languages but a separate development was the naming of the weaving instrument based on its resemblance to a boat (the Latin navicula, the French navette and the German Weberschiff).  The noun shuttlecock dates from the 1570s, the “shuttle” element from it being propelled backwards and forwards over a net and the “cock” an allusion to the attached anti-aerodynamic construction (originally of feathers) which resembled a male bird's plume of tail feathers.  The term shuttle diplomacy came into use in the 1970s thanks to tireless self-promotion by Dr Henry Kissinger (1923-2023; US national security advisor 1969-1975 & secretary of state 1937-1977) although the practice (of “good offices”) dates back centuries.

The Abbotsleigh class of 2020 pondering time flying faster than a weaver’s shuttle.  This was the first of the "Covid generation" so the lack of social distancing can be explained only by them all having "tested negative".

The motto of the Sydney girl’s school Abbotsleigh is tempus celerius radio fugit (Time flies faster than a weaver's shuttle), the idea behind that said to be: “As the shuttle flies a pattern is woven, with the threads being the people, buildings and events. The pattern is Abbotsleigh as it continues to grow in complexity and richness each year”.  Quite whether a weaver’s shuttle (said by some detractors to have been chosen as symbolic of the "proper" place of women being in a state of domestic servitude for the convenience of men) is appropriate for a girls’ school in the twenty-first century has been debated.  The motto came from the family crest of Marian Clarke (1853-1933), Abbotsleigh’s first headmistress (principle) and was maintained using the family’s grammatically dubious form tempus fugit radio celerity until 1924 when the correct syntax was substituted.  It’s an urban myth the mistake was permitted to stand until 1924 as a mark of respect while Ms Clarke was alive; she lived a decade odd after the change although the family’s heraldry was apparently never corrected.

The US (left) and USSR (centre) space shuttles compared with a badminton shuttlecock (right).  The shuttlecock is rendered in a larger scale than the shuttles and although the shapes are similar, travelling in "opposite directions" the purposes differ, the lines of the shuttles optimized for efficiency while the shuttlecock is an unusual example in aerodynamics of "planned inefficiency".

Counterintuitively, badminton is (in a narrow technical sense) the world’s “fastest racquet sport”.  In controlled conditions, the maximum speed achieved by a shuttlecock in flight is listed at 565 km/h (351 mph) and during sanctioned competitive tournament play, 417 km/h (259 mph) has been recorded.  A shuttlecock attains such speeds only briefly, directly after coming off the racquet and before the skirt shape creates its massive aerodynamic drag; by the time a shuttlecock arrives to be returned by the opposing player, the velocity considerably has been reduced.  Professional players however don’t seek with every serve or return-shot to generate maximum power because, as in tennis and cricket where the unexpected “slower ball” can be effective, in badminton, a well-disguised slower shuttlecock can deceive.

Three of the great landmarks of the analogue era: Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101, the first orbiter, used for atmospheric test flights that never flew in space) atop NASA 905 SCA (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, one of two modified Boeing 747s used to ferry shuttles from landing sites back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a BA (British Airways) Concorde taking off, Paris Air Show, 1983.

The US Space Shuttle was operated by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) between 1981-2011 as the low Earth orbital vehicle and served as the platform for its STS (Space Transportation System).  The plans, based on ideas a decade earlier explored in SF for a (mostly) reusable spacecraft were first laid down in 1969 and, despite intermittent funding and the odd threat by Congress to "defund", test flights were able to be undertaken in 1981.  Five Space Shuttles eventually were built to completion and between 1981-2011, there were over a hundred missions but the stresses imposed on the craft were considerable, meaning more maintenance was required than originally envisaged so mission turn-arounds were never as rapid as had been hoped and the extent to which components could be reused had to be revised (downwards, many reclassified as "single-use").  There was controversy too about the failures in NASA’s procedures that resulted in the two accidents in which all seven crew aboard each shuttle were killed.  The programme was retired in 2011.

Lindsay Lohan getting off the NAPA Shuttle, The Parent Trap (1998).  "NAPA" here is not an acronym, the reference is to California's Napa Valley, noted for wine tours.

Common in the early days of civil aviation, the term "to disembark" (get off) was borrowed from nautical use and was the companion to "embark" (get on).  Of late "to deplane" has entered English which seems unnecessary but the companion "to disemplane" was more absurd still; real people continue to "get on" and "get off" aircraft.  It seemed to be a trend because on railway platforms it has become not uncommon to hear "detrain" (passengers leaving the carriage), a use distinct from "derail" (railway locomotives or un-powered rolling-stock "coming off the rails").  

The Soviet Union’s space shuttle, construction of which began in 1980, unsurprisingly, was visually very similar to the US vehicle, there being only so many ways optimally to do these things.  The USSR’s effort was the Буран (Buran) (Snowstorm or Blizzard), the craft sharing the designation with the Soviet spaceplane project and its spaceships, known as "Buran-class orbiters".  Although more than a dozen frames were laid down, few were ever completed to be flight-ready and the Buran’s only flight was an un-crewed orbital mission in 1988 that although successful, proved a one-off.  The deteriorating economic and political situation in the Soviet Union (1922-1991) saw the programme stall and in 1993 it was abandoned by the new Russian government, now faced with more problems more urgently demanding the allocation of scarce resources.  The striking similarity between the profile of the US & Soviet space shuttles and a badminton shuttlecock is coincidental but not unrelated.  The space craft are designed as aerodynamic platforms because, although not of relevance in the vacuum of space, they did have to operate as aircraft while operating in Earth’s atmosphere whereas the shuttlecock is designed deliberately as an anti-aerodynamic shape.  The shuttle’s shape was dictated by the need to maximize performance whereas a shuttlecock is intentionally inefficient, the shape maximizing air-resistance (drag) so it slows in flight.

El rapto de Europa (The Rape of Europa (1628-1629)), oil on canvas by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Prado Museum, Madrid.  It follows a 1562 work in the same vein by Tiziano Vecelli (circa 1489-1576 and known in English as Titian).

The shuttle can be weaponized.  In Greek mythology, Αράχνη (Arachne) was a Lydian girl (Lydia an ancient iron-age kingdom in western Asia Minor (the modern-day Republic of Türkiye (Turkey)) who produced weaving and embroidery so exquisite nymphs from all around would gather to watch her fingers work the threads.  Such was the virtuosity, word spread she must have been the pupil of Athena (goddess, inter alia, of spinners & embroiderers) but although that was quite an endorsement, Arachne had an artisan’s pride in her craft and refused to attribute to skill to another, even a goddess.  Angered by the story being widely believed, Arachne challenged Athena who responded by first appearing to her in the guise of an old woman, entreating the proud embroider to behave with greater modesty.  Unimpressed, Arachne spat out insults, at which point, the goddess threw off her disguise and demanded a contest.  Dramatically, Athena created a stunning tapestry showing in all their majesty the twelve Olympian gods with, in each corner, a depiction of the defeat of mortals who had dared defy the gods; an unsubtle but unambiguous threat.  Arachne took as her theme the least creditable of the love affairs of the gods: Zeus and the rape of Europa, a kind of proto #metoo moment in Antiquity.  The work was of course executed to perfection but the subject so enraged Athena she tore it to shreds and struck her rival with her own shuttle.  At this, Arachne lost heart, ran off and hanged herself.  Hell however hath no fury like a goddess angered and Athena refused to let her die, transforming her into a spider, doomed forever to spin and weave its web.

Dr Henry Kissinger, shuttling between dinner companions (left to right), Dolly Parton (b 1946), Diane von Furstenberg (b 1946), Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) and Carla Bruni (b 1967).  It was Dr Kissinger who coined the phrase: "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac", a conclusion he reached on an empirical basis. 

The term "shuttle diplomacy" describes the process in which a mediator travels repeatedly between two or more parties involved in a conflict or negotiation, in circumstances where the protagonists are unable or unwilling to meet.  Ostensibly, the purpose of shuttle diplomacy is to facilitate communication between the parties and reach a resolution of the dispute(s) but, being inherently political, it can be used for other, less laudable goals.  The practice, if not the term, has a long history, instances noted from Antiquity and the Holy Roman Empire was renowned for the (nominally) neutral diplomats who would travel back and forth between kings, princes, dukes and cardinals.  During both the Conference of Vienna (1814-1815) and the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) the negotiations were marked by sometimes intransigent politicians sitting in rooms while a professionally disinterested notable would shuttle between them, oiling the machinery by giving and taking until either a common acquiescence was extracted or the matter was "referred to a committee".  A celebrated example of the process played out between 1939-1940 when Swedish businessman Birger Dahlerus (1891-1957) played a quixotic role as amateur diplomat, shuttling between London and Berlin in what proved a doomed attempt to avoid war.  It long seen as something noble (if misguided) and it was only years later (when the UK Foreign Office’s papers on the matter were declassified) the extent of the Swede’s conflicts of interest were revealed.

Richard Nixon (1913-1994; VPOTUS 1953-1961 and POTUS 1969-1974, left) meets Dr Henry Kissinger (1923-2023; US national security advisor 1969-1975 and secretary of state 1937-1977, right).  Although there were in the past those who would now be thought "celebrity diplomats", Dr Kissinger was the first to be so-labeled.  He'd not have disagreed.

The term entered the language in 1973 when Dr Henry Kissinger used it to refer to his efforts to negotiate an end to the Yom Kippur War between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  Kissinger shuttled between Tel Aviv, Cairo and other Middle Eastern capitals in an attempt to broker a ceasefire and improve diplomatic relations, enjoying some success, and contributing to the achievement of a bilateral peace between Egypt and Israel as well as a number of disengagement agreements (admittedly, all of them would likely anyway have happened by virtue of "military necessity").  Moreover, some historians and foreign policy scholars, while acknowledging what was achieved, have suggested it was the Kissinger’s approach to the region in the years leading up to the war that played some part in the outbreak of hostilities.

Kissinger has also been criticized on the basis that shuttle diplomacy was to him never much more than playing a game of realpolitik on a multi-dimensional chessboard rather than an attempt to imagine a regional architecture able to secure a comprehensive peace plan in the Middle East, his emphasis on obtaining something in the interest of the US (a treaty between Egypt and Israel), meaning the vital issue of Palestine and its potential to assist in a long-term settlement not just neglected but ignored.  In fairness, it must be said that lip-service apart, the Arab states took the plight of the Palestinians about as seriously, the only consensus among the being: "We don't want the Palestinians coming here".  Cynics, noting his university background (he'd been also a minor "celebrity academic" before being co-opted by various politicians) and research interests, compared the "shuttling" with the travels of emissaries in the Holy Roman Empire who would travel between the Holy See, palaces and chancelleries variously to reassure the troubled, sooth hurt feelings, cajole the diffident and, where possibe, issue threats.  This was the idea of Henry the self-promoting celebrity who could bring peace to Vietnam and Nixon to China, the political wizard who solved problems as they arose.  Certainly, the circumstances in which Kissinger was able to use shuttle diplomacy as a political narrative were both unique and something of his own creation.  He’d first undermined and then replaced William Rogers (1913–2001; US secretary of state 1969-1973) as secretary of state and even before becoming the last major figure still standing from Richard Nixon’s first term as the Watergate affair took its toll, essentially took personal control of the direction of US foreign policy.  As he put it “…one of the more cruel torments of Nixon’s Watergate purgatory was my emergence as the preeminent figure in foreign policy”.

Prize by proxy: Dr Kissinger (left) receiving the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize from Dr Thomas Byrne (1923-2014; US Ambassador to Norway 1973-1976, right), Claridge's Hotel, London, 12 December, 1973.

Some of that shuttling was in 1973 recognized when Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ Lê Đức Thọ (1911–1990; North Vietnamese communist functionary and negotiator) jointly were offered the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in what was, somewhat prematurely, called the “Paris Peace Accords”.  On the basis a state of armed conflict still existed in his country, Lê Đức Thọ declined to accept the prize while Kissinger crafted a compromise which earlier shuttler Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859; Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire 1809-1848 & Chancellor 1821-1848) would have admired: He took the medal, donated the prize money to be used eleemosynarily and was a no-show at the prize ceremony (he cited "prior international commitments", a variant of "diplomatic toothache").  After the fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) although the old name persists in popular use) in 1975, Kissinger offered to return his medal but the committee declined, by then presumably not wishing further to draw attention to them ever having made the award.

Elizabeth Holmes in black gown with (a perhaps optimistic) cleavage slit.  Until he met Elizabeth Holmes (b 1984; CEO of US biotech company Theranos 2003-2018), nothing fooled Henry.

So, opportunistic his initiatives may have been but there were after all real problems to be solved and it seems unfair to criticize Kissinger for doing what he did rather than constructing some counter-factual grand design that might have crafted a permanent, settled peace in the Middle East.  Among realists (and Kissinger was dean of the school), even then there were few who believed such a thing was anyway still possible possible (certainly since the conclusion of the Six-Day War (1967)) and Kissinger certainly achieved something and to do that it’s necessary to understand there are some problems that can never be solved and only endlessly managed.  Genuinely, some problems are insoluble, something lost on many US presidents infected more than most by the diminishing but still lingering feelings of optimism and exceptionalism that have for centuries characterized the American national character.  

Mainline

Mainline (pronounced meyn-lahyn)

(1) A slang term for the intravenous (injected directly into a vein as opposed to subcutaneous (skin popping)) use of injectable drugs (historically associated most with opium and its derivatives, especially heroin);  a principal or prominent vein into which a drug can be injected.

(2) To use, enjoy or imbibe something without restriction.

(3) The normal, established, or widely accepted position; major (a synonym of mainstream although without any of the the negative connotations mainstream has in recent years acquired.

(4) In rail transport (1) of or pertaining to the principal route or line of a railway or (2) of or pertaining to a surface railway as distinct from an underground, elevated or light rail one (originally as main line or main-line).

(5) In computing, to integrate (code etc) into the main repository for a software project, rather than separate forks.

(6) In civil aviation, an airline's main operating unit, as opposed to codeshares or regional subsidiaries (by extension from the railroad use).

(7) As Mainlinie (line of the Maine), a (historical and political) boundary between northern and southern Germany, roughly following the River Main.

(8) In chess, of a sequence of opening moves, the principal, most important, or most often played variation of such (ie the "main line", the orthodox sequence of opening moves considered to be "best play").

(9) In foodie slang, voraciously to consume.

(10) In longline fishing, the central line to which the branch lines with baits are attached.

(11) In plumbing, the pipeline carrying wastewater to the public drains or a septic tank.

(12) In the US and Australia, related but different models of Ford cars sold during the 1950s.

1841 (1933-1934 as applied to injectable drugs): All senses of mainline (sometimes variously as main-line or with initial capital) are Americanisms and a compound of main + line.  Main is from the Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin & meyn, from main (noun) and related to the Old English mægen (strong, main, principal) and the Old Norse megn & megenn (strong, main).  It was cognate with Old High German megīn (strong, mighty) from which Modern German gained Möge & Vermögen (power, wealth) and akin to the Old English magan (to be able to).  Line is from the Middle English line & lyne, from Old English līne (line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction) from the Proto-Germanic līnǭ (line, rope, flaxen cord, thread) from the Proto-Germanic līną (flax, linen), from the primitive Indo-European līno (flax).  Influenced in Middle English by the Middle French ligne (line), from Latin linea, it was cognate with the Scots line (line), the North Frisian liin (line), the West Frisian line (line), the Dutch lijn (rope, cord), the German Leine (line, rope), the Danish line (rope, cord), the Swedish lina (line, rope, wire) and the Icelandic lína (line). It was related also to Dutch lijn (flax), the German Lein (flax, linen), the Gothic lein (linen, cloth), the Latin linea (linen, thread, string, line) & linum (flax, thread, linen, cable), the Ancient Greek λίνον (línon) (flax, linen, thread, garment), the Old Church Slavonic линъ (linŭ) (flax), the Russian лён (ljon) (flax), the Lithuanian linai (flax) and the Irish līn (lion) (flax).  The oldest sense of the word is "rope, cord, thread"; from this the senses "path" & "continuous mark" were derived.  Mainline is a noun in the sense of railways and a verb (used without object) if injecting drugs; those doing the latter known, inter alia, as "mainers" or "mainliners", the mainlined not infrequently ending up on a pathologist's autopsy table.  Mainline is a noun, verb & adjective, mainliner is a noun and mainlinging & mainlined are verbs; the noun plural is mainlines.

Basic motoring: 1952 Ford Mainline Business Coupe (with after-market whitewall tyres & sun visor, neither of which were standard equipment).

Ford in the US produced the Mainline between 1952-1956.  It was the base-model of its three tier offering (Ford at that time in the US producing a single range of passenger cars), the more highly specified models being the Customline and premium-level Crestline.  The name was dropped for 1957 when the layers in the range was expanded to four (Custom, Custom 300, Fairlane & Fairlane 500) although this had nothing to do with the association of “mainline” with injecting drug users; while that connection had existed since 1933, not until the 1960s did it in that sense come into general use.  In the US, the Mainline was offered as a sedan with two (informally dubbed "Tudor") or four doors (Fordor), a business coupe (the two-door sedan with no rear seat, a configuration aimed at the “business traveller” who travelled alone and valued additional storage space) and (between 1952-1954) a two-door a station wagon (called Ranch Wagon); convertibles were restricted to the more expensive lines.  A classic “stripper” (ie “stripped” of much trim and non-essential accessories so able to be sold at a lower price), as a consumer level product the Mainline was rather obscure, often mentioned only in the small print in catalogues and brochures and rarely afforded the honor of a photograph.  That was because, in an era of rising prosperity, it really wasn’t photogenic, the exterior lacking much of the chrome adorning the Customline & Crestline (although Studebaker would would later go further down the austerity path with its “Scotsman” models) while the interiors drably were utilitarian, rubber matting on the floor rather than carpet.  One quirk of production-line meant the Mainline did retain the extravagance of a chrome hood emblem, the cost of a separate run of hoods without the screw-holes higher than that of the emblem and the minute or so of labor required for the fitment.  Mercedes-Benz later (and belatedly) discovered similar math when some chrome trim was omitted from the tail-fins on the lower cost versions of its Heckflosse range (1959-1968), the labor required to hand-finish the metal a more expensive process than fitting the part and its fitting.  The Mainline's equipment levels were similarly spartan, only the driver's side fitted with a sun visor while passengers were denied armrests and unless paying extra to the dealer, no cigarette lighter was included, a painted metal plug (ancestor of the later “switch blanks) covering the hole in the dashboard.  An ashtray was however included and, in a sign of the times, the cigarette lighter was a popular option.

1956 Ford Mainline "Coupé Utility" (Australia).

Australia was a smaller market and neither the three trim options nor all the body styles were offered, sales between 1952-1959 restricted to the four-door Customline (some station wagons were imported in fully-built form) and a locally developed “coupé utility”, created by adding a rear section in the style of a light pickup truck.  A feature of the Australian market since the 1930s, in the Australian way, the six syllable “coupé utility” quickly was shortened to “ute”, remaining a profitable market sector until motor vehicle production in the country ceased in 2017.  The coupé utility used the Mainline name and was built on the station wagon chassis with the addition of the convertible’s X-member to permit a higher load carrying capacity, a further quirk being the Australian Fords continued until 1954 to use the old flathead V8 (introduced in 1932 not in the US used in passenger cars after 1953), the new overhead valve (OHV) Y-Block V8 not introduced until 1955.  The Mainline remained in the Australian line-up until 1959 when the Fairlane replaced the Customline but Ford didn’t develop a coupé utility version of the new car, the body style instead offered on the compact platform (standard-size in Australian terms) when the Falcon (1960-2016) entered local production.  The Australian ute proved influential across the Pacific, Ford in the US offering several generations of Ranchero (1957-1979), the success of which encouraged Chevrolet to adopt the same concept, an El Camino model sold between 1959-1960 and 1964-1987.

Basic military motoring: 1952 Ford Mainline, the teddy bear in sailor suit an alusion to this car once being USN (US Navy) staff car 07-141953.

GM (General Motors) and Chrysler of course also had “stripper” models in their ranges the cheapest and most basic being those offered respectively by Chevrolet and Plymouth but the concept was in every case became corporation-wide although to speak of the cheapest Cadillacs as “strippers” was misleading and it’s better to refer to them as “selectively de-frilled” (something distinct from the more general “de-contenting ” strategy GM would begin in the late 1960s).  For sociological reasons, the “cheapest Cadillac” once had real appeal because in the US it was for decades the ultimate “aspirational brand” appealing very much to those who really couldn’t afford one; the extent of Cadillac purchasing by the “lower middle class” was once of the markers of the “American dream” although caution did need to be exercised: tick to many of the option boxes for a “stripper” Cadillac Calais and the invoice price began to overlap with that of the even more aspirational DeVille.  While the Mainline may not much have been seen in the brochures, in local newspaper advertising, frequently one would appear, usually with its temptingly low price in large bold type (often with an exclamation mark).  That price typically was between 15-20% less than what buyers typically paid for a Customline or Crestline (a “new Ford” in the public imagination) but the advertising copy in the newspaper tended not to dwell on details and in the pre-internet age, the sight of $1,389! was enough to entice buyers to visit the showroom.  Of course, once there they would discover a Mainline business coupe wasn’t all that appealing and the salesman would agree, showing them the better value offered by a two-door Customline sedan at $1,570.  Dealerships really didn’t want to see too many Mainlines because the profit margins were slim compared to the more expensive Fords although the most skilled salesmen (they were then all men) could “add a little fat” by “up-selling” the odd accessory (mudflaps, whitewall tyres, the cigarette lighter etc).

Stripper at speed: 1956 NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Ford Mainline, Southern 500, Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, USA.

Darlington was known for the infamous “Darlington stripe”, left on the right side of the cars because the angle of the track made it challenging for drivers to maintain a competitive speed without sometimes “kissing the wall” at turns three & four.  The drivers called the concept “fender prints” (an allusion to the various shades of paint the circulating cars left on an oval’s wall) but Darlington was especially honoured with the notorious “Darlington stripe” because, over the course of a race, multiple “scrapes” were inevitable.  The start-finish line on the unusual egg-shaped track was in 1997 moved so the critical section now starts at turn one and although the guard rails are now less hazardous, the Darlington stripe remains something of a NASCAR rite of passage. 

The sales tactic must have worked because relatively few private buyers chose Mainlines, despite a saving of $180-odd being in 1952 a compelling argument (the method of calculation vary but US$180 expressed in 2026 purchasing power would be over US$2,000).  That was however just side-business for the Mainline.  The real reason the industry built strippers was for fleet sales to corporations and government instrumentalities such as the military, police forces, fire departments and such.  While a saving of $180 might be enough to persuade a few frugal customers to forgo carpets and armrests, for purchasing managers buying by the dozen (or even the thousand), the lower unit-cost multiplied into a lot of money and of course, at those volumes, further discounts were applied.  The other minor career of the stripper came on race tracks or drag strips, buyers for that purpose wanting the cheapest, lightest platform; for them armrests and cigarette lighters were just pointless excess weight and, wherever possible, they undertook further “striping”, discarding anything not absolutely essential.  For them, the Mainline was a good starting-point.

Map of southern England's Great Western Main Line. 

Main Line had since 1841 been used generally to mean "principal line of a railway" and the Main Line was once Philadelphia's most desired suburban district.  Once just another rural hamlet, in the 1870s & 1880s it was transformed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company that built expensive housing developments and hotels, hence the association of "Main Line" with the meaning "affluent area of residence", noted by 1917 and eventually used in that sense without capital letters and as the unhyphenated "mainline".  Essentially creating a fashionable suburb, the Railroad's urban development project linked Philadelphia to Paoli along the Paoli Local train-line via the station stops Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford & Bryn Mawr.  Eventually, the Main Line connected Philadelphia with Pittsburgh via Harrisburg but was later split into two lines, Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line and the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line.

A depiction of Lindsay Lohan's "mainlines" (digitally altered image, left), an illustrative diagram of an urban light-rail system showing the mainlines (thick lines) and branch lines (thin lines) (centre) and a human's entire blood circulatory system, created from a corpse donated (by the subject) for the purpose (right).  The technique used (right) is called “vascular corrosion casting”, achieved by replacing the blood in arteries, veins & capillaries with a specially mixed resin; after the resin has set and cured, all other tissue is dissolved in a highly alkaline chemical (typically sodium hydroxide).  To ensure the resin remains, it needs to be of a specific viscosity, with a chemical composition a-reactive to both natural tissue and the chemical used in the dissolution process.

The original slang among drug users, dating from 1933, was "mainline" the noun, referring the principal or prominent vein into which a drug was most effective if injected.  The verb in the sense of "inject (drugs) intravenously" was noted the following year although the associated verb "mainlining" didn't enter regular use until the mid-1960s and the unfortunate companion verb "mainlined" (dead from a drug overdose) soon followed, referred to in that sense by Mimi Fariña (1945–2001) in the song In the Quiet Morning (1970), recorded by Joan Baez (b 1941) after the messy, drug-related death of singer Janis Joplin (1943–1970).  Joplin's death, although technically caused by an impact injury, happened under the influence of heroin.  Counterintuitively, despite injecting drug-use being so obviously associated with veins and arteries, it seems it was the imagery of main and secondary railway lines rather than the human vascular system (also called the circulatory system) that prompted the simile of mainline in drug-related slang.  It was probably because of the general familiarity with the word being used to describe train tracks and the often-seen graphical representation of them at stations and in carriages.  Even in medicine, mainline appears hardly used by physicians when speaking of arteries, veins or capillaries, specific anatomical names (femoral artery, jugular vein etc preferred), the term apparently not useful within the profession because of the need for precision when discussing such things although it may be handy for pathologists who work mostly "in retrospect".  However, there are citations where physicians and neurologists have adopted a similar metaphor (based perhaps on the "rabbit warrens" that are hospitals) to  explain the process of the brain using the “back passages” to restore blood-flow to areas affected by a stroke which has blocked the “main passage”, again drawing on the idea of primary and secondary lines.

In the Quiet Morning (1970) by Mimi Farina © Universal Music Publishing Group, recorded by Joan Baez.  

In the quiet morning, there was much despair

And in the hours that followed, no one could repair

That poor girl, tossed by the tides of misfortune

Barely here to tell her tale, rolled in on a sea of disaster

Rolled out on a mainline rail

 

She once walked tight at my side, I'm sure she walked by you

Her striding steps could not deny, torment from a child who knew

 

That in the quiet morning, there would be despair

And in the hours that followed, no one could repair

That poor girl, she cried out her song so loud

It was heard the whole world round, a symphony of violence

The great southwest unbound

 

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la la la

La la la la, la la la

 

In the quiet morning, there was much despair

And in the hours that followed, no one could repair

That poor girl, tossed by the tides of misfortune

Barely here to tell her tale, rolled in on a sea of disaster

Rolled out on a mainline rail

 

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la la la

La la la la, la la la

Hot Dog

Hot dog (pronounced hot-dawg)

(1) A frankfurter.

(2) A sandwich consisting of a frankfurter (or some sort of sausage of similar shape) in a split roll, eaten usually with (1) mustard, sauerkraut & relish or (2) mustard & ketchup.

(3) Someone who performs complex, showy, and sometimes dangerous manoeuvres, especially in surfing or skiing (hotdogging sometimes a defined class in competition).

(4) Someone thought a show-off, especially in sporting competition.

(5) In informal use, an expression of joy, admiration or delight (occasionally also used ironically in the manner of “that’s great”).

(6) In New Zealand, a battered, deep-fried sausage or saveloy on a stick (essentially the same concept as the US corn dog and the Australian Dagwood dog).

(7) In slang, the human penis, a variation of which is the “man sausage”.

(8) In slang, a sexually suggestive physical gesture involving hip movement (usually as hotdogging).

1894: A coining in US English for commercial purposes, the idea being the vague resemblance of the sausage to a dachshund dog, the “hot” from the traditional use of mustard as a condiment although there’s evidence the early suspicion some hot dogs included actual canine meat weren’t entirely without foundation.  The use as (1) an interjection expressing joy, admiration or delight was another US creation dating from around the turn of the twentieth century (the circumstances unknown) and (2) a descriptor of someone who performs showy, often dangerous stunts was also an Americanism from the same era.  It seems to have begin in sport and is still widely used but has become best known for its use in skiing and surfing where it’s institutionalized to the extent some competitive categories have been named thus.  The variation “hot diggety dog” (also clipped to “hot diggety” was used in the same sense as the interjection “hot dog”, the interpolated “diggety” there for emphasis and rhetorical effect.  The slang synonyms (mostly in the US and not applied exclusively to hot dogs) have included “tubular meat on a bun”, “frank”, “frankfurt”, “frankfurter”, “glizzy”, “pimp steak”, “tube steak”, “wiener”, “weeny”, “ballpark frank”, “cheese coney”, “cheese dog”, “Chicago-style”, “Chicago dog”, “chili dog”, “Coney Island”, “corndog”, “footlong”, “junkyard dog”, “not dog”, “pig in a blanket”, “steamie” “veggie dog” & “frankfurter in a bun”.  In informal use, both single word contractions (hotdog) and hyphenated forms (hot-dog, hot-dogger etc) are common and “hot dog!” as an interjection is heard in the US, especially south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Extra mustard: Lindsay Lohan (during "brunette phase") garnishing her hot dog, New York, 2010.

The construct was hot + dog.  Hot was from the Middle English hot & hat, from the Old English hāt, from the Proto-Germanic haitaz (hot), from the primitive Indo-European kay- (hot; to heat) and was cognate with the Scots hate & hait (hot), the North Frisian hiet (hot), the Saterland Frisian heet (hot), the West Frisian hjit (hot), the Dutch heet (hot), the Low German het (hot), the German Low German heet (hot), the German heiß (hot), the Danish hed (hot), the Swedish het (hot) and the Icelandic heitur (hot).  Dog was from the Middle English dogge (source also of the Scots dug (dog)), from the Old English dogga & docga of uncertain origin.  Interestingly, the original sense appears to have been of a “common dog” (as opposed one well-bred), much as “cur” was later used and there’s evidence it was applied especially to stocky dogs of an unpleasing appearance.

New Jersey Hot Dog periodic table.

Etymologists have pondered the origin:  It may have been a pet-form diminutive with the suffix -ga (the similar models being compare frocga (frog) & picga (pig), appended to a base dog-, or doc-(the origin and meaning of these unclear). Another possibility is Old English dox (dark, swarthy) (a la frocga from frog) while some have suggested a link to the Proto-West Germanic dugan (to be suitable), the origin of Old English dugan (to be good, worthy, useful), the English dow and the German taugen; the theory is based on the idea that it could have been a child’s epithet for dogs, used in the sense of “a good or helpful animal”.  Few support that and more are persuaded there may be some relationship with docce (stock, muscle), from the Proto-West Germanic dokkā (round mass, ball, muscle, doll), from which English gained dock (stumpy tail).  In fourteenth century England, hound (from the Old English hund) was the general word applied to all domestic canines while dog referred to some sub-types (typically those close in appearance to the modern mastiff and bulldog.  By the sixteenth century, dog had displaced hound as the general word descriptor. The latter coming to be restricted to breeds used for hunting and in the same era, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.  Unmodified, the English Hot Dog has been borrowed by dozens of languages.  Hot dog is a noun, verb & adjective, hotdoggery & hotdogger are nouns, hotdogging & hotdogged are verbs; the noun plural is hot dogs.

For the 2016 Texas State Fair, the manufacturer went retro, reviving the "Corny Dog" name although, in a sign of the times, vegetarian dogs were available.

The corn-dog (a frankfurter dipped in cornmeal batter, fried, and served on a stick), although the process was patented in 1927, seems to have come into existence between 1938-1942 (the sources differ with most preferring the latter) but it received a lexicographical imprimatur of when it began to appear in dictionaries in 1949 and it was certainly on sale (then as the “corny dog”) at the 1942 Texas State Fair.  In Australia, the local variation of the US corn dog is the Dagwood dog (a batter-covered hot dog sausage, deep fried in batter, dipped in tomato sauce and eaten off a wooden stick), not to be confused with the “battered sav”, a saveloy deep fried in a wheat flour-based batter (as used for fish and chips and which usually doesn’t contain cornmeal).  The Dagwood Dog was named after a character in the American comic strip Blondie.  Dagwood, Blondie’s ineptly comical husband, did have a dog albeit not one especially sausage-like and it may simply have been it was at the time the country’s best known or most popular cartoon dog.

The hot dog as class-identifier: David Cameron showing how the smart set handle a hot dog while on the campaign trail, April 2015.

After leaving Downing Street, Harold Macmillan (1894–1986; UK prime-minister 1957-1963) visited Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; VPOTUS 1961-1963 & POTUS 1963-1969) in the White House and was served lunch, a meal the former prime minister found so remarkable that his account of the recollection warranted a rare exclamation mark: "Hot dogs!"  He didn’t comment further but it’s assumed his experience of the culinary treat must have been the Old Etonian’s first and last.  It wouldn't however have been meal unfamiliar to old LBJ who, on the opening day (13 April) of the 1964 MLB (Major League Baseball) season at Washington DC’s District of Columbia Stadium (now the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium), set the record for the most hot dogs eaten by a president on Opening Day, all four scoffed down without resort to knife & fork.  The record still stands, something which must not have been brought to the attention of Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) because, if he knew, there would have been a post on Truth Social correcting the record by revealing he'd once eaten five.  The hot dog certainly can be political, David Cameron (b 1966; UK prime-minister 2010-2016 and another Old Etonian) attracting derision after being photographed eating his hot dog with knife and fork, something declared “out-of-touch” by the tabloid press which, while usually decrying the class system, doesn’t miss a chance to scorn toffs behaving too well or chavs too badly.  Cameron had other problems with takeaway snacks, caught being untruthful about his history of enjoying Cornish pasties, another working class favourite.  So it would seem for politicians, hot dogs are compulsory but only if eaten in acceptable chav style.

Barack Obama (b 1961; POTUS 2009-2017) and David Cameron eating hot dogs (both in chav-approved manner) at a college basketball game between Mississippi Valley State and Western Kentucky, Dayton Arena, Ohio, March 2012 (Western Kentucky won 59-56) (left) and UK Labour Party politician Ed Miliband (b 1969) enjoying what came to be known as "the notorious bacon sandwich moment", May 2014 (right).

Mr Miliband didn't attend Eton and some of his high school education was undertaken in the US so presumably he knows how to handle a hot dog.  If so, he has no excuse because a toastie is less challenging.  Mr Miliband's father was the sociologist Dr Ralph Miliband (1924–1994) who was among the most famous examples of that rare species, the “celebrity academic Marxist”.  People must make of that what they will when deciding whether, or to what extent, that might account for how his son came to handle a BCT (bacon & cheese toastie).  Curiously, Mr Cameron had some three years earlier undergone "hot dog eating training", supervised by President Obama, noted for his expertise (both theoretical and practical) in the subject.  So he knew how it should be done and immediately there was speculation he resorted to knife & fork to avoid any chance of something like Ed Miliband's "notorious bacon sandwich moment", something which had resulted in ridicule and a flood of memes after the photograph was published in Rupert Murdoch's (b 1931) tabloid The Sun on the eve of the 2015 general election.

Peter Dutton (b 1970; leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 2022-2025) enjoying a Dagwood Dog (in approved bogan manner), Brisbane Exhibition (Ekka), Australia, 2022 (left) and Lena Katina (b 1984) sucking on a popsicle (band-mate Julia Volkova (b 1985) looking sceptical) in a publicity shot for t.A.T.u., Moscow, 2002 (right).

On seeing the photo, Mr Dutton observed of such things: "There is no good angle" and one can see his point but he need not be apologetic about his technique because, as Ms Katina demonstrated, his method was immaculate.  Looking damnably like a neon-green hotdog, the shapes of the two snacks essentially are identical so they're eaten in a similar manner.  In Australia, it’s probably good for a politician to be known to eat Dagwood dogs but not necessarily be photographed mid-munch.  Interestingly, despite many opportunities, Mr Dutton has never denied being a Freemason.  Promoted as a pair of lesbian schoolgirls, t.A.T.u. (1999-2011) was a Russian pop cum electronica act, best remembered for being denied their deserved victory in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest because of obvious irregularities in the voting; that the duo were neither lesbians nor schoolgirls was not the point.  Music critics and political scientists all agree Mr Putin (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; b 1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999) was probably a (secret) fan and it may be even comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953) might have enjoyed the tunes; he liked music he could whistle and t.A.T.u.'s melodic qualities would have appealed.  On the basis of their political views, comrade Stalin might (while whistling along) have sent them to the Lubyanka (the old KGB headquarters on Moscow's Lubyanka Square) or the Gulag but never would he have accused them of formalism.  

Instinctively, Jacqui Lambie (b 1971, senator for Tasmania, 2014-2017 and since 2019) can sense the populist potential in an image and in 2019 posted an appropriately captioned one of her enjoying a Dagwood Dog at the Autumn Festival in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley.  Historically, in Tasmania, these were sold as “Pluto Pups” but “Dagwood Dog” is now commonly used.  As this illustrates, Mr Dutton's technique was correct so it's good Senator Lambie and Mr Dutton can agree on something.

The Dagwood dog was responsible for an amusing footnote in Australian legal history, a dispute from the 1949 Sydney Royal Easter Show played out in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in its equity jurisdiction, the press reports at the time noting one happy outcome being an “uninterrupted supply of hot dogs during the next few days.”  Hot dogs were one of the show’s big sellers but a dispute arose when allegations were made there had been breaches of letters patent for "improvements in sausage goods" giving the patentees (who sold “Pronto Pups”) "exclusive enjoyment and profit within Australia for sixteen years from September, 1946.  The plaintiffs (holders of the patent), sought an injunction against those who had begun selling “Dagwood Dogs" at the show, preventing them from vending or supplying any of the improvements in sausages described in the patent, the writ claiming Dagwood dogs embodied the patented improvements and that as a consequence of the infringement, the plaintiffs were suffering economic loss.  The trial judge, ordered a hearing for an assessment (a taking of accounts) of damages to be scheduled for the following April and issued a temporary order requiring the defendants undertook to pay into a trust account the sum of ½d (half a penny) for each for each axially penetrated sausage sold.

Crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) enjoying pork hot dog during a campaign visit to the Iowa State Fair, August 2015.

The culinary delight has since been a fixture at city and country shows around the country although the name Pronto Pup didn’t survive; after the judgment in the Supreme Court it was replaced by “Pluto Pup” which also didn’t last although whether that was a consequence of a C&D (“cease & desist letter”) from Walt Disney’s lawyers isn’t known.  Anyway, since then it’s (mostly) been Dagwood dogs all the way except in South Australia (proud of their convict-free past, they often do things differently) where they’re knows as “Dippy Dogs” (an allusion to the generous dip in the tomato sauce pot) which may be of Canadian origin, although there, in at least some provinces, they’re sold as “Pogos”.

Robert Mitchum (1917–1997, right) paying attention to what Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962, left) is saying.

There are a number of “hot dog” stories about the film star Robert Mitchum, all told in the vein of him arriving at a Hollywood masquerade ball covered (to some extent) in tomato ketchup and, when asked to explain, replying: “I’m a hot dawg!”.  There were sanitized versions of the story (in which he was partially clothed) and other in which he was naked, the ketchup variously either coating his entire form or just his most sausage-like appendage.  The tale apparently first appeared in print in Confidential magazine (1952-1978) which, although a classic “scandal sheet”, was also a widely-read source of what would now be called “celebrity gossip” and was feared also by politicians and other public figures.  A kind of template for what would later be done on the internet, Confidential was published by Robert Harrison (1904–1978) who began his career as a respectable journalist before deciding sex, sensation & scandal was more lucrative.  While not always a NRS (normally reliable source) at least some of what appeared in Confidential was true.

Hotdog Stand color scheme, Microsoft Windows 3.1, 1992.

The industry legend is the “Hotdog Stand” color scheme Microsoft in 1992 shipped with Windows 3.1 was the winner of an informal contest between the designers to see who could concoct the worst possible combination.  Whether or not the competition was alcohol-fueled depends on which version of the story is told but all agree the winner based her entry on a vision of a hot dog, smothered in mustard and ketchup.  It’s doubtful many deliberately chose “Hotdog Stand” as their default scheme although there were certainly sysadmins (system administrators) who vengefully would impose it on annoying users, the more vindictive adding insult to injury by ensuring the user couldn’t change it back.  However, Hotdog Stand did briefly find a niche because it turned out to be the scheme which provided the best contrast on certain monochrome monitors, then still prevalent in corporations.  Windows 3.1 was the first version of the environment (it ran on the PC/MS/DR-DOS operating system) to attain wide corporate acceptance, whereas Windows 3.0 (1990) had tantalized while being still too unstable.  Windows 3.0 was unusual in being (apart from the short-lived 1.0) the only version of Windows released in a single version.  Although it ran in three modes: Real (on machines with only 640K RAM), Standard (requiring an 80286 CPU & 1 MB RAM) and Enhanced (requiring an 80386 CPU & 2 MB RAM), it shipped as a single product, the user with a command line switch (/r, /s or /e respectively) able to "force" the mode of choice, depending on the hardware in use.  Real mode didn't make it into Windows 3.1 and v3.11 ran exclusively as "Enhanced" so, in a sense, "Enhanced" had become standard.

A MCC member at Lords (left), wearing MCC blazer and tie and the Dege-Skinner’s MCC tie page (right). The merchandize is available from the club's official Savile Row tailor and proof of MCC membership is required for purchase.  According to the fashionistas, the trick with wearing stripes is that only the most admirably slender should don horizontal stripes while all others should stick to vertical because it's "slimming". 

Founded in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has since 1814 been based at Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London.  The MCC owns Lord's and between 1787-1989, it was the world’s governing body of cricket, the role now discharged by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the successor body of the old Imperial Cricket Conference (1909-1963) although the MCC cast a long shadow, holding to this day the copyright to the game’s many rules.  The MCC’s distinctive colors have since the 1860s been red & yellow (replacing a more subtle sky blue), a combination known around the world as the “bacon & egg” and while caps and blazers are available, ties are the biggest seller.  Surprisingly for such a distinctive look, the origin remains a mystery and the two most popular theories are (1) they were the (horse) racing colors of the Duke of Richmond who was a prominent club member in its early days, (2) the combo was “borrowed” from the “wandering” club I Zingari (masculine plural of the Italian zingaro (Gypsy, Roma and used in the sense of "a person who likes to travel") which, founded in 1845, shared many members with the MCC and (3) they were adopted as a tribute to William Nicholson who contributed to the funds needed to purchasing the freehold of Lord’s Ground.  Mr Nicholson was an MCC Member and the owner of the Nicholson’s Gin Company, the colours of which were red and yellow so it was an early example of a type of corporate sponsorship, something now routine but then novel.  Established in 1736, the Nicholson brand was retired during the 1980s but revived by the family in 2016.  Historians of the game favour the Nicholson connection as the source of the MCC’s colors.

Zimbabwe's T20 cricket team, winners of the ICC's (International Cricket Council (named Imperial Cricket Conference 1909–1965 & International Cricket Conference 1965-1987)) inaugural Women's T20 cricket tournament at the 13^th African Games, Accra, Ghana, March 2024.

The colors of the Zimbabwe cricket kit have nothing to do with the Marylebone Cricket Club's “bacon & egg” look or any other institution in the former colonial oppressor.  They come from the national flag, chosen after independence in 1980, the red symbolizing the blood spilled during the country’s struggle for independence with the yellow (symbolic of “gold”) representing the abundant mineral wealth and natural resources beneath the soil.  The crest of Zimbabwe Cricket features the iconic Great Zimbabwe Bird in yellow on a red star. 

2016 Maserati GranTurismo MC. 

Microsoft's Hotdog Stand scheme didn’t survive the August 1995 transition to Windows 95 but a quarter of a century on, someone may have felt nostalgic because a buyer of a 2016 Maserati GranTurismo MC configured their car in bright yellow (Giallo Granturismo) over leather trim in red (Rosso Corallo).  As eye-catching in 2016 as Microsoft's Hotdog Stand had been in 1992, the Maserati’s recommended retail price was US$163,520.  Displayed first at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, the GranTurismo (Tipo M145) remained in production until 2019, the MC Sport Line offered between 2012-2019; it's not known how many buyers chose this color combination.  The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) wheels were all-black but on this MC were replaced with two-tone 21 & 22 inch Forgiato S201 ECL units in black and yellow on which were mounted Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/30-21 front & 315/25-22 rear).  Finishing the wheels in red and yellow might nicely have augmented the hot dog vibe but between the spokes Maserati's red brake calipers can be seen.  For the right buyer, this was the perfect package.

Juan Manuel Fangio, Maserati 250F, German Grand Prix, Nürburgring, August, 1957.

It’s drawing a long bow but the vivid combo may have be picked as a tribute to the Maserati 250F with which Juan Manuel Fangio (1911–1995) won the 1957 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, an epic drive and his most famous.  Fangio was Scuderia Alfieri Maserati’s team leader and a splash of yellow was added to the nosecone of his 250F so easily it could be identified, the color chosen because it was one of the two allocated to his native Argentina.  The 250Fs of the other team members also had nosecones painted in accordance with the original international auto racing colours standardized early in the century, American Harry Schell (1921–1960) in white and Frenchman Jean Behra (1921–1959), blue, all atop the factory’s traditional Italian red.

2022 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody Jailbreak in Go Mango with satin black accents over black Laguna leather and Alcantara upholstery.  Because of the design of the front splitter, this model was supplied ex-factory with the one-piece yellow "underwire". 

Unexpectedly, during the 2010s, "underwire" entered the lexicon of automotive slang when it was used to describe a plastic part fitted temporarily as a protective piece.  The yellow plastic fitting (pictured above on the leading edge of the Challenger's splitter) was called a "splitter guard" which was unimaginative but the factory didn't envisage them as consumer items and the term was merely explanatory for the information of those preparing cars for sale.  Installed to prevent damage during shipping, it was part of dealer preparation instructions to remove the pieces but leaving them attached became a cult and some cars were even retro-fitted.  An element in that was the "end of an era" vibe and large number of the vehicles in Dodge's "Last Call" runs (of which there were many) were purchased as investments to be stored away for the day when V8s are no longer produced and collectors will be anxious to pay much for the way things used to be done.  How well that will work out remains to be seen but with the "Last Call" runs typically in batches of more than 3000, most of them weren't, in collectable terms, especially rare.  

The text: "TO BE REMOVED BY DEALER" was molded into some of the splitter guards but after the things picked up their cult following, dealers began checking first with customers.  

Dealers cautioned against the trend, noting the pieces weren't specifically molded to ensure a perfect fit so dirt and moisture were prone to being trapped in the gaps and this could scuff the paint.  They were known also as "damage guards" and "scuff guards" but more imaginative souls dubbed them the "underwire" while serious students of such things suggested a better simile might have been "pastie", while acknowledging Chrysler followed the lead of the underwear manufacturers in having available both single and two-piece "underwires" although this was coincidental and deterministic, dictated by the splitter design.  Women not infrequently extract from bras underwires which have “poked through”, giving the wearer a painful jab in a soft, fleshy spot; although the tips usually are plastic-coated it’s still something of a point.  They also present a danger to machinery.  As bras age, stitching can be loosened to the extent that during washing cycles, underwires can separate from the garment and, because the drums in washing machines have many small holes, can end up in the mechanism including becoming entangled with moving parts.  For that reason, the recommendation is bras be laundered in a “bra bag”; while that affords some protection to the bra, it provides much to the machinery.  Whether on splitters they were kept or discarded might have seemed an improbable subject for dispute but with cars, men always find a reason to argue about something.  Although probably it would have preferred to discuss horsepower, superchargers and such, Chrysler noted the cultural phenomenon and, while obviously reluctant to upset either faction, did issue a statement to a magazine which had requested comment:

"The splitter guards on Dodge Charger and Challenger have taken on a life of their own. They originally made their debut in the 2015 model year to protect the performance fascias on SRT models during shipment from the manufacturing facility to the dealer, and, yes, they are designed to be removed before delivery.  But today, they have their own Facebook page, and many of our performance enthusiasts have active debates on whether to keep or remove them. Some owners say they are even selling them in the aftermarket.  Obviously, they weren't part of the original design, so we started with yellow guards and shifted to pink, but they are still so popular that we may shift them yet again to black. Wherever we land, this is another example of how our customers are passionate about every part of their Dodge muscle cars."

The Auto Sputnik

Italian and Soviet design sensibilities, circa 1958: Auto Sputnik, Rome, 1958, colorized (left) and 1958 Soviet UAZ-450 (right).  Mechanically somewhat updated (though stylistically, not by much) , the UAZ is still being made and is believed to be the oldest vehicle design still in series production, the blueprints delivered to the factory in 1957.

Built on the versatile platform of the Fiat 600 Multipla (1956–1967) Auto Sputnik (Sputnik-car) was built for the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano, the Communist Party of Italy, 1921-1991) as a propaganda vehicle to travel around the land in the run-up to the 1958 general election.  Centre of attention was a model of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October, 1957, an event which had shocked many in the West because it seemed to illustrate how much more advanced was Soviet science compared to that in the West.  What it heightened was the fear the communist "planned economy" was proving more efficient in producing advanced technology while in the West excessive resources were being absorbed by things like annual changes to the styling of washing machines or making the tailfins on cars rise higher.  That feeling rippled around the US Congress, causing great concern although the scientific and military establishment, better acquainted with relative industrial capabilities, were more sanguine.  Politicians however find it often more rewarding to respond to perceptions rather than reality and it was the launch of Sputnik which triggered the “space race”, the first round of which culminated in the US manned landing on the Moon in 1969.

Italian comrades admiring the Auto Sputnik, Rome, 1958.

Although just by achieving orbit Sputnik 1 was a landmark in space flight, as it circled the Earth every 96 minutes, despite much wild speculation, all the 580 mm (23 inch) wide metal sphere did was transmit “beeps” which could be received by ground-based radios but the PCI’s model on the Auto Sputnik was, in a sense, more ambitious because it included an integrated loudspeaker for broadcasting campaign messages (ie communist propaganda).  Having the Sputniks to use as propaganda tools was certainly a tribute to Soviet design prowess and industrial capacity but it was good that for Auto Sputnik the PCI turned to Italian rather than Soviet coach-builders.  There was at the time something in the souls of Italian designers which stopped them drawing an ugly line (that later would change) so the Auto Sputnik, despite its utilitarian purpose, was a stylish piece of aviation-influenced mid-century modernism, characterized by fuselage-like flanks with a sensuously shaped Perspex cockpit atop.  In a nice touch, a dog (various real beasts or stuffed toys appearing) was also carried, a tribute to Laika, the “Soviet space dog” who was the first animal to orbit the planet when Sputnik 2 flew into low orbit on 3 November 1957.  The  Perspex windows on the model of Sputnik certainly weren’t on the original sphere and were installed just so the dog could be seen and even that was an attempt to manipulate voters through “associative cognition”, people trusting dogs in a way they don't trust politicians.  Unfortunately for Laika, the technology of the era precluded a return-flight and, some hours into the mission, she died of hyperthermia.  The eye-catching design may be compared with what can be imagined had a Russian contractor been granted the commission.  What would have been delivered from behind the Iron Curtain would have been heavy, robust (if not especially well-finished) and “done the job” but it would not have been stylish.  For that, it was best to get an Italian and in the 1960s, the UK industry would do exactly that, Michelotti among several doing good business there.

Flag of the Italian Communist Party (hammer & sickle in yellow on red background, left) and the highly regarded “Italian Hot Dogs” sold at Jimmy Buff's.

No color images of the Auto Sputnik seem to exist but one monochrome photograph has been colorized, the software confirming it was finished in red & yellow.  These were the colors of the PCI’s flag so the choice had nothing to do with the ketchup and mustard of the “Italian Hot Dog”, the invention of which is credited to Jimmy “Buff” Racioppi, founder of Jimmy Buff's in Newark, New Jersey where the first “Italian Hot Dog” was sold in 1932.

The text on the vehicle: "VOTA COMUNISTA", translates as “Vote Communist” and the 1958 election was unexpectedly difficult for the party because there had been schisms and defections after (1) the Red Army's crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising (tellingly, the Kremlin made no attempt to augment their forces with troops from other Warsaw Pact signatories) and (2) comrade Nikita Khrushchev’s (1894–1971; Soviet leader 1953-1964) “secret” speech in February that year denouncing the excesses of comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953).  Still, the party maintained its support, gaining 22.7% of the vote against the 22.6% received in 1953, the loss of three seats (from 143 to 140) the consequence of electoral redistributions and some changes in the allocation of seats between the various mechanisms.  With that, the PCI remained the country’s second-largest party in Italy although the Democrazia Cristiana (DC, the Christian Democrats) remained dominant and the communists still were excluded from government.  Essentially then, the 1958 election maintained the “status quo” but what had changed since the late 1940s was that agents of the US government (not all of whom were on the payroll of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)) no longer wandered cities and the countryside with the suitcases of US dollars thought (correctly) to be the most useful accessory when seeking to influence elections.  When Washington complains about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and others using this method or that to try to “influence” elections in the US, they know what they’re talking about; while the tactics of the influencers have changed, the strategy remains the same.

BMW's venture into the "hotdog look", the K1.  The factory would preferred those making comparisons to note the emulation of the colors of the German flag. 

Between 1988–1993, BMW produced 6,921 K1s.  It was a modest volume and lifespan but the appearance and specification were quite a departure for the company which for sixty-odd years had built its reputation with air-cooled flat twins, packaged in designs which while functionally efficient offered few concessions to fashion.  That began to change in 1973 when the R90S appeared with a small bikini fairing in the style then favored by the “café racer” set but the rest of the machine remained in the sober Teutonic tradition, finished in a conservative silver (a more exuberant “Daytona Orange” would later be offered).  The fairings grew in size in subsequent models but never before the K1 did the factory produce anything so enveloping as was first seen at the 1988 Cologne Show, the effect heighted by the bold graphics and the choice of color schemes being blue & yellow or a hotdog-like red & yellow.  Inevitably, the latter's eye-catching combo picked up the nickname Ketchup und Senf (Ketchup and Mustard) but on BMW’s color chart they were listed as Marakeschrot (Marrakesh Red, code 222) and Ginstergelb (Broom Yellow, code 230).  The “broom” referenced is the shrub plant (related and visually similar to gorse) with distinctive, bright yellow flowers, not the device used for sweeping.  The look attracted almost as much comment as the mechanical specification which used an in-line four cylinder, 987 cm³ (60 cubic inch) liquid-cooled engine, mounted in an unusual longitudinal arrangement with the crankshaft to the right, something which delivered a low centre of gravity and contributed to the drag coefficient (CD) of .34 (with rider prone).  That contributed to a well-polished (it does make a difference) K1 with the correct tyre pressures being able to achieve 150 mph (241 km/h), a reasonable achievement for a 100 HP machine with a hefty (dry) weight of 259 kg (571 lb) although it was never such a happy experience at lower speeds, the long wheelbase and bodywork combining to created a 6.7 metre (22 foot) turning circle.  It was at its best on the move.

Restrained by comparison: the original alternative to the hotdog, in Laguna-Blue Metallic (code 233) & Broom Yellow.

The engineering was innovative and the K1 garnered many awards but after some initial enthusiasm sales waned and in 1991 the color scheme was not so much toned-down as re-toned, a more Germanic look (black metallic with silver wheels) offered which was less distinctive but also less controversial.  That solved one aesthetic challenge but others were more fundamental, the thing too big and heavy to be a “sports bike” in the accepted sense and all that fibreglass meant it could get very hot for both components and rider, a problem the factory, with some improvised engineering, ameliorated but never wholly solved.  What couldn’t be fixed was the lack of power, BMW at the time committed to the voluntary 100 HP (75 kW) limit for motorcycles sold in Germany and while the industry leading aerodynamics made the machine a creditable high-speed cruiser, as a “super-bike” in the manner of the Japanese and Italian machines, it simply wasn’t competitive; fifty years on, at least on two wheels, power dynamics within the Axis had shifted south and east.

1992 BMW K1 Royal-Blue metallic (code 270) & Silver (code 131).  The Royal Blue & Silver combination was perhaps the most pleasing but by the time it was made available, K1 production had slowed and it appeared on only a reputed 100 of the 296 built in 1992.

Further limiting the appeal, K1s produced for the important US market were detuned to 95 HP, noise and exhaust emissions cited as the reasons.  That reduced the top-speed to 143 mph (230 km/h) which wasn’t often experienced in US conditions but the detuning also further stunted acceleration which, compared with the more powerful competition, was anyway at the bottom of the class.  As on the Autobahns, the US-delivered K1s were effortless cruisers and stable on fast curves but at a time when Japanese “sports bikes” were both cheaper and more powerful (Suzuki rated at 125 HP, Honda at 132, Yamaha at 145 and Kawasaki at 147), BMW dealers needed to find “niche market buyers” and those customers were not numerous.  That US K1s were fitted as standard with das Antiblockiersystem (ABS, anti-lock brakes by FAG Kugelfischer/Hella which was primitive because of the computer technology of the era (in 1989 Intel’s biggest selling PC CPU was the 16-bit 80286) but effective) optional in other places was innovative but not as attractive to buyers as more power.  In Germany, where BMW had obvious local advantages and other manufacturers also complied with the 100 HP limit, the differences were less obvious but the factory never released a more powerful K1 for international sales.  One amusing aspect to the K1 being notoriously prone to heat-build-up within the enveloping faring was BMW did understand the machines might be ridden in very cold weather and thoughtfully included a Powerlet-style port for those occasions when even engine heat trapped in the fairing wasn’t enough to protect a rider from the cold.  Into the port could be plugged heated riding suits, a welcome feature still not seen on many.   

Chart of the standard semaphore alphabet (top left), a pair of semaphore flags (bottom left) and Lindsay Lohan practicing her semaphore signaling (just in case the need arises and this is the letter “U”), 32^nd birthday party, Mykonos, Greece, July, 2018 (right).

Semaphore flags are not always red and yellow, but the colors are close to a universal standard, especially in naval and international signalling.  There was no intrinsic meaning denoted by the use of red 7 yellow, the hues chosen for their contrast and visual clarity, something important in maritime environments or other outdoor locations when light could often be less than ideal although importantly, the contrast was sustained even in bright sunshine.

L-I-N-D-S-A-Y-space-L-O-H-A-N spelled-out in ICS (International Code of Signals) semaphore.  One cannot predict when this knowledge will come in handy.

Because semaphore often was used for ship-to-to ship signalling, the colors had to be not only easily distinguishable at a distance but not be subject to “melting” or “blending”, a critical factor when used on moving vessels in often pitching conditions, the operator’s moving arms adding to the difficulties.  In naval and maritime semaphore systems, the ICS (International Code of Signals) standardized full-solid red and yellow for the flags but variants do exist (red, white, blue & black seem popular) and these can be created for specific conditions, for a particular cultural context or even as promotional items.

Green & yellow alternatives: Saint Patrick's Day hot dog (left) and vegan hotdog (right). 

Although the ketchup and mustard combination is most associated with the hot dog, not all hot dogs are in a theme of red & yellow, the most common alternative formations being green & yellow.  Some of these are seasonal and created for the cultural & religious holiday celebrated as Lá Fhéile Pádraig (literally “the Day of the Festival of Patrick” and often described as the “Feast of Saint Patrick”) which marks the death of Saint Patrick (circa 385–circa 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland and missionary who converted the Island from paganism to Christianity.  Others are usually vegetarian or vegan hot dogs and green components, while not essential, often are added as a form of virtue-signaling. 

1981 Chevrolet Corvette: In 1981, the L81 version of the 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre) small block V8 was the sole available powerplant, rated at 190 HP (horsepower) in all 50 states. 

The 2016 Maserati GranTurismo was certainly distinctive but strange color-combos are sometimes seen although in recent decades, factories have restricted not only the ranges offered but also the way they can be combined.  The 1981 Chevrolet Corvette (above) definitely didn’t leave the assembly line in yellow & green; that season, yellow (code 52) was available but there was no green on the color chart and while two-tone paint was a US$399.00 option, the only choices were Silver/Dark Blue (code 33/38); Silver/Charcoal (code 33/39); Beige/Dark Bronze (code 50/74) & Autumn Red/Dark Claret (code 80/98).  After taking in the effect of the yellow/green combo, the camel leather trim (code 64C/642) seems anti-climatic.

2025 John Deere 9900 Self-Propelled Forage Harvester: 956 HP.

Modern harvesters are machines of extraordinary efficiency, one able in an hour to reap more than what would once have taken a large team of workers more than a day.  Mechanized harvesters were an early example of the way technology displaces labor at scale and because historically women were always a significant part of the harvesting workforce, they were at least as affected as men.  The development meant one machine operator and his (and they were almost exclusively men) machine could replace even dozens of workers, something which profoundly changed rural economies, the participation of the workforce engaged in agriculture and triggered the re-distribution of the population to urban settlements.  Artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest innovation in technology applied to agriculture as just a one operator + machine combo replaced dozens of workers, multiple machines now go about harvesting with an AI bot handling the control and a dozen or more of these machines can be under the supervision of a single individual sitting somewhere on the planet, not so much controlling the things and monitoring for errors and problems.  Removing the on-site human involvement means it becomes possible to harvest (or otherwise work the fields) 24/7/365 without concerns about intrusions like light, the weather or toilet breaks.  Of course people remain involved to do tasks such as repairs, refueling and such but AI taking over many of these roles may be only a matter of time.

1936 John Deere Model B Row Crop Tractor (“Unstyled”).

The concept known to motorcyclists as the “naked” (a bike without fairings so the engine, frame and exhaust system are exposed) existed also in agricultural machinery, all of which presumably began in a “naked” form with protective housings added later.  As such equipment became big business in commerce, decorative embellishments would have been the last appendages to appear.  Until the 1939 model-cycle, John Deere’s (JD) row crop tractors were “naked” in execution with the steering post, radiator and most of the engine exposed, the wheels often with spokes running from hub to rim.  However, in 1938, JD hired the industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972) and he created the shapes of the sheet metal which was added to cover many of the exposed areas, including the radiator, the new grill unmistakably from the art deco era and perhaps influenced by the memorable “coffin-nosed” Cords (810-812, 1936-1937).  Mr Dreyfuss’s distinctive radiator cowling was for generations a signature element of many of JD’s Tractors.

1956 John Deere Model 60 Row Crop Tractor (“Styled”).

At the time, such ventures were thought “styling” rather than “designing” so the new JD ranges came to be dubbed the “Styled” and the predecessors retrospective this became the “Unstyled” and also a marker of the new was the use of solid steel wheels to replace the spoke units.  Although heavier and using more steel, the solid wheels were cheaper to produce because they eliminated the use of much labor.  JD’s switch to “Styled” versions was phased in over several years with the models “D” & “G” being the last to appear in the original “naked” configuration.  JD and Mr Dreyfuss put effort and capital into the “Styled” project and as the company’s product line for decades indicated, they were well-pleased with the result and no doubt would not have predicted that early in the twenty-first century, with vintage tractors a collectable item (and definitely there are identifiable cults among the calling), there would be those who would take a 1942  “Styled” JD and lovingly transform it into an “Unstyled”.

Western Electric's original Trimline was available in 36 finishes (33 shades plus faux teak or walnut and the obviously daring “Transparent”) including JD’s signature green & yellow.  According to AT&T, the most popular colors for the original 210 Trimline phones were beige (home market) and black (corporations) but they were available also in Mustard (left) and Ketchup Red.  Now of course produced in the Far East, the style made a comback as a retro-item (centre) in a wide range of designer colors and is even sold in a hotdogesquecombo (right).

Although his name remains well-known in the field, Henry Dreyfuss is somewhat neglected in the public imagination although his breadth was remarkable, encompassing both industrial and consumer products ranging from vacuum cleaners, typewriters and alarm clocks to heavy locomotives, tractors and office buildings.  His most enduring contribution to daily American life was his involvement in the design of telephone handsets, his models for Western Electric serving as standard household and office fixtures between the 1940s and 1990s while the wall-mountable rotary-dial Trimline (1965) and twelve-digit touch-phone (1968) to this day retail a niche in the telco ecosystem.

Cheerleaders of the Oregon Ducks, the college football team of the University of Oregon.

Maybe the Corvette's repaint was ordered by a fan of John Deere’s highly regarded farm equipment because JD’s agricultural products are always finished in a two-tone yellow/green (their construction equipment being black & yellow).  For the 1981 Corvette, a single engine was offered in all 50 states, a 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre) small-block V8 designated L81 which was rated at the same 190 HP (142 kW) as the previous season’s base L48; no high-output version was now available but the L81 could be had with either a manual or automatic transmission (it would prove to be the last C3 Corvette offered with a manual).  Glumly though that drive-train might have been viewed by some who remembered the tyre-smoking machines of a decade-odd earlier, it would have pleased buyers in California because in 1980 their Corvettes received only the 305 cubic inch (5.0 litre) V8 found often in pick-up trucks, station wagons and other utilitarian devices; to them the L81 was an improvement and one which seemed to deliver more than the nominal 10 HP gain would have suggested.  The L81’s 190 HP certainly wouldn’t impress those in the market for John Deere’s 9900 Self-Propelled Forage Harvester, powered by a 1465 cubic inch (24 litre) Liebherr V12, rated at 956 HP (713 kW), the machine available only in the corporate two-tone yellow & green.  Like Corvettes (which have tended to be quite good at their intended purpose and pretty bad at just about everything else), harvesters are specific purpose machines; one which is a model of efficiency at gathering one crop will be hopelessly inept with another and in that they differ from the human workforce which is more adaptable.  However, where there is some similarity in the plants, it can be possible for the one basic machine to be multi-purpose, the role changed by swapping the attachable device which does the actual picking or gathering.

1955 Studebaker Speedster (of the 2,215 Speedsters, a solid 763 were finished in the eye-catching combination of Hialeah Green & Sun Valley Yellow, left) and some ingredients for chef Jennifer Segal's (b 1974) succotash in cast iron skillet while in the throes of preparation (right).  Ms Segal’s succotash may be the finest in the world.  While striking, the Studebaker's color combination was one of the more restrained offered that season, pink & metallic purple also available.

Lest anyone think a green and yellow Corvette is just a uniquely 1980s lapse of taste, in previous decades, in fashion and on the highways, things were often more colourful than the impression left by so much of the monochrome and sepia prevalent in the photographic record until later in the twentieth century.  With roots in a family business which in the late eighteenth century began building horse-drawn wagons, following a near-bankruptcy during the Great Depression (the corporation saved by the financial skills of Lehman Brothers (1850-2008)), Studebaker emerged from World War II (1939-1945) in good financial shape and was the first US auto-maker to release a genuinely new range of post-war models, the style of which would remain influential for a decade.  Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the company’s next twenty years were troubled and by the mid-1960s were out of the car business, something which at the time surprised few, the only curiosity being it “…took an unconscionable time a-dying”.

1955 Studebaker Speedster: The shade of the quilted leather was listed as Congo Ivory (although collectors seem to refer “pineapple yellow”) and the diamond motif was the theme for most of the interior fitting including the engine-turned aluminium facia panel which housed what by far the US industry’s most functional (if not most imaginative) gauge cluster.

There were though in those final years a few memorable flourishes, one of which was the 1955 Speedster, produced for just one season as a flagship.  It was a blinged-up version of the President State hardtop coupe, part of a range which at the time was praised for its Italianesque lines and had it be able to be sold at a more competitive price, it may have survived to remain longer in the catalogue.  In 1955, all Studebaker’s passenger vehicles benefited from a lavish (even by Detroit’s mid-1950s standards) application of chrome and the Speedster’s front bumper is strikingly similar in shape to the “rubber bumper” added in 1974 to the MGB (1962-1980) as a quick and dirty solution to meet US front-impact regulations; it’s doubtful British Leyland’s stylists were influenced by the sight of the Speedster.

1955 Studebaker President Speedster.

The West of the 1950s sometimes is described as a period of "dull conformity" and while in some aspects there's truth in that, as well as the occasionally bizarre styling motifs, there was a sense of exuberance in the two (and sometimes three) tone color schemes the US industry offered during those years.  For those who liked the car but found the more "adventurous" color combinations a bit much, the Speedster could also be ordered in black and white over beige and brown leather.  Studebaker used the President name (they also offered a "Dictator" until events in 1930s Europe made that a harder sell) for their most expensive models, the first three generations a range of sedans, coupes and roadsters produced between 1926-1942.  The name was revived in 1955 and used until 1958, the range this time encompassing two and four-door sedans & station wagons and two-door coupes and hardtops.  The last of the Packards (the much derided, so-called "Packardbakers" which had a brief, unsuccessful run between 1957-1958) were based on the Speedster, the most admired of the range.

1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II in Champagne & Highland Green over color-coordinated leather with piping.

Such was the American fondness for the “John Deere vibe” that at least one buyer ordered a Rolls-Royce in the yellow-green combo (Champagne & Highland Green on the R-R color chart).  Re-using the name from the saloon (1946-1958) which was the first post-war Rolls-Royce (and the last of its six-cylinder cars), the Silver Wraith II was a LWB (long-wheelbase) version of the Silver Shadow (1965-1980), the company’s first car to abandon the traditional chassis and use a unitary body.  Introduced in 1977 as a companion of the revised Silver Shadow II, the “LWB Silver Shadow” concept was not new because the factory had since 1967 built such things, the model added to the general production schedule in 1969.  The additional 4 inches (100 mm) in length was allocated wholly to the rear compartment so the legroom was greater although if the optional divider was fitted this was sacrificed to the structure and the usable space was the same as a Silver Shadow.  Between the two LWB models, the production breakdown was: Silver Shadow LWB (2,772; 1967-1977) & Silver Wraith II (2,136; 1977-1980).

Covering all color bases: Lindsay Lohan in pantsuit in a gallimaufry of colors from Law Roach’s (b 1978) Akris’ fall 2022 ready-to-wear collection.

The ensemble included a wide-lapelled jacket, turtleneck and boot cut pants fabricated in a green, yellow, red & orange Drei Teile print in an irregular geometric pattern, the distinctive look paired with a similarly eclectic combination of accessories, chunky gold hoop earrings, a crossbody Anouk envelope handbag, and Giuseppe Zanotti platform heels.  A tough crew, it can be hard to predict which way critics will jump but the collective reaction to this outfit was positive.

Rolls-Royce had before re-named what was essentially an existing model, the Corniche (1971-1995) a re-branding of the two-door (saloon (coupé) & DHC (drophead coupé, the factory later joining the rest of the planet and naming the convertibles)) versions of the Sliver Shadow which were between 1965-1971 built by MPW (Mulliner Park Ward) (the count: 571 Rolls-Royce saloons & 506 convertibles and 98 Bentley saloons & 41 convertibles).  The Everflex (an expensive, heavy-duty synthetic fabric also used in the folding soft-tops of some convertibles) covering on the Silver Wraith II’s roof was an aesthetic choice (the vinyl roof inexplicably popular in the era) and not a way of disguising seams in the metal.  Unlike some coach-builders (and even some major manufacturers) inclined to "paper over the cracks" with vinyl, Rolls-Royce did things to a higher standard.  Although by the 1970s vinyl and other plastics had appeared in their cars, neither word much appeared in their documents; instead Rolls-Royce "did" leather and Everflex. 

For avatars only: A cheerleader uniform “inspired” by that of the Green Bay Packers, modeled by an “ideal” cheerleader with emblematic pig-tails, Second Life marketplace.  A demo version is available prior to purchase.

If offered for sale in the US, this particular Silver Wraith II might appeal to supporters of sporting teams which use the green-yellow combo for the players' kit.  That includes the Green Bay Packers, a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference's (NFC) North division.  Established in 1919, the Packers are the NFL's third-oldest franchise and are unusual to the point of uniqueness in being the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the US, holding the record for the most wins in NFL history.  There is also the Oregon Ducks, the University of Oregon's college football team, which competes at National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I level in the Football Bowl Sub-division (FBS) and is a member of the Big Ten Conference (B1G).  Unfortunately, the team is no longer known as the Webfoots, the Ducks moniker adopted in the mid-1960s.  The green & yellow of the Ducks has some prominence in the sportswear market because of a close association with Oregon-based manufacturer Nike.

Joey Chestnut (b 1983) and Miki Sudo (b 1986) with the title belts awarded for their victories in the 2026 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, 4 July, 2026.  Conducted under the auspices of US MLE (Major League Eating), the event is sanctioned by the IDOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating).

A legendary figure in the niche sport of hot dog eating record-setting, Mr Chestnut’s victory in the annual contest was secured by him consuming 66 dogs and buns (within the 10 minute limit used since 2008), continuing his domination of the event, missing the title in 2024 only because his entry was not accepted due to a “sponsorship conflict”.  The 2026 title was his 18^th with a PB (personal best) of 76 hot dogs, set in 2021.  Such a winning streak is rare in competitive sport and was all the more remarkable because it’s an outdoor event and the temperature on Independence Day 2026 registered 98^o F (37^o C).  A multiple winner of the IFOCE's prestigious “Mustard Yellow Belt”, Mr Chestnut's career in his culinary vocation began in 2005 when, as a student, he won a deep-fried asparagus eating championship.  Curiously, the chestnut industry seems never to have organized a chestnut eating competition which seems a missed opportunity given the promotional opportunities were Mr Chestnut to be invited to complete.  Entrepreneurs seeking to fill this gap in the market should note the difference between edible chestnuts (Castanea genus) and the toxic toxic horse chestnuts (Aesculus genus, known informally as buckeyes), symptoms of having consumed the latter including severe abdominal pain, vomiting and throat irritations; toxicologists caution a massive intake of horse chestnuts (such as would be ingested in a chestnut eating competition) would potentially be fatal.  The women’s contest was held on the same day and that Ms Sudo won, enjoying 39 dogs and buns.  Her record is just as remarkable, having won each of the twelve contests she has entered since her first in 2014 (in 2021 she was unable to defend her title, being with child and thus wisely concluding she should not that year compete).  Despite the apparent linguistic implications, such contests are not examples of what economists call “conspicuous consumption” but that there are hot dog eating champions brings delight to some and despair to others, the latter doubtless also disturbed there is on one menu a US$5000 hamburger.

GWR world record hot dogs, the California Capitol City Dawg by Capitol Dawg (left) and the Juuni Ban by Tokyo Dog (right).

According to GWR (Guinness World Records), the planet’s most expensive hot dog was the US$169 creation sold on 23 February 2014 by Tokyo Dog (USA) in Seattle, Washington in the US.  Dubbed the “Juuni Ban”, the “footlong” (ie 12 inch (300 mm)) concoction contained smoked cheese bratwurst, butter Teriyaki grilled onions, Maitake mushrooms, Wagyu beef, foie gras, shaved black truffles, caviar and Japanese mayonnaise, presented on a brioche bun.  There have been reports of chefs who have made even more expensive hot dogs but under the GWR’s rules, to qualify, at least one hot dog had to be purchased in a “legitimate business transaction” and on that day in 2014, Tokyo Dog sold a presumably lucrative six, the impressive elasticity in the demand curve perhaps encouraged by the announcement profits would be donated to the American Red Cross rather than this being a display of conspicuous consumption.  The Juuni Ban’s price topped the record held by the previous winner, the “California Capitol City Dawg” which, priced at US$145.49, was in 2012 sold by Capitol Dawg in Sacramento, California.  A more modest “8-incher” (200 mm), it included French whole-grain mustard, garlic & herb mayonnaise, sautéed shallots, mixed baby greens, applewood and cherry-smoked, uncured bacon, Swedish moose cheese, chopped tomato, sweetened dried cranberries, a basil olive oil/cranberry-pear-coconut balsamic vinaigrette and fresh ground pepper, served on a custom-made herb focaccia roll toasted in white truffle butter.

The potential breakdown.  However good the product, both would have been cost-prohibitive if supplied in a hot dog eating contest. 

However tasty, neither of these culinary delights would have been considered by the organizers of the annual hot dog eating contest because, in 2022, to feed the two winners alone could have cost more than US$17,000 even assuming the suppliers maintained their prices despite inflation and other pressures.  Of course, a “volume discount” would probably have been available (such as offered by Boeing & Airbus to airlines and even Rolls-Royce has a “specific unit pricing” programme “by negotiation”) but it’s doubtful either Tokyo Dog or Capitol Dawg would have been able to reduce the unit cost to a level making viable their use in hot dog eating contests.  The competitors doubtlessly would have noticed some difference in taste but as a general principle, while there’s likely to be an obvious difference in the quality of a US$3.50 hot dog compared with one costing US$10, between a US$149 and US$169 item, it’s more about variations on the theme.

Very hot dogs: Thịt chó (dog meat) in a street-food stall in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, dog meat consumption is a regional culinary practice most seen in the country’s northern regions.  The most popular form of preparation is believed to be grilling with the meat typically marinated with a combination of fermented shrimp paste, galangal (a type of ginger), turmeric, and rice vinegar.  When prepared as street food, the chopped sections are roasted over an open charcoal fire, a process that caramelizes the fats and marinades, lending exterior a glazed, crispy texture. Grilled dog meat often is served alongside dồi nướng (dog sausage) and vendors take great care in the selection of herbs used, meaning flavours can vary between sweet and savory, the flesh succulent and often described as a cross between beef and pork.  In the West, folk often are quick to condemn those eating creatures like cats and dogs but give little thought to the offence they might be causing by eating animals revered by others.  The list of animals one in the West is able to mistreat (most fish, rodents & insects, some reptiles etc) is quite long and there’s also a number available for certain purposes (scientific & industrial research) involving suffering.

Fresh meat being delivered.  This method is not greatly different to the way in the West many types of live animals are delivered to slaughterhouses (abattoirs).

Historically, east of Suez, consuming dog meat was not uncommon and in some cultures it was a significant contribution to regional protein intake (France not outlawing it until early in the twentieth century) while in other places it was either unlawful or a taboo.  Carnivorism (the practice of eating meat) is an almost universal human practice but what is acceptable varies between cultures.  Some foods are proscribed (such as shellfish or pig-meat) and while it’s clear the origin of these bans was as a kind of “public heath” measure (the rules created in hot climates in the pre-refrigeration age), the observance became a pillar of religious observance.  Sometimes, a similar rule seems originally to have had an economic imperative such as the Hindu restriction on the killing of cattle for consumption, thus the phrase “sacred cow”, the original rationale being the calculation the live beasts made an economic contribution which much outweighed their utility as a protein source.  So, what is deemed acceptable and not is a cultural construct and that varies from place-to-place, the Western aversion to eating cats & dogs attributable to the sentimental view of them that has evolved because of the role for millennia as domestic pets.  Over history, it’s likely every animal in the world has at some point been used as a food source, some an acquired taste such as the “deep fried tarantula” which, long a tasty snack in parts of Cambodia, became a novelty item in Cambodian restaurants in the West.

Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival.

In the Far East, over the last decade, the trend has tended towards restricting or abolishing the commercial dog meat trade although between jurisdictions, there was much variation in the approach: (1) In Vietnam there has never been a ban but researchers say consumption is declining (sharply in urban areas) and some cities discourage it by “nudges” (delaying issuing licences for restaurants, inspectors finding violations of health rules etc).  (2) In the Philippines, the dog meat trade mostly is now unlawful (because of contravention of animal welfare laws) but there are exceptions for “traditional cultural practices”; again, among younger, urban populations, consumption has fallen.  (3) Indonesia has imposed no national ban but some cities and provinces have prohibited the trade (though enforcement is said to be “patchy”).  In the PRC (People’s Republic of China, the old “Red China”), there is no national ban but sales most large cities have prohibited consumption and in rural areas it’s believed the practice is for many reason “tolerated by being ignored”.  An example of that is the annual, ten day 狗肉节 (Dog Meat Festival), publicized (disapprovingly) in the West as the Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival.  Held in Yulin, Guangxi, during the summer solstice (21-30 June), although the Ministry of Agriculture removed dogs from the official list of livestock intended for food production (describing them instead as “companion animals”). the CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) thinking seems to be there are already enough public protests about this & that and cracking down on the anyway declining numbers of dog meat munchers in Yulin would likely create more problems than it solves.

Street display of dog meat hanging on meat hooks, Vietnam.  Without the emotional attachment felt for “man’s best friend”, dog meat, like, rabbit, chicken etc, is just another protein source.

(4) The renegade province of Taiwan in 2017 imposed a complete ban on the trade in dogs & cats for human consumption and the black market is believed to be “tiny”.  (5) In Hong Kong, although the British colonial authorities for decades took little interest in the matter, in the post-war years, pressure from the UK (apparently concerned members of the public rather than the authorities) grew and by the early 1960s the trade had been driven underground; it’s now close to extinct.  (6) In the RoK (Republic of Korea, South Korea), dog meat was long a staple protein but as prosperity grew, consumption fell and in 2024, the National Assembly prohibited breeding, slaughtering, distribution or selling dogs for meat with the restrictions phased in, the three-year transition period ending in 2027 when the laws will become “fully enforceable in 2027”.  Because it was a sizeable industry, the government is providing compensation and assistance for farmers and restaurant owners compelled to abandon the business and the approach is to target the commercial industry rather than criminalizing the act of eating dog meat.  There is said to be in government a tacit admission consumption may on a small scale continue in rural areas but it’s believed it was become vanishingly small as those consumer age and die.  What happens in the DPRK (Democratic Republic of Korea, North Korea) isn’t known but given the sometimes chronic shortage of protein in rural areas, it should be assumed dog meat may there remain part of the diet.

Insider's quick summary of the hot dog production process. 

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1989; chancellor of the German Empire 1871-1890) famously observed that people "shouldn't see how laws or sausages are made".  The processes (now effectively institutionalized) which produce legislation are now more disturbing even than in the iron chancellor's gut-wrenching times but sausage production has (generally) become more hygienic.