What Do You Call That? 11 Old Names for Things We Use Everyday!

You might call them different names in different parts of the country. We use these different names based on where we live and how old we are. How many of us remember our parents referring to the refrigerator as an icebox? Read on for more of what we used to call things.

Tom Thumb golf: the old-fashioned way of referring to miniature golf, bringing to mind the diminutive fairy tale character. The Tom Thumb chain of golf courses is what started the miniature golf craze.

Sweeper: is what we called a vacuum. Some people also call all vacuums Hoovers.

Red hots: (or red snappers) is what hot dogs used to be called because of their red color and the snap from the natural casing.

Flapjacks: I can still remember my grandmother calling pancakes flapjacks.

Dungarees: you won’t hear teens today talking about running off to the mall to buy a new pair of dungarees, but when we used this word we were talking about denim jeans or overalls.

Some things change and maybe we even start calling them by their more modern names. But, when someone uses these terms to refer to something, we instantly know what they’re talking about.

The tube: back when televisions had tubes which had to be replaced, we often called the TV the tube.

Pocketbook: this is what we used to call a lady’s purse.

Billfold: the old-fashioned way of referring to a man’s wallet.

Parlor: when company came over we didn’t see them to the living room, we entertained them in the parlor.

Froffles: for a two year period between 1953 and 1955 Eggo waffles were known as Froffles, a contraction of “frozen” and “waffles.” the name was changed after customers nicknamed them Eggos for their eggy taste.

Davenport: was what we sometimes called a couch many years ago. When A.H. Davenport and Company started making sofas, their wild popularity led people to call all sofas Davenports.

What other old-fashioned names for things do you still use? Let us know in the comments below.