Glossary

Bed tick: A large bag stuffed with hay, dried grass, or feathers to form a mattress. The tick is often made out of blue-and-white-striped fabric called mattress ticking.

Blazer: A fine-looking person

Buffalo grass: A type of short, dry grass common on the prairie

Bugged up: Dressed up

Bunting: Long strips of cheap cotton cloth used for decoration. Bunting often comes in red, white, and blue for Fourth of July.

Cow chips: Circles of cow dung. When dry, they are used as fuel by homesteaders.

Dinger: Something special, short for humdinger

Driving costume: An outfit usually made up of a long coat, a hat, gloves, and goggles, worn to keep clean when riding in an open car on a dusty road.

Dryland farming: Raising crops on land with little water

Evaporated milk: Concentrated, unsweetened milk sold in cans and used when fresh milk is not available

Fatback: A strip of pork fat

Flatiron: A heavy iron used to press clothes. The iron is heated by leaving it facedown on a hot stove.

Foodstuffs: Anything suitable for food

Lard pail: A metal container with bail handle containing store-bought lard. The buckets are often reused as lunch boxes.

Oilcloth: A fabric treated with oil to make it waterproof. Printed with colorful designs, it is used for tablecloths or to line shelves.

Ragged out: Dressed up

Reo: An automobile made by the Reo Motor Car Company

Shirtwaist: A tailored blouse

Snakeroot: A plant whose roots supposedly cure snakebites and various illnesses

Starter: A mixture of flour, water, and active yeast. When a person mixes bread dough, she/he uses the starter instead of yeast. She/he pinches off a piece of the dough to save as a starter for the next batch of bread.

Stove black: A mixture of pigment and wax rubbed onto a stove to keep it black

Touring car: A large automobile that seats several people and is suitable for long drives

Tumbleweed starts: Russian thistle shoots

Witch: Using a forked stick to locate underground water. When the end of the stick moves downward, it is supposed to indicate water. Witching for water is common in pioneer times, although there is no scientific evidence that it works.