Glossary

Glossary
Atlanta, GA: The location of the play
Here’s a map of Downtown from 1949:
http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/map1949.htm
Emory Hospital : (p.5) Founded in 1904 and affiliated with Emory University, it is a major hospital in
Atlanta, Georgia; recently involved in treating and releasing American patients with the Ebola virus.
BOOLIE: It’s a miracle you’re not laying in Emory Hospital — or decked out at the funeral home.
1940 La Salle: (p.5) La Salles were for a time
made by General Motors as their second highestend car, next to Cadillac.
DAISY: You should have let me keep my La Salle.
1948 Packard: (p.6) Check out this particular
Packard on our blog: http://bit.ly/1uPiocG
BOOLIE: Your insurance policy is written so
that they are going to have to give you a brand
new car.
DAISY: Not another Packard, I hope.
$2,700 in 1948: (p. 6) $26,890.26 in 2014. Not bad for a super-fancy car, right? Especially since a
luxury car today would cost upwards of $50,000!
BOOLIE: Mama, you are seventy-two years old and you just cost the insurance company twentyseven hundred dollars.
Forsyth Street: (p.7) A main thoroughfare running north & south through Downtown Atlanta
DAISY: I was brought up to do for myself. On Forsyth Street we couldn’t afford them and we did for
ourselves.
Governor Talmadge: (p. 7) Could refer to either:
Eugene Talmadge, 67th
Governor of Georgia,
1933-1937 and 19411943 (and elected again
in 1946, but died before
taking office).
Herman Talmadge, 70th
Governor of Georgia
from 1948-1955. U.S.
Senator from 1957-1981.
Both governors were vocal proponents of racial segregation.
BOOLIE: Them! You sound like Governor Talmadge.
DAISY: Why, Boolie! What a thing to say! I’m not prejudiced!
(Clockwise from top left) 1940 La Salle 4 Door Sedan '6H 35 22' 2, courtesy, Jack Snell, Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacksnell707/8169377585; Nancy Robinette and
Craig Wallace, Photo by Scott Suchman; Herman Talmadge, By US Congress [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons; Eugene Talmadge, courtesy of New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/eugene-talmadge-1884-1946
After the Ball is Over: (p. 8) A hugely popular
song in the 1890s (when Daisy would have
been a teenager). Listen to it here: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtwYVvtOIuM
DAISY: singing to end discussion.
Little Five Points: (p. 8) A neighborhood in
East Atlanta, developed as a commercial district
in the early 1900s. It’s now a neighborhood
known for its alternative culture.
HOKE: One time I workin’ for this woman over
near Little Five Points. What was that woman’s
name?
Chiffarobe: (p.9) A large piece of furniture
containing a place to hang clothes and a
chest of drawers.
HOKE: Lawd have mercy, she have all
these old shirts and collars be on the bed,
yellow, you know, and nasty like they been
stuck off in a chiffarobe and forgot about.
$20 a week in 1948: (p. 10) $199.18 a
week in 2014
BOOLIE: How does twenty dollars a week
sound?
HOKE: Soun’ like you got yo’ Mama a
chauffeur.
Shiny Suit : (p. 8) Worn to a smooth and
glossy state, as by continual rubbing (of clothes
or material)
Hoke Coleburn enters, a black man of about 60,
dressed in a somewhat shiny suit and carrying a
fedora, a man clearly down on his luck but anxious to keep up appearances.
Ponce De Leon Baptist Church: (p. 8-9)
Founded in 1904 on the north side of Atlanta,
and still in service today: http://www.spdl.org/
HOKE: She president of the Ladies Auxilliary
over yonder to the Ponce De Leon Baptist
Church and seem like she always bringing up
God and Jesus and do unto others. You know
what I’m talkin’ bout?
Geechee: (p.9) Another name for the Gullah people
who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina
and Georgia. Descendant from African-American
slaves, they have maintained many aspects of their
African heritage because of the relative remoteness
of the islands on which they live.
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
HOKE: “I didn’ want to leave my grandbabies and I
don’ get along with that Geechee trash they got
down there.”
Dutch Cleanser: (p. 11) A pumice-based kitchen cleaner, similar to Ajax, Comet or Bon Ami
Piggly Wiggly: (p. 11) The first self-serve grocery chain in the U.S.; still in operation in some parts
of the country
Trolley: (p. 11) A public transportation vehicle
that runs on tracks either via a cable in the
ground, or electric wires above. Learn more
about the history of the streetcar in Atlanta:
http://railga.com/oddend/streetrail/
atlantastr.html
HOKE: Idella say we’re running out of coffee
and Dutch Cleanser.
DAISY: We?
HOKE: She say we low on silver polish too.
DAISY: Thank you. I will go to the Piggly Wiggly
on the trolley this afternoon.
By Eric Hunt (own photo) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
1948 Oldsmobile: (p.11)
HOKE: Seem a shame, do. That fine
Oldsmobile settin out there in the garage.
$7 a week in 1948: (p.12) $69.71 in 2014
DAISY: “Anything over seven dollars a week is
robbery. Highway robbery!”
HOKE: “Specially when I doan do nothin’ but set
on a stool in the kitchen all day long.”
Teachers in the early 20th Century:
(p. 12) Teaching was one of the few career opportunities available to women in the early 20th
Century. Teaching offered a level of independence and professional distinction not found in
other jobs like factory worker or seamstress.
DAISY: … My sisters saved up money so I
could go to school and be a teacher.
May the words of my mouth: (p. 14) Psalm 19:
commonly said or sung as part of the Jewish
preliminary service on Sabbath/Saturday mornings.
The Psalms also appear in Christian traditions.
CHOIR: May the words of my mouth And the meditations of my heart Be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord…
Crew Street School: (p. 15)
Atlanta school where playwright
Alfred Uhry’s grandmother taught.
DAISY: I taught the fifth grade at the Crew
Street School!
The Temple: (p. 14) The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple (originally built in 1875 and commonly known as The Temple)
HOKE: How yo’ Temple this mornin’, Miz Daisy?
Queen of Romania: (p. 15)
Queen Marie of Romania
reigned from October 1914
– July 1927. Photograph by
George Grantham Bain.
DAISY: You had the car
right in front of the front
door of the Temple! Like I
was Queen of Romania!
Eartha Kitt, Santa Baby: (p. 19) Eartha Kitt
was a famous singer and actress. Her career
took off in the 1950’s, and she even voiced
Yzma in the 2000 Disney animated movie, The
Emperor’s New Groove. Listen here: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFMyF9fDKzE
Light goes out on them and in the dark we hear
Earth Kitt singing “Santa Baby.”
Pork Chops: (p. 17) A food
not allowed in a traditional
Jewish diet. Referenced to
illustrate that Daisy doesn’t
keep kosher.
HOKE: I know you say eat
the leff over pork chops, but
they stiff.
Azaleas: (p. 18)
DAISY: Hoke, run back to the car and get that
pot of azaleas for me and set it on Leo
Bauer’s grave.
(Clockwise from top left) 1948 Oldsmobile Dynamic 78 2d Club Sedan - green - rvr, courtesy of Rex Gray, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/
rexgray/4717570533; AZALEA * Feliz "Quinta " con fl✿res, courtesy of jacinta lluch Valero, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/70626035@N00/13111874713;
Queen of Rumania, courtesy of LOC, LC-DIG-ggbain-34399
Ambrosia: (p. 19) "Ambrosia. A dessert made from
fruits, sugar and grated coconut, most popular in the
South."-Encyclopedia of
American Food and
Drink, John F. Mariani
[Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 5)
BOOLIE: Hey, honey! Your ambrosia’s saved! Mama’s
got the coconut!
Copy Book: (p. 21) Students learned to write by
copying example sentences over and over.
HOKE: Ain’ nobody ever give me a book. Hand
Writing Copy Book – Grade Five.
Air Conditioning: (p. 22) Though air conditioning
was invented in the early 20th century, it wasn’t
widely available commercially until mid-century.
From the 1930s-60s, the market for air conditioners
grew slowly. By 1969, more than half of new car
models came with AC. Daisy is actually ahead of
the curve, buying her first car with AC in the early
1950s. Want to see the whole timeline?
http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3854
BOOLIE: Did she tell you this new car has air conditioning?
My Fair Lady: (p. 23) A musical based on the play
Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. The musical
premiered on Broadway in 1956, starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. In 1964, it was made into
a movie starring Audrey Hepburn. https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmU3iANbgk
DAISY: I’m sure My Fair Lady is more important
that your own flesh and blood.
Junior League: (p. 20) “The Junior
League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the
potential of women, and improving the
community through the effective action
and leadership of trained volunteers. Its
purpose is exclusively educational and
charitable.” http://www.jlatlanta.org/
DAISY: “The Garden Club this and the
Junior League that! As if any of them
would ever give her the time of day! But
she’d die before she’d fix a glass of ice
tea for the Temple Sisterhood.”
Mayor Hartsfield: (p. 21) The 49th and 51st
Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. His tenure extended from 1937 to 1941 and again from
1942 to 1962, making him the longest-serving
mayor of his native Atlanta, Georgia.
DAISY: But you have to practice. I taught
Mayor Hartsfield out of this same book.
Mobile, Alabama: (p. 23) Roughly 350 miles
from Atlanta, Mobile, AL is right on the coast
of Mobile Bay,
connected to the Gulf of Mexico. At 50mph, it
would
take 7 hours to drive from Atlanta to Mobile,
plus stops for lunch and the restroom. That’s
a long day in the car.
DAISY: They expect us for a late supper in
Mobile.
(Clockwise from top): Ambrosia Fruit Salad 2011 Thanksgiving Dinner November
24, 2011 3, courtesy of Steven Depolo, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/
stevendepolo/6400651465; Google Map; Copy Book Page 2, courtesy of Bromley Common and its Schools, http://www.barnes113.karoo.net/History/
page_2.htm
Standard Oil: (p.26) A gas
station chain. Facilities were
segregated, and African
Americans were not allowed
to use White restrooms.
HOKE: Colored cain’ use the
toilet at no Standard Oil
7-11: (p. 28) Convenience
store founded in 1927 in Dallas Texas.
HOKE: Oh, I stop at the
7-11. I figure yo’ stove out
and Lawd knows you got to
have yo’ coffee in the
mornin’.
Atlanta Temple Bombing:
(p. 29) White supremacists
bombed The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple (originally built in 1875
and commonly known as
The Temple) on Oct 12,
1958. The Temple sustained
over $100,000 in damage,
but no one was injured.
HOKE: Somebody done
bomb the Temple.
Pullman porter on the N.C. &
St. L.: (p. 25) A porter was a
servant, not unlike a butler or
bellhop, who worked on the
overnight sleeper cars. Pullman
Porters were mostly African
Americans—George Pullman,
inventor of the sleeper car,
started hiring newly emancipated slaves shortly after the
completion of the Civil War.
“N.C. & St. L.” stood for the
Nashville, Chattanooga and St.
Louis Railway running through
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.
HOKE: Thass right. First time. My daughter, she married to Pullman
porter on the N.C. & St. L…
$75 a week in 1958: (p. 27) $615.44 a week in 2014
HOKE: Sounds pretty good. Seventy-five sounds better.
Hit Parade: (p. 28) Your Hit Parade was a music show on television
from 1950–1959. It featured the top songs of the week. Songs were
selected by the viewers via a survey – almost like today’s VH1 Video
Countdown, except performances on Hit Parade were performed
and recorded live; there were no music videos in the ‘50’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXyVENc05_c
HOKE: I doan’ nome. Every time the Hit Parade come on TV, it put
me in mind of Idella.
Reform: (p. 30) Generally speaking, Reform Judaism interprets Jewish laws and traditions as
guidelines to be incorporated into modern society, rather than strict rules to be abided by despite
modern cultural trends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism
Daisy: Well, it’s a mistake. I’m sure they meant to bomb one of the conservative synagogues or the
orthodox one. The Temple is reform. Everybody knows that.
Jackets and dawgs: (p. 31) The Georgia Institute of Technology Yellow Jackets and the University
of Georgia Bulldogs have been archrivals in football and other athletics since 1893. Their rivalry is
so enduring that it even has its own nickname: Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.
BOLIE: If the jackets whup the dawgs up in Athens Saturday afternoon, I”ll be a completely happy
man.
UJA Banquet: (p. 31) The United Jewish Appeal hosted a banquet honoring MLK Jr. in 1965. It was
the first racially integrated banquet in Atlanta during that period.
DAISY: Just give him a message. Tell him I bought the tickets for the UJA Banquet. Yes, the UJA
Banquet honoring Martin Luther King on the seventeenth.
Chicago, Illinois. Pullman porter at the Union Station, courtesy of LOC, LC-DIG-fsa-8d24965.
Ebeneezer Baptist Church: (p. 34) Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home church, where he was baptized,
preached his first sermon at age 19, and was ordained in 1960. http://www.nps.gov/malu/
planyourvisit/ebenezer_baptist_church.htm
DAISY: All you’d have to do is go over there to the — what is it?... Ebeneezer Baptist Church some
Sunday and there he’ll be.
State home: (p. 36) A government-owned nursing home.
HOKE: You want something to cry about, I take you to the
state home, show you what layin’ out dere in de halls.
1963 Cadillac: (p. 37)
HOKE: I drivin’ yo’ next to las’ car now. ’63 Cadillac,
runnin’ fine as wine.
Spelman College: (p. 37) The oldest
historically Black college for women.
The Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary,
founded in 1881, became Spelman
College in 1924.
http://www.spelman.edu/
HOKE: Michelle thirty-seven. Teach
biology at Spelman College.
Goodwill: (p. 37) A charitable store
that sells donated clothes and household goods at discounted prices.
Goodwill was founded in Boston, MA in
1902.
BOOLIE: I’ve taken most of what I
want out of the house. Is there anything you’d like before the Goodwill
comes?
Check is going to keep comin’: (p. 37) In 1960 only 41% of all private sector workers had a
retirement plan. Even today, retirement plans and social security only pay a fraction of what an
individual’s working salary was. The fact that Boolie continues to pay Hoke a full-rate, despite his
being retired, demonstrates his loyalty, gratitude, and commitment to Hoke.
BOLIE: By the way, Hoke, your check is going to keep coming every week – as long as you’re there
to get it.
Republican National Committee Woman: (p 38) The Republican National Committee is an organization that provides
leadership, coordination, election and fundraising strategy for
the National Republican Party.
BOOLIE: Florine says to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving….
She’s a Republican National Committee woman now.
Tiffany’s: (p. 38) Founded in New
York City in 1837, Tiffany and Company is an iconic jewelry store most
famous for its diamonds.
BOOLIE: She makes all kinds of
things. Pins and bracelets. She’s a
regular Tiffany’s.
A note on this glossary: All page numbers refer to the Dramatists Play Services publication of the play, available on Amazon.
To learn more about Driving Miss Daisy, please visit our website, www.fords.org.
For information about Ford’s Education Programs visit us online at www.fords.org/home/education, or
email us at education@fords.org.
Cadillac Fleetwood 1963, courtesy of Amélien Bayle, Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/amelien/370660566