Cole Porter

[Jan Ivarsson TransEdit]

The page
http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/pinkham.html
has the following
"...the Vegetable Compound and other patent remedies of Lydia E. Pinkham had become household standbys, and though the founder of the firm realized only limited wealth, her children and grandchildren had made "Lydia Pinkham" into an eminently profitable industry."
That may be the explanation for "Miss Pinkham's tonic".
Jan Ivarsson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 9:22 PM
Subject: Re: Cole Porter


>         A Waldorf salad is a salad named after the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and made from apples, walnuts, lettuce and/or celery, dressed with mayonnaise.  They are still popular.  A Berlin ballad is a song by Irving Berlin, probably the most popular American songwriter.  Mrs. Astor (née Caroline Webster Schermerhorn) (1830 - 1908) was the unquestioned doyenne of New York City society for decades.  The upper reaches of NYC society were often called the "four hundred," a reference to the number of people who could fit in her ballroom.
>
>         According to http://dogslife.blogspot.com/2002_07_01_dogslife_archive.html, the Irving Berlin lyrics to You're the Top are as follows:
>
> You're the top.
> You're Miss Pinkham's tonic.
> You're the top.
> You're a high colonic.
> You're the burning heat of a bridal suite in use.
> You're the breast of Venus,
> You're King Kong's penis,
> You're self-abuse!
> You're an arch from the Rome collection.
> You're the starch in a groom's erection.
> I'm a eunuch that has undergone an "op."
> But if, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!
>
>         I'm mystified by Miss Pinkham's tonic and hazy on the arch from the Rome collection.
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Billionbridges.com [mailto:translation at BILLIONBRIDGES.COM]
> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 1:08 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Cole Porter
>
>
> Waldorf salad? Berlin ballad? Mrs. Aster? I agree
> with the rest in the selection you quote, but as a
> culturally cognizant 36 year-old, these three escape
> me.
>
> Best,
> Don
>