The Lighter Side of Cotton

[Bonny Blue Flag]

The more important a subjec, object or situation is to a society, the more you will find it referenced in everyday life. Take cotton and references to it for instance. Consider the phrases, the music, the famous, the unique magazines, the food and that one special day of the year...

The phrases:
-"I don't cotton to that." Meaning: not liking, not agreeing with , not supporting.
-"We were in tall cotton." Meaning: a positive and uplifting environment; stress free.
-"Bless his/her little cotton socks." Meaning: a term of endearment.
-"Fair to Middling." Meaning: everything is going o.k. Comes from a grade or class of cotton. Example: cotton is graded as inferior, ordinary, good ordinary, low middling, middling, good middling, middling fair, good fair, fine.
-"Setting Thames on fire." Meaning: The Thames was a carding machine used to dress cotton and it was activiated by a handle. Someone lethargic was said not to be likely to se the machine afire because of friction.
-"Your mother wears cotton drawers." Meaning: Cotton underclothing was cheap and a sign of low class.
-"If wishes were cotton, we'd be knee deep in the stuff." Meaning: along the same lines of: "If wishes were horses..."
-"Cotton top." Meaning: a way of describing hair that is very white or so light blonde it is mistaken as white.
-"Keep your cotton-pickin' hands off." Meaning: don't touch.

The music:
-"The Cotton Song" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
-"Cotton-eyed Joe" an American folk song
-"The Boll Weevil" by Charley Patton, sung by Woody
Guthrie and Lead Belly

The famous:
-"Cotton Bowl" The college football game and stadium in
Dallas Texas, since 1937.
-"The Cotton Club" A famous night club in New York City
during prohibition. It featured many African-American
entertainers, but few were allowed as guests into the
club.
-Mixed drink: "White Cotton Panties". You can look that
one up yourself.
-"Bambakophobia" Fear of cotton wool


Some of the unique magazines:
-"King Cotton Magazine"
-"Cotton Aphid Publications"
-"Land of Cotton--an online magazine for the cotton
industry
-"Cotton Made in Africa"
-"Cotton in the Net"
-"Cotton SA (South America)

The food:
-Cotton Candy. Other names for this spun sugar treat: in England = Cotton Floss, Australia = Fairy Floss, Greece and Israel = Old Woman's Hair, France = Papa's Beard.

The one special day every year:
National Cotton Candy Day - December 7th. (How was that date chosen, I wonder?)

--BBF

[unionblue]

Bonnie,

Thank you for this informative post.

I and my family have been using the term "fair to middling" as a response whenever people have asked "how we were doing" and I never would have suspected the phrases roots.

Thank you for providing an answer to a bit of family history.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[Borderruffian]

Originally Posted by Bonny Blue Flag

-"-"Bless his/her little cotton socks." Meaning: a term of endearment.

My Grandmother used this one. Often in the place of "Well Bless Her/His Heart.

I always took it to mean you'd pulled a bone head . Especially when followed by. "He/She can't help it."

As in.

"Tom ran the tractor thru the 'bob' wire fence and into the pond."

"Well bless is cotton socks. He can't help it."

[M E Wolf]

Dear Bonnie Blue Flag;

Thank you for this very fine thread.

I wish to add--

Cotton King; the horse. Cotton King was the real name of the Lone Ranger's horse "Silver." Clayton Moore the Lone Ranger; in the Black and White Television series - The Lone Ranger

Jay Silverheels was the actor who played Tonto; with his horse named Scout.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf