Chapter 14
This chapter appears to take place some years before 1932, when Hicks first met Daphne, i.e., analepsis
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captured in local waters by the Drys
Federal agents (and their local counterparts) were the enforcers who carried out Prohibition law; they were sometimes called "drys”" by slang extension, but technically they were government employees, not activists.
No Man's Land
When locals in the early 20th century talked about "No Man’s Land" on Lake Michigan, they meant a strip of undeveloped or lawless lakeshore north of the city limits, a sort of in-between zone that, during the 1920s–1930s, gained a reputation for bootlegging, roadhouses, gambling, and weekend vice. During Prohibition (1920–1933), the area’s ambiguous status made it a natural haven for: speakeasies and roadhouses serving liquor smuggled in from Chicago or across Lake Michigan; shore-landing points for rum-runners, who brought Canadian whiskey across by boat at night; dance halls and "blind pigs" — unlicensed taverns that often doubled as gambling rooms or brothels. Local newspapers described it as a "shack-studded strip of dance joints and shanty bars" where respectable Milwaukeeans went slumming on weekends. It was first called Spanish Court when it opened in 1928, and later renamed Plaza del Lago in 1960 after redevelopment. It was one of the first auto-oriented suburban shopping centers in the United States.
Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements
In period sources, "Dopplinger’'s Chinese Amusements" refers to a traveling or semi-permanent carnival / vaudeville concession owned or managed by a man named Dopplinger – most likely Frank or Fred Dopplinger – who operated sideshows and novelty attractions in the Wisconsin–Illinois–Minnesota fair circuit between about 1915 and the early 1930s.
“Chinese Amusements” was a theme, not a nationality: like “Hawaiian Village” or “Arabian Nights,” it evoked an exotic atmosphere—paper lanterns, lacquer screens, “Oriental” costumes—typical of midway showmanship at the time.
Old Log Cabin Presbyterian== Old Log Cabin bourbon/whiskey + ginger ale + club soda, served over ice with a lime or lemon twist. It’s light, fizzy, and not too strong — hence the joke that it’s "the drink for a sober-minded churchgoer." The name was already in bar guides by the 1910s and common again after repeal.
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New Trier kids
New Trier refers to New Trier Township High School, founded in 1901, located in Winnetka, Illinois, one of the wealthiest suburbs along Chicago’s North Shore. So “New Trier kids” simply means students or graduates of New Trier High School, i.e., teenagers from Chicago’s affluent North Shore communities. In the 1920s–30s, when the school was relatively new, it had a reputation for excellent academics and a largely upper-middle-class to wealthy student body.
minus the rake-off to Red Barker
George “Red” Barker was deeply involved in labor-union racketeering in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including control of the Coal Teamsters union and other unions, although I couldn't find documentation that he was involved in any "ushers' union." More »
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some funny men came around this morning
These would be Dominic and Nunzi, Don Peppino's boys (or two security guys from Winnetka Shore Psychopathic, or both)
porca miseria
Italian: holy shit, bloody hell, etc.
"Shadow Waltz"
A song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin and first performed by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in the hit film Gold Diggers of 1933. So it's rather unlikely Sheldon would be singing anything to the tune of "Shadow Waltz" in 1932. And "seven-teen'll getcha twen-ty, yes" does fit nicely with the original melody.
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captivating set of pins
When someone in that era said a woman had a “nice set of pins,” they were paying her a compliment on her legs — usually shapely, well proportioned legs that looked good when dancing, walking, or crossed at the knee.
getting the O-O
The Once-Over;
Leave the thinking to Officer Johnson
"Johnson" being slang for a guy's dick...
Abyssinia, Sheldon
Period slang for "I'll be seein' ya"
ritzy banana plantation
Being an upscale sanitarium/asylum, as in "going bananas"
how jay it’s getting around this joint anymore
Dull, unsophisticated, inferior. Beginning in the Midwest in the early 19th-century, “jay” was common slang for an empty-headed chatterbox, like a bluejay. A “jay” was a hick, a rube, or a downright dupe. A “jay town” was a fourth-rate or worthless place. More…
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Lois's snappy yellow Kissel Speedster
Kissel was a Wisconsin automobile manufacturer (Hartford, Wisconsin) active from 1906 to 1931. Wikipedia They produced a range of vehicles — roadsters, touring cars, fire trucks, hearses, trucks, often custom-built to order. "Speedster" line, especially under the "Gold Bug" name.
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on-and-off fog situation
On Lake Michigan. There are lots of "fog" situations in Inherent Vice.
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smoking cigarettes in the ten-cent range
inexpensive, accessible to the working class, and not necessarily top quality.
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tollikers [...] curling irons [...] steam nozzle
a hatmaker's tools in the 1930s
Cazzo
Italian: fuck!
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we have the Windingo
The Windingo comes from Algonquian mythology, particularly among the Ojibwe (Chippewa), Cree, and Algonquin peoples of the northern Great Lakes and Canadian forests. The name means "the evil spirit that devours mankind." The Dawn Society is associated with visioning, spiritual insight, healing, and balance. During the late 19th century, Christian missionaries, Indian Agents, and asylum officials misinterpreted certain Indigenous rituals. At the same time, colonial authorities were already obsessed with the Wendigo legend and the fear of cannibalistic madness among northern Algonquian peoples. When settlers heard of "spirit eaters" or "dreamers who devoured evil," they often took these metaphors literally and accused practitioners of cannibalism or "witchcraft." Wikipedia
Ojibwe Dawn Society
The Waabanowin, or "Dawn Society," was a visionary and healing society within Ojibwe and broader Anishinaabe spirituality. Its focus was on light, knowledge, renewal, and connection to the spirit world, particularly through dreams, fasting, and dawn ceremonies.
Wikipedia
