Chapter 15

Page 104

penny scale
These existed back then, exactly as described;

Page 105

Al, Benny, Chuck, deQuincy, and Edgeworth
"fictional names" of guys working at Wisebroad's Shoes

bringing out a fin
A five-dollar note is known colloquially as a fin, a fiver, half a sawbuck. A ten-dollar note is known colloquially as a ten-spot, a dixie, a sawbuck, or a tenner.

Brannock Device
The classic metal foot-measuring instrument you’ve seen in shoe stores and, yep, it dates right back to the 1930s.

Page 107

Pinochle and Sheepshead games Both Pinochle and Sheepshead are old, very social trick-taking card games with deep German and Central European roots, and both were hugely popular in the American Midwest (especially Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois) during the 1920s–1940s.

what curlers call a bonspiel
A bonspiel (Scottish Gaelic bàn spèil, meaning “a fair play” or “a gathering for a game”) is a curling competition or meet, usually involving multiple teams and lasting several days.

guy with the augur
An augur is a diviner, in this context a device to locate fish