Footnotes to the TV series
As Lorelai and Rory leave the house to go to work/school, they meet their neighbours Babette and Morey taking their cat Cinnamon for a walk in a covered wagon. We first heard about Cinnamon in Kill Me Now, when Babette identified Cinnamon as male, by saying “he” was stuck under the porch. Since then, Cinnamon has had a sex change, as Babette says that “she” likes to be taken for walks.
LORELAI: Not here, skanking to Rancid?
Skanking, as ably demonstrated by Lane in this scene, is a ska and ska punk dance style. It originated in the Jamaican dance halls of the 1950s, and was revived (and sped up considerably) in the 1970s during the punk movement.
LORELAI: Where does your mother think you are?
LANE: Oh, on a park bench contemplating the reunification of the two Koreas.
The country of Korea, which emerged in the 7th century, was annexed by Japan in 1910. At the end of World War II, after the surrender of the Japanese, it was divided into North and South Korea in 1945, with the North under Soviet control and the South under US occupation.
Tensions between the North and South led to the Korean War in 1950, ending in a stalemate in 1953 without a peace treaty. Each country contends that it is the sole legitimate government of Korea, and refuse to recognise the other. To date, there seems little chance of them reunifying.
Lane dances to this ska punk song in Rory’s bedroom. It is from American punk band Rancid’s 1995 album … And Out Come the Wolves. Time Bomb got to #8 on the alternative rock charts, making it Rancid’s most successful single.
RORY: They expect the things to be homemade [for the Chilton bake sale] … by someone other than Dolly Madison.
Dolly Madison is an American bakery brand, started in 1937. Its name was inspired by First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison.
This is the brand of television set on which they watched the first moon landing at Claudia’s house. Philco was a pioneering battery, radio and television company founded in Philadelphia in 1892. A producer of high quality electronic goods, many of their products have become vintage icons. The company was bought by Philips in 1981 in order to gain the rights to the Philips trademark.
The first manned mission to land on the Moon was Apollo 11 on 20 July 1969, and was the last time Emily can recall Lorelai meeting her cousin Claudia. Lorelai would have been one year old at the time, so little wonder she has no memory of Claudia.
Groton is a large town in Connecticut where the departed cousin Claudia lived. It is about an hour’s drive from Hartford, so it’s somewhat surprising Lorelai didn’t know her better.
EMILY: Regardless the funeral’s on Thursday. I thought we’d all go together.
LORELAI: Ooh, whoa. Two problems. Impossible to get away from the inn Thursday.
We learned in the Pilot that Lorelai attends business class on Thursdays, so she can certainly get away from the inn on that day. Perhaps she means that because of her class, she has to remain at the inn at other hours to make up for it, and that would clash with the funeral. How she knows it would clash when Emily hasn’t told her the time yet is a mystery. Another mystery is why she doesn’t mention her business class as another reason she is booked up on Thursdays.
EMILY: She was your father’s grandmother’s sister’s girl. So to you, that would make her …
LORELAI: Nothing?
The Gilmore clan had many members, the majority of whom were discussed but never appeared on screen. The deceased Claudia was Lorelai’s first cousin twice removed.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 