Luke’s Family

LUKE: Randy and Barbara don’t wanna miss their brat kid’s rugby semifinal … My sister never even called back. My cousins Paul and Jim, who my dad helped put through college, said they were too exhausted from a fishing trip. And slightly disturbed cousin Franny said she can’t leave because her Petey’s sick.

Randy and Barbara, a married couple with at least one child, who plays rugby, not sure whether Randy or Barbara is Luke’s cousin.

Liz, Luke’s sister

Paul and Jim, cousins, presumably brothers

Franny, cousin, possibly a sister to Paul and Jim? (and yet another Fran/Francine/Franny!)

Uncle Louie didn’t have any children, but Luke seems to have several cousins, although he doesn’t mention any other uncles or aunts. Perhaps they are already dead. It’s possible all the cousins mentioned are siblings, and only one uncle/aunt died before Louie.

Luke booked nine rooms at the Independence Inn for his family to attend Louie’s funeral. He only seems to have needed five rooms for the named family members, suggesting that the other four were for the unnamed relatives who said they couldn’t get out of work for the funeral.

Rugby

LUKE: Randy and Barbara don’t wanna miss their brat kid’s rugby semifinal.

Rugby union, commonly known as rugby, and one of the two codes of rugby football, a close-contact team sport. It originated in England in the 19^th century with the game’s first rules written by students at Rugby School in 1845. The game spread from Britain, with early exponents of the sport including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and France.

The first North American club was formed in Montreal in 1868, they introduced the sport to the US when McGill University played against a team from Harvard in 1874. Rugby union is the fastest growing college sport, and the fastest growing sport overall in the US.

FYI Van Halen Hair

TAYLOR: Well, FYI Van Halen hair, I’m plenty busy.

Van Halen, rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1973, with a classic line-up of brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the contemporary music scene, they were known for their energetic live shows, and the virtuoso lead guitar of Eddie Van Halen. Their 1978 self-titled debut album went straight into the Top 20 and sold over 10 million copies in the US. By the early 1980s they were one of the most successful rock acts of their day, although only one of their singles, “Jump”, went to #1, in 1983.

The band members of Van Halen had long hair during the 1980s, with David Lee Roth’s golden mane to the forefront.

FYI, standing for “for your information”.

Campbell’s

TROUBADOUR #2: A lot of vegetable soup being eaten tonight, yesiree. Hope I don’t put the good people at Campbell’s out of business.

The Campbell Soup Company, trading as Campbell’s, processed food and snack company that is the largest in the US, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup. The classic red and white design of their soup cans have become American icons, and famously the subject of pop artist Andy Warhol’s series of prints [pictured]. The company was started in New Jersey in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell and Abraham Anderson.

Of course the Second Troubadour/Second Market Guy won’t put Campbell’s out of business – they are massive. He is referring to putting Taylor out of business, and this is another jab at him.

Rutabagas

TAYLOR: That’s Babette with an armload of rutabagas.

Rutabaga (Brassica napus) is the common US term for the winter root vegetable which is often called a swede in much of England, Australia, and New Zealand, a neep in Scotland, or a turnip in some parts of England, Ireland, and Canada. In some parts of the US, this vegetable may be known as a Swedish turnip or a yellow turnip.

Rutabagas are believed to have originated in Scandinavia or Russia, and were introduced to Britain in the late 18^th century, coming to North America in the early 19^th century. They aren’t widely eaten in the US, but may be found in stews and casseroles, or served mashed with carrots. They are often found in the New England boiled dinner, a traditional meal of corned beef with cabbage and root vegetables.

The Final Days of Dick Nixon

RORY: Taylor’s wigging.

LORELAI: I know. He’s been sitting there like the final days of Dick Nixon for almost an hour.

Richard Nixon (1913-1994), 37^th President of the US from 1969 to 1974. The Watergate Affair, the name used to describe the secret and illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration, was brought to light by reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward in The Washington Post in 1972.

Nixon had hoped to weather the storm by refusing to leave, but impeachment hearings against him opened in May 1974. With loss of political support, and the near-certainty he would be impeached and removed from office, Nixon resigned on August 9 1974.

Lorelai may be specifically referring to the 1976 non-fiction book, The Final Days, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, describing the last months of Richard Nixon’s presidency. It was a major commercial success, and was made into a television movie of the same name in 1989, with Lane Smith as Richard Nixon.

Crinite

TAYLOR: But I’ve got turnips – good ones, too. They’re not as big as that crinite freak’s turnips, but who needs bloated turnips?

Crinite is a technical term meaning “covered in tufts of hair”!

(Rory is out of her school uniform, so it seems to be the weekend now, unless she’s just given up going to school? I guess the previous day was Friday then, unless Lorelai and Rory have now been working multiple days at the diner. Ugh, I have no idea how time works in this episode!).

Emilyland

SOOKIE: Emilyland?

LORELAI: It’s an upside down world where the Horchow House is considered low-rent and diamonds less than twenty-four carats are Cracker Jack trinkets and Bentleys are for losers who can’t afford a Rolls.

Horchow House

I think Lorelai is referring to The Horchow Collection, a mail order business for luxury goods started in 1971 by Broadway producer Samuel Horchow.

Cracker Jack

A brand of caramel-coasted popcorn and peanuts, well known for containing a mystery item, a toy novelty item of low value. The first lot of Cracker Jack was sold in 1896. A 24-carat diamond is the highest quality there is.

Bentley

A British manufacturer of luxury cars, founded in London in 1919, and a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1998.

Rolls

Referring to Rolls-Royce, a British luxury car business established in 1904 in Manchester through a partnership with Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. It changed a number of times, and in 1998 was bought by Volkswagen. The Rolls-Royce trademark was bought by BMW in 2003, and has no direction connection with the original company.

The Wedding Company’s Former Clients

SOOKIE: Oh, it’s this company’s sample place setting. Emily set me up with them. They did Celine Dion’s wedding, and Steven Spielberg’s daughter’s Jack Russell Terrier’s Bark Mitzvah.

Celine Dion, previously discussed. She married her manager, Canadian music producer René Angélil, in 1994 [pictured]; they first met in 1980, when Dion was 12 and Angélil was 38. They remained married until Angélil’s death in 2016.

Steven Spielberg (born 1946), film director, previously mentioned. He is one of the most commercially successful directors of all time. He has four daughters (Jessica, Sasha, Destry, and Mikaela), but I can find no reference to any of them having a Bark Mitzvah for a Jack Russell – although the Spielberg family does seem very attached to their pet dogs, so it’s not wildly unbelievable.

A Bark Mitzvah is a fun coming-of-age celebration for pet dogs with Jewish owners, held as a joke counterpart to the Bar Mitzvah, previously discussed. The first one was held in 1958, and although some rabbis find the idea offensive, they continue to be popular.

Emily Meddles in Sookie’s Wedding

While Lorelai is helping Luke to organise his uncle’s funeral, Emily meanwhile decides to get involved in Sookie’s wedding. She begins by making a couple of suggestions, with Sookie clearly not wanting to offend her best friend’s mother and a major client. What with Emily’s strong personality and Sookie’s tendency to go along with things to be nice, this escalates, until very soon, Lorelai takes enough interest in non-diner related activities to discover that Sookie is getting samples from celebrity wedding planners.