Footnotes to the TV series
In real life, the children’s hospital in Hartford is the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center [pictured] – the only hospital in Connecticut exclusively dedicated to caring for children. Donations are made through the Connecticut Children’s Foundation.
EMILY: And what is wrong with that name [Society Matron’s League], Lorelai?
LORELAI: Nothing, it just sounds so serious. Brings to mind a room full of old ladies wearing black dresses and cameos and pushing spoonfuls of cod liver oil on the kids.
A cameo [pictured] refers to a piece of jewellery, usually a brooch, featuring a raised relief image, ususally of a face in classical style, against a contrasting background. They were very popular in the 19th century.
Cod liver oil is a dietary supplement made from the liver of cod fish. Like other fish oils, it contains omega-3 fatty acids, and the vitamins A and D. Historically, it was given to children because Vitamin D helps to prevent rickets.
Oddly, Lorelai does not say that she is smirking at the name of the Society Matron’s League because she knows of it from I Love Lucy, one of her favourite TV shows!
EMILY: I’m in charge of the Society Matron’s League’s annual antique auction next Tuesday and I thought maybe you’d like to come.
A reference to the sitcom I Love Lucy, frequently mentioned and one of the touchstones for Gilmore Girls.
In the episode “Pioneer Women”, Lucy and her friend Ethel hope for the chance to join the Society Matron’s League, a fictional snooty women’s club for the cream of Manhattan society. Representatives of the SML turn up for tea in order to scrutinise the prospective candidates while Lucy and Ethel are in the middle of one of their trademark madcap frolics.
Looking down their noses, the society matrons are condescendingly prepared to overlook Lucy’s eccentricities, and the fact that she and her Cuban-born husband are “show people”, but Lucy realises what awful snobs they are and is no longer interested.
LUKE: Why, why do they do this? This is a public place, people are eating here … This cannot be sanitary … When did that become acceptable? In the old days, a woman would never consider doing that in public. They’d go find a barn or a cave or something. I mean, it’s indecent. This is a diner not a peep show!
Luke is horrified when a woman nurses her baby in the diner. I have trouble accepting this “caveman” version of Luke, when he was depicted as intelligent and progressive in Season 1 – sometimes it feels as if the show couldn’t decide whether Luke was smart or stupid, progressive or reactionary.
He did tell Lorelai that he didn’t like small children very much, especially their messy, sticky side, and perhaps this is why he is having problems with seeing a baby fed, but it ends up being a judgement on the mother for putting on a “peep show” – therefore sexualising her need to feed her child, which is pretty creepy of Luke.
In Connecticut, women have been legally entitled to breastfeed in public since 1997, and it is prohibited for anyone to restrict or limit their right to do so. This includes restaurants and diners, so Luke has had five years to adjust to the law. As a responsible business owner, Luke would know of his legal obligations, and I don’t think he would behave like this, even if he did secretly feel a little uncomfortable.
As another mirroring scene, Jess is also shown being unable to handle seeing a woman breastfeed her baby. It’s not like this entire scene didn’t age well – it was outdated and unfunny at the time of first broadcast.
LORELAI: Oh, now that kid’s a major drooler …
LUKE: Okay, that’s it, they have to go.
LORELAI: Luke, come on, it’s just spit. Pretend you’re at a baseball game.
Frequent spitting has been a tradition in baseball since the 1800s, with tobacco the first substance chewed in order to stimulate saliva. Chewing tobacco went on the decline during the 1970s, and has been banned in the sport since 2016 (but with a grandfather clause, so anyone who chewed tobacco before that is still doing it now). Sunflower seeds, slippery elm bark, peanut shells, and chewing gum became other popular ways to stimulate saliva flow. Spitting at baseball games was banned in 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I think the ban got lifted or was never policed. I can’t find a reference to it since 2020. Anyone that knows baseball, fill us in!
The reason for the spitting? Tradition, habit, helping to pass the time, showing off, and basically, because they can! At least these are the reasons I have been given.
RORY: Yeah, the place is packed.
LUKE: Sure, it’s been taken over by the J. Crew catalog.
[Several families with little kids are seated at the tables]
J. Crew Group Inc is a clothing retailer founded in 1947 by Mitchell Cinader and Saul Charles as Popular Merchandise Inc. They did business as Popular Club Plan, selling low-cost women’s clothing through in-home demonstrations. In 1983, the name was changed to J. Crew, and during the 1980s and 1990s, sales soared through their mail order catalogues, focusing on preppy leisurewear for the Ralph Lauren market, but at a much cheaper price. The catalogues didn’t just sell clothes, but an entire East Coast lifestyle that was affluent, yet fun and unpretentious.
RORY: A really bad punchline.
LORELAI: No one asked for the Norton Critical Edition.
W.W. Norton & Company is a publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly The Norton Anthology of English Literature) and its texts in the Norton Critical Editions series, both of which are frequently assigned in university literature courses.
Norton Critical Editions provide reprints of classic literature and in some cases, classic non-fiction works. However, unlike most critical editions, all Norton Critical Editions are source books that provide a selection of contextual documents and critical essays along with an edited text. Annotations to the text are provided as footnotes, rather than as end notes.
LORELAI: And the rabbit says, ‘How about that schnitzel!’
A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat that has been pounded into a flat shape using a meat tenderiser. It is usually breaded before being fried. The word is German, and means “slice” or “little slice”. Wiener schnitzel is a popular Viennese dish made of veal, traditionally garnished with a slice of lemon and served with potato salad or boiled potatoes with parsley and butter. It dates to the 19th century, and is one of the national dishes of Austria. There are numerous international versions of the dish.
The punchline to Lorelai’s alleged joke (Rory doesn’t think it is one) appears to be original.
This song by alternative rock band Modest Mouse is playing in Rory’s bedroom during the opening scene. Only later do we discover Lane is in her bedroom, and it is she who is listening to it.
“Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” is a track from the band’s 2000 album, The Moon & Antarctica. The first to be released by the band on a major record label (Epic Records), it led to fans being worried that they would lose their unique sound. However, the album received positive reviews, with some critics feeling that it was actually the band’s “weirdest” album. It was ranked as one of the best albums of that year. The album went to #120 in the US, and has been certified gold, having sold almost half a million copies.
Knowing that Lane is in Rory’s bedroom the whole time in this scene, it seems a bit strange that Rory doesn’t share the big news of the Harvard application arriving with her best friend. I suppose it’s something Rory wants to experience with Lorelai first, and perhaps she doesn’t want to shove her academic opportunities in Lane’s face – and she also knows Lane is too busy concentrating on writing her band ad to listen. Still, it’s a slightly melancholy indication that their lives are going to continue in different directions.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 