Tag: Back Story

92nd Street Y or Brick Church

PARIS: It’s partly my parents’ fault, they didn’t brand me properly. I should’ve been at the 92nd Street Y or Brick Church.

RORY: Prep schools?
PARIS: Preschools. It decides everything.

The 92nd Street Y and the Brick Church School are both upmarket faith-based preschools on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City – this may suggest that Paris lived there when she was a small child, her parents moving to Hartford later.

Does this provide a hint of why Paris never quite fit in at Chilton? The other alternative is that she believes her parents should have moved to New York for her preschool education, which is just selfish and impractical enough to be believable for Paris’ character.

The 92nd Street Y [pictured] is a secular Jewish cultural centre which offers a diversity of programs, including a nursery school. The Brick Church is a Presbyterian church which has offered early childhood programs since 1940, and members of the congregation receive preference in the highly competitive application process.

The fact that Paris considers both these preschools as options she could have had suggests that Paris’ mother may be or originally was Presbyterian. Either that, or she has no idea how preschools actually work.

The Adventures of Gumby and Pokey, Pee-Wee Herman

PARIS: I was flipping through Harvard class schedules when you were still delighting to the adventures of Gumby and Pokey.
RORY: I was more of a Pee-Wee Herman kind of gal.

Paris refers to Gumby Adventures, a clay animation children’s show centred on a green clay humanoid figure named Gumby, with a sidekick named Pokey. Gumby was created by Art Clokey in the 1950s, and after becoming a hit on Howdy Doody, had his own show which ran from 1957 to 1969. It was revived in 1988 and lasted until 2002, when Rory and Paris were aged four to nine, as Gumby Adventures.

Pee-Wee Herman, previously discussed as Rory’s favourite childhood show.

Ricardo Montalbán

MISS PATTY: I was Ricardo Montalban’s receptionist for six months and he never complained.
MICHEL: Who?

Ricardo Montalbán, born Ricardo Montalbán y Merino (1920-2009), Mexican-American film and television actor. Montalbán’s career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a variety of genres, from crime and drama to musicals and comedy. He starred in Fantasy Island, previously mentioned.

Here we get another insight into Miss Patty’s past life, this time as receptionist to an actor. This may have been in the 1970s or ’80s?

Michel is ignorant of Ricardo Montalbán, even though he was a surprisingly extensive knowledge of American television.

“You’ve clearly never entertained kids”

RORY: I have never entertained kids – how do I do that?
LORELAI: Uh, take your socks off and do a puppet show.
RORY: You’ve clearly never entertained kids either.

Lorelai entertained Rory as a child, and is supposed to be famous for her amazing children’s parties … doesn’t Rory remember any of that? The sock puppet show idea is actually a success, against all expectations.

Boy Scout Badge

LORELAI: Where’s the pen you take orders with?
LUKE: I wasn’t anticipating taking orders at the Poe reading.
LORELAI: Hm, there goes your Boy Scout badge.

Boy Scout, previously discussed. Boy Scouts receive merit badges for successfully learning and completing various tasks, such as first aid, cooking, swimming, citizenship, hiking, and so on. These badges are in the form of patches, which can be sewn onto a uniform or a sash.

Lorelai refers to the maxim, “A Boy Scout must always be prepared”. In fact, Luke dropped out of the Boy Scouts very early.

Satchmo

LORELAI: You named the spider Satchmo?
SOOKIE: After Jackson’s uncle.

Satchmo was the nickname of trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, previously mentioned. The nickname is short for “Satchelmouth”, but its origin is not known. Some say simply because of the size of Armstrong’s mouth, while a story favoured by biographers is that as a young boy in New Orleans, Armstrong would dance for pennies, collecting the coins in his mouth to prevent bigger children from taking them from him.

Jackson’s uncle was apparently named after the short form of a celebrity’s nickname in honour of Louis Armstrong.

Solarium

GRAN: I believe a woman marries for life. If, after your husband is gone, you desperately desire some sort of permanent attachment, add an addition onto the house – a library or a solarium. I have a library and a solarium … However, in spite of all this, I found myself getting lonely. And I don’t care for being lonely, it’s quite annoying. So many years ago, I met a man, and he became my companion. Tonight, both he and I were both publicly humiliated and our relationship altered forever.

A solarium is a sun room, conservatory, patio room, sun porch, or winter garden. The word is Latin for “place of sunlight”, and a solarium is a room which allows the sunshine to enter. A solarium typically offers scenic views as well as a sunny spot, and features glass walls and a glass ceiling.

Trix explains to Emily that although she doesn’t believe in remarriage after the death of a spouse, seeing it as “dishonouring” the late spouse’s memory, she has been in a long-term relationship with someone for affection and companionship.

Trix lived in London for years after her husband died, and has only just moved back to Hartford. So did she meet this man in London, or did they see each other only on brief, infrequent visits to each other’s countries? Or did he follow her back to Hartford so they could continue their relationship, or did she follow him – is he the real reason she moved back?

We never learn anything more about Trix’s boyfriend. Is he married, for example? Has he ever pushed for a more permanent arrangement?

Lindsay and the Field Trip

RORY: Like once, in fourth grade, we went on a field trip to Mark Twain’s house, and I really wanted this refrigerator magnet in the shape of Mark Twain’s head, but I didn’t have any money, so she bought it for me, and she wouldn’t even let me pay her back.

Mark Twain’s house, previously discussed. This minor incident which occurred when Rory was about nine seems to be the only interaction with Lindsay she can remember.