Footnotes to the TV series
SOOKIE (to Lorelai): Could you peek inside the kitchen for me and tell me if the orange Creuset is on the left burner?
Le Creuset is a French company which makes colourfully-enamelled cast iron premium cookware such as saucepans, casseroles and large covered pots. They began manufacturing in 1925, and their signature colour is orange, just like Sookie’s piece. This seems to be the pan that she wants used to sweat the onions.
LORELAI: I can’t wait to try the toaster pizza. It looks so gross which is usually the mark for a great junk food.
RORY: Beefaroni.
Toaster pizza is a frozen mini pizza that can be cooked in a toaster. It has a thick pastry crust, and only a little bit of sauce and cheese so it doesn’t melt inside the toaster, or is fully enclosed in pastry, like a savoury Pop-Tart. They were first made by Nabisco in 1969, but several brands make them now. (Incidentally, this shows that the Gilmore girls got their toaster fixed – it was broken when Christopher came to stay with them).
Beefaroni is a popular tinned food made by Chef Boyardee which is macaroni mixed with beef mince, tomato sauce, and (some) cheese. We later learn it is Rory’s favourite meal.
LORELAI: Sleep in? Luke?
RACHEL: Oh believe me, it wasn’t easy to get him to agree to it, but in the end, a little sweet talk, a couple of Excedrin PM he finally caved.
Excedrin is a brand of painkillers suitable for headaches, sold over the counter; it contains a mixture of paracetamol, aspirin, and caffeine. It is one of the most popular OTC pain medications in the US. Excedrin PM is paracetamol combined with an antihistamine that makes you drowsy. It’s been produced since 1969.
The fact that the diner opens for business at 6 am, that Luke lives over the diner, and for Luke, sleeping in means he stays in bed until past 6 (only possible because Rachel is there), means that it would never have been possible for him to stay up all night painting with Lorelai as they planned in That Damned Donna Reed, nor would it have been possible for Lorelai to paint the diner alone in the early hours of the morning without waking him.
RORY: Do you want to wear docks or sneakers?
Dock shoes, also known as boat shoes. These canvas or leather slip-on shoes have rubber soles that can provide grip on a wet deck. They were invented in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry of New Haven, Connecticut, and designed to be used on boats. They became used as casual footwear in the 1970s, and have been fashionable since the 1980s.
RORY: … We could stuff our purses full of Sour Patch Kids and Milk Duds …
Sour Patch Kids are soft candies covered in sugar syrup and sour sugar, which come in a range of flavours; they are made by Allen’s. They were first sold in the 1970s under the name Mars Men; the name was changed in the 1980s to cash in on the popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.
Milk Duds are caramel candies coated in cocoa manufactured by Hershey; they have been made since 1926. They are called “duds” because they are not perfectly round, but slightly misshapen.
RICHARD: Uh Chase, can I get you a drink?
CHASE: Scotch, neat.
RICHARD: Uh, Glenfiddich?
CHASE: Fine.
Glenfiddich is a single malt whisky made by William Grant & Sons in Scotland since 1886 in the glen (“valley”) of the River Fiddich, hence its name. It is the world’s best-selling single-malt whisky, and has won more awards than any other brand.
Richard looks extremely unhappy with the dismissive way Chase accepts a glass of Glenfiddich as if it is nothing.
Louise suggests Starbucks to Paris as one of the places you could make out with a boyfriend like Tristan.
Starbucks is an American multinational chain of coffee houses, founded in 1971, and becoming profitable in the 1980s. There are more than 27 000 Starbucks world wide. There are eight Starbucks in Hartford where Paris could have made out with her hypothetical boyfriend.
LORELAI: If there was a runoff between what Emily Gilmore would care about less, a two-for-one toilet paper sale at Costco or your three month anniversary, your anniversary would win, hands down.
Costco is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of members-only warehouse clubs, selling goods in bulk to keep costs low. It is the second-largest retailer in the world after Walmart, and the first warehouse opened in 1983.
Should Emily have gone mad and actually cared about the hypothetical toilet paper sale at Costco, she could have shopped at the Costco in New Britain, about 15 minutes drive from Hartford.
When Rory gets home, Lorelai is reading a box at the kitchen table. She’s holding a box of Hamburger Helper, a convenience food made by General Mills under the Betty Crocker brand, first introduced in 1971.
Hamburger Helper is a box of pasta packaged together with packets of sauces and seasonings. You’re supposed to combine the contents with cooked beef mince (hamburger) to create a complete meal. It’s a bit confusing for non-Americans, as hamburger usually refers to a hamburger patty; minced meat is just mince.
CHRISTOPHER: What about last night? What did our having sex mean to you?
LORELAI: [sighs] It meant that Jose Cuervo still has amazing magical powers.
Jose Cuervo is a Mexican brand of tequila. It is the best-selling tequila in the world, and has a third of the American market.
Lorelai is making it clear to Christopher that she would never have had sex with him if she hadn’t been drunk. By saying that it “still has magical powers”, she also implies that was the case when they were teenagers.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 