CY: Louie finally throws the door open, looks at him and says, ‘Did you get a Reese’s Cup tonight?’. And the kid looks in his bag and he says, ‘Yes sir, I did.’ So Louie grabs it, says ‘Thank you very much!,’ then slams the door in his face.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate cups filled with peanut butter, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were first called Penny Cups, and created in Pennsylvania in 1928 by H.B. Reese, a former dairy farmer who worked as a shipping foreman for candy manufacturer Milton S. Hershey. Reese left his job with Hershey to start his own company, The H.B. Reese Candy Company. In 1963, Reese’s sons merged the company with Hershey, and the Peanut Butter Cups quickly became Hershey’s top selling candy. They remain extremely popular today.
When Luke and Lorelei get back from the funeral, they find a wake for Louie in full swing at the diner. No matter how they felt about Louie while he was alive, we see how Stars Hollow comes together to honour the death of one of their own. He may have retired to Florida (and the town threw a party in celebration), but now the town reclaims him as a citizen.
In life Louie was a disgusting rude old man, in death he becomes a “colourful character” that his former victims can now view with humour and affection. More than anything, you can’t help think that people in Stars Hollow just can’t permit an opportunity for a party to slide by. These are the people who threw a wake for a cat, after all!
Notice how many fresh vegetables and salads there are at the wake – the temporary market stall in the park has been a major contributor to the celebration of Louie’s life.
JACKSON: Remember that sweet, simple, affordable little wedding Sookie and I agreed on with minimal disagreement … Gone. Ancient history. It’s the Library of Alexandria, it’s the Colossus of Rhodes, it’s Pop Rocks, it’s over.
Library of Alexandria
The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, part of a larger institution called The Musaeum, dedicated to the nine Muses, and the source of the modern word “museum”.
It is said to have been founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus around 285 BC, in an attempt to bring together the best minds of the Hellenistic world and collect all books known at the time – at its height, it may have had as many as 400 000 scrolls. Due mostly to the Great Library, Alexandria became known as the capital of knowledge and learning.
Although there is a popular modern belief that the Library was destroyed in a cataclysmic fire, in fact it gradually declined over the course of several centuries. It was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, but it is not known how much damage was done. Under the Romans, the Library dwindled from lack of funding, and an invasion by Palmyra in 270 AD probably destroyed what little was left of it.
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the island of the same name by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to celebrate a military victory against Macedon. According to descriptions at the time, the statue was 108 feet high – about the same size as the Statue of Liberty – making it the tallest statue in the ancient world. The statue was destroyed in 653 AD by Arab forces. Since 2008, discussions have been underway about building a new Colossus in Rhodes Harbour, so it may not be ancient history for much longer.
Pop Rocks
A candy with bubbles in it, causing a small popping sensation when it dissolves. First offered to the public in 1976 by General Foods, sales were withdrawn in 1983, citing its lack of success and short shelf life. After that, Kraft licensed the product to a Spanish company called Zeta Espacial S.A., who distributes it in the US through Pop Rocks Inc., in Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson seems to think Pop Rocks are gone, but they aren’t.
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.
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 18th century, coming to North America in the early 19th 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.
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.
Equal is a brand of artificial sweetener, using aspartame as its primary sweetening ingredient. Its owned by Merisant, headquartered in Chicago. It was one of the first artificial sweeteners to be marketed to the public in the 1980s.
LORELAI: If you had your way, Mother, you’d lock us up like veal. That’s what she wants, veal children.
Veal is the meat of calves, rather than beef, which comes from adult cattle. In the past, many calves raised for veal in North America were raised in small crates, often tethered, which is what I think Lorelai means by keeping them locked up like veal. In the 2000s, this cruel practice began gradually to be abandoned in favour of slightly less cruel practices, and by 2017, all members of the American Veal Association raised their veal calves untethered in pens, not crates.
Note that Lorelai implies that both herself and Rory are Emily’s children, as if they are sisters, rather than mother and daughter, and as if Lorelai is still a child.
(Lorelai enjoyed a meal of ossobucco made by Max, a veal dish).
EMILY: I don’t know why I let you take me to this chophouse in the first place. I don’t go to chophouses.
Chophouse is a word for an inexpensive steakhouse, now so dated that it is considered a historical term more than anything else, although it’s been chosen as part of the name for several grills and steakhouses. The word has been used since at least the 18th century. There is an implication that a “chophouse” is of lower quality, but Emily thought her steak was the best she’d ever had, and the restaurant Lorelai chose doesn’t look super cheap.
LORELAI: Ah, I just love the idea of shrimp cocktail with a steak dinner, you know?
Shrimp cocktail is the American term for prawn cocktail, a dish consisting of shelled, cooked prawns in a cocktail sauce, served in a glass. In the US, a cocktail sauce is made with ketchup and horseradish, sometimes with chilli sauce, slightly different to the Commonwealth version of mayonnaise and tomato sauce with Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Shrimp cocktail was very fashionable from the 1960s to the 1980s, and is now seen as a bit kitschy. Shrimp cocktail with a steak dinner remains a classic.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 