Tag: Places

Frank at the Sands

RORY: This will get better over time, I promise. But until then, let’s just play it cool.

JESS: Hey, I’m Frank at the Sands.

Frank Sinatra was a regular performer at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with his first performance there in 1953 – he later bought a share in the hotel. There is a 1966 live album of one of his performances called Sinatra at the Sands, which includes many of the biggest hits and a comedy monologue. The album was reissued in 1998, and Jess may have bought it.

Lane is also a fan of Frank Sinatra, and this seems like another thing she and have in common that could bring them together, but somehow the two never become friends.

Jammed, Shanghaied

LORELAI: We got jammed. Shanghaied by my mother and what with the other things we have going . . . well, too many commitments, not enough us.

Jammed: I think Lorelai means “jammed” as in a traffic jam or a logjam – stuck, and with so many things on that they have no room to move. Please correct me if you think this is wrong!

Shanghaied [pictured]: Also known as “crimping”. The practice of kidnapping people to serve as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. The name probably came about because Shanghai was a common destination for ships with abducted crews. The practice flourished in the mid-19th century, in port cities such as Liverpool in the UK, and San Francisco in the US. Although there were many attempts to crack down on it, only the widespread use of steam vessels instead of sailing ships rendered the practice unnecessary, as steamships don’t require such a large crew. Once it was made a federal crime in 1915 the practice was entirely stamped out.

Timothy Dwight Dining Hall

RICHARD: See that? That is my favorite building in the whole school … Because that’s where the Timothy Dwight Dining Hall is.

This is the dining hall of Timothy Dwight College, a residential college at Yale University which opened in 1935. Presumably it was Richard’s old college. The dining room at the college is a replica of a New England town hall with maple tables and captain’s chairs. According to Richard, they serve a delicious pot roast (one of Rory’s favourite meals), although that no longer seems to be on the menu.

Nantucket

EMILY: And what do you intend to do with that paper clip?
LORELAI: I intend to carve something really dirty into the bathroom door … What rhymes with Nantucket?

Nantucket, an island about 30 miles from Cape Cod in Massachusetts; the main town on the island is also called Nantucket. European settlement on the island began in the 17th century, and it was a major centre for the whaling industry by the 19th century – it features in Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick. Since the 1950s, it has been an upmarket summer colony and popular tourist destination.

The island features in a famous limerick which begins, “There once was a man from Nantucket …”. The original, written in 1902, is:

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket (“Nan took it”).

It spawned numerous sequels, many of them vulgar in nature, because the island’s name rhymes with “fuck it” and “suck it”. The earliest such example was published in 1927. It is a staple of American humour, with the name itself enough for listeners to understand the allusion, as in this scene.

Louvre

RICHARD: Yale has one of the finest collections of British art in the world.

LORELAI: Louvre, schmouvre.

The Louvre is a historic landmark in Paris, and the world’s most visited museum. It is home to some of the world’s best known art pieces, including the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo. Housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the 12th century under Philip II, the museum first opened in 1793, and contains more than 380 000 objects and more than 35 000 artworks.

Collection of British Art

RORY: Grandpa, that art gallery was amazing. Thank you.

RICHARD: Yale has one of the finest collections of British art in the world.

Richard refers to the Yale Center for British Art, which houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the UK. The collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, rare books, and manuscripts reflects the development of British art and culture from the Elizabethan period onward.

It was established in 1966 by a gift from philanthropist and Yale alumnus Paul Mellon, together with an endowment for operations of the centre, and funds for a building to house the works of art. It is across the street from the Yale University Art Gallery [pictured], and no doubt Richard has taken Rory there as well – this could well be the amazing art gallery she speaks of.

The Yale University Art Gallery is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses an encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on Yale’s campus. It was founded in 1832, after patriot artist John Trumbull donated more than 100 paintings of the American Revolutionary War.

It turns out that the art gallery at Yale was one of Richard’s favourite places to bring girls on dates, in order to impress them with his knowledge of art.

Hector’s

LORELAI: Anyhow, I looked through it and it just so happens that one of the best taco places on the East Coast is ten minutes from campus … [reads] “You haven’t had a taco until you’ve spent some time at Hector’s, crisp and meaty … not greasy”.

There isn’t a taco place called Hector’s in New Haven, but there’s a popular Mexican restaurant called El Carpintero run by a guy named Hector in Burbank, Los Angeles – across the street from Warners Bros and much frequented by people who work there. This seems so suspiciously similar that I think it must be the inspiration for the fictional Hector’s in New Haven.

New Haven

RORY: I’m sure you and I can figure out a fun thing to do while they’re off at dinner, some cool road trip thing.

LORELAI: In New Haven? … Sweetie, have you ever been to New Haven? … Take a look at the coffee pot tomorrow before I clean it, that’s New Haven.

New Haven is a city in Connecticut on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound, and is part of the New York City greater metropolitan area. With a population of around 130 000, it is the third-largest city in Connecticut. One of the first planned cities in America, founded by Puritans in 1638, it is the home of Yale University, New Haven’s biggest employer and taxpapyer, and an integral part of the city’s economy. It bills itself as the “Cultural Capital of Connecticut”, and is also known as “The Elm City” because of the trees planted during the first public tree planting program in America.

Lorelai’s view that New Haven is a complete dump is one shared by quite a few people. The city has the fastest growing income inequality in the US, so there’s a lot of poverty, a high crime rate, and apparently it has a problem with littering and dumping trash illegally. Another view is that it is a cool, diverse city that’s far more interesting than most of Connecticut.