Comments on: Footfeet

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 02:45:42 +0000

My father said footfeet. He was born in 1921 and grew up in Belpre, Ohio on the West Virginia border.

By: John B

John B — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:53:41 +0000

My wife and I were shopping this PM and driving back home when something slid underneath the accelerator pedal and I without thinking, automatically called it a footfeet. My wife said, “what the heck is a footfeet”. I suddenly realized what a stupid sounding pair of words it was. My mother is from Germany and my father grew up in Southwest Iowa (born in 1922). So, it had to come from my father. Also a genealogy aside, my father’s mother’s maiden name was Eby (via Illinois and Ohio) , same surname
as Richard who posted on July 29th of this year.

By: Karen D,

Karen D, — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:57:37 +0000

Thanks for answering a dispute between my husband and I. After being married over 45 years I clearly heard him say for the first time “footfeed” and I said you mean “footfeet”. No one we asked had ever heard of either of the expressions. Turns out my folks are from Texas/Oklahoma and his from Iowa/S. Dakota area. Interesting!

By: Richard Eby

Richard Eby — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:52:14 +0000

My dad usually referred to the gas pedal as the “footfeet”. He was born in 1907 in Gage, Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), and probably learned to drive when he was a teenager. So yes, “footfeet” probably goes back to at least the 1920′s.

By: words1

words1 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:29:24 +0000

Yeah, whatever happened to wing windows? My mother had an early 1950s Studebaker with wing windows, and the were absolutely the best way to ventilate a car.

By: Carol Campbell

Carol Campbell — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:35:04 +0000

I clearly remember footfeed, as do I remember the choke. The choke on the dash could be pulled out after the car was started and left at a nice running speed while you went in to get another cup of coffee. When you were ready to leave, the car was nice and warm. And the dimmer switch was on the floor, just a little round thing you tapped with your foot. What a much better idea than having to take your hands off the wheel to brighten or dim your lights. And running boards, and wind wings …

By: Paul Nichols

Paul Nichols — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:54:57 +0000

My father left us 50 years of remarkably interesting diaries; almost every day has an entry. It has fallen to me to transcribe them so that all his surviving children, grandchildren and other relatives can have a CD loaded with his activities from 1931 to 1981.

Not two days after I read this article of yours about “Foot Feed,” did I run across this entry by Dad.

“Saturday, March 25, 1967
Worked 8 – 4 Outside. Extra heavy traffic. Two lanes open most all day. In pm took tire off truck & to station. Fixed door handle & put stronger spring on foot feed.”

He was referring to his pickup truck. I personally heard him use the term many times when I was growing up.

And “emma” above just reminded me of my mom and aunts who also used the term “foot feed” for the sewing machine pedal. And that reminded me that I don’t remember Mom calling it a sewing machine; just her “Singer.”

Thanks for being here.

By: emma

emma — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:03:47 +0000

When I was learning to sew 40 years ago, the foot pedal on a sewing machine was called a footfeed. It controls the speed at which the fabric is “fed” into the path of the needle. (You can also feed the fabric by hand, using a wheel on the side of the machine.)