Popcorn and Apaches

[Joe Varo]

On Fri, 9 Aug 1996 LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU wrote:

> 
> In reference to Joe's comments:
> 
> 1. "n page 293 of the Bantam edition, part 2 episode 7, Pynchon refers to 
> "doing the penis-in-the-popcorn-box routine" in a movie theater.
> 
> It's a generational thing.  Can't say I ever tried it myself, but to one
> raised on those cardboard boxes ("Mr. Deelish" brand), it was a natural 
> allusion.  When foax these days only know popcorn in tubs big enough to
> bathe in or bags that crumple up and save valuable landfill space, it is
> likely to be more obscure.  DINER is one way in.

I thought it might be generational; I can recall the boxes from when I 
was a kid, but by the time I was old enough to be thinking about anything 
more than the popcorn and the movie we had the waxed-cardboard tubs.

> "Apache" is also a French slang term for a certain kind of Parisian thug,
> often sporting sideburns and a striped shirt.  The "Apache dance," where
> the guy flings his partner about in a somewhat brutal fashion, was once
> a cultural icon of sorts.  The name itself, of course, was to indicate
> the "savagery" of the thugs--"another example of white men's lies."

Thanks for that info...didn't see it in the GR Companion.

Joe