Salvete! In this week’s archive episode, we revisit the musical language of railroad conductors’ calls, and chat with a Vietnam vet about a term he often heard while serving, “cumshaw artist.” We also talk about the influence...
Dean, a Navy veteran from Lake Bay, Washington, remembers being called a cumshaw artist in Vietnam for “permanently borrowing” whatever his unit needed, from refrigerator regulators to gasoline to whiskey for a party. The term cumshaw...