And Harold and Missy want to give Hazel a special day, called “Hazel’s Day” (based on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day)
Anyway Hazel wants to buy a new dress and wants Missy to go along as she’s got such good taste.
And then Hazel says “I ain’t got much in the sock, but I’m going to boil it off”
My question is, did I get that phrase right?
I’ve never heard anything even close to it, so I’m not sure of the exact quote. I’m assume it has something to do with the old fashioned way of boiling clothes to get them clean?
The money makes sense, I was thinking along the line that Hazel wasn’t fancy like Missy so she was going to get all cleaned up and go out. But the money makes more sense
maybe she stored her money in a sock and to get the last bit out she would figuratively boil it off. Like boiling bones to get the last bit of useful stuff out?
“Ain’t go much in the sock” is a financial reference. My grandparents (depression era adults) kept personal money in an old sock in their undies drawer.
The boil it off remark doesn’t make sense to me, however. I’ll concur with previous speculation(s).
Socks are a traditional place to put money, if you don’t have a bank account. So are sugar bowls and old coffee cans and Mason jars. Coffee cans and Mason jars are sometimes buried somewhere. Socks are kept either in the undies drawer, or under the mattress (presumably not a part of the mattress that’s slept on), and sugar bowls are usually part of the good china, which is displayed. The everyday sugar bowl has sugar in it.
I agree the sock reference is where she’d likely have kept her money. “Off the boil” appears to be a reference to going from robust savings or earnings to less-so. I suppose it could be similar to our more common saying that something is “red hot” and when it is not we say that it has “cooled”.
Here’s a link where I found the expression that I think supports my interpretation.