# Question for Dopers of all ages: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578 "2015-02-25T12:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/41 "2015-02-26T04:28:31Z")
I’m only 37 but I know what it is because like **Crotalus** ’s dad, my mother has _always_ made the same remarks about disorganized things. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/42 "2015-02-26T04:58:34Z")
That’s pretty good, bud, but it ain’t the way I heared it . . . I’m 57. My dad taught me about Fibber McGee’s closet in the 1960s, though from the 1980s I listened myself to “The Johnson Wax Program” on “Those Were The Days” (Chicago-area old-time radio anthology). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/43 "2015-02-26T05:07:45Z")
No idea, but then, I’m a foreigner. Having read the responsed describing it, it sounds equivalent to the Spanish _cajón de sastre_. Literally “a tailor’s drawer” (full of odds, ends, bits, pieces, and you have to search it carefully because of the needles), but also a single space away from and pronounced exactly like _cajón desastre_, “the disastrous drawer”. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/44 "2015-02-26T05:43:09Z")
Yeah I know what it is, but from my mother. Fibber McGee and Molly, apparently Fibber had a closet that whenever you opened it, everything that was packed in it fell out on his head. Kind of like my closet. Or so my mom said. My mom also used the catch phrase “T’ain’t funny, McGee!” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/45 "2015-02-26T07:31:41Z")
I’ve heard a few episodes – in recordings, not broadcast! – and so I knew immediately what was meant. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/46 "2015-02-26T09:29:23Z")
I’ve known about Fibber McGee and Molly, and I’ve known about their overstuffed closet, but I didn’t know “McGee’s closet” was a “thing”. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/47 "2015-02-26T11:10:29Z")
Is Harpo Marx’s magic coat hanging in McGee’s closet inside of [The Collyer Brothers’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers) brownstone? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/48 "2015-02-26T11:18:54Z")
Never knew of Mcgee’s closet, but as far as old timey pop culture references go, I use “bag of tricks” rather frequently, which was popularized if not invented in the Felix the cat cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/49 "2015-02-26T12:46:26Z")
Never heard of it. The whole “locker-exploding-upon-opening” is probably a close descendant, though. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/50 "2015-02-26T13:01:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > When I read “McGee’s closet” in the OP, I knew what it was referring to, but it took me a few seconds. If you’d said “Fibber McGee’s closet” I’d have known it right away. > > I never heard the show (I’m 49), but I remember my mother explaining the meaning of the phrase once when I was young. That was exactly my reaction. Without the “Fibber” it took me a bit to make the connection. I’m 47 but my father was born in 1927 and grew up in the Depression listening to radio shows. He would talk about the shows. > [@Nava](#): > > No idea, but then, I’m a foreigner. > > Having read the responsed describing it, it sounds equivalent to the Spanish _cajón de sastre_. Literally “a tailor’s drawer” (full of odds, ends, bits, pieces, and you have to search it carefully because of the needles), but also a single space away from and pronounced exactly like _cajón desastre_, “the disastrous drawer”. It was from a [radio comedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibber_McGee_and_Molly) in the days before television. The closet on the show was packed so tight that if you opened it the contents would crash down on your head. It was a running joke. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/51 "2015-02-26T14:24:53Z")
Wow! Fifty answers already! I read _ **Mad Scientists’ Club** _ in 1966, and had to ask my mom what a “McGee’s closet” was, so that’s how I learned what it meant too. The age spread here is interesting; I wasn’t sure someone born after 1955 would have any idea what I was talking about. Sometimes I feel like just an old fart. Last evening, after one of the contestants on _ **Jeopardy!** _ mentioned the _Bismarck_, I started singing the hit song from 1960. My 19-year-old daughter stared at me and asked “Where do you get all this crap?” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/52 "2015-02-26T15:04:13Z")
Yes, from my parents talking, but only with Fibber attached. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/53 "2015-02-26T15:24:54Z")
Yup, I grew up with Mom & Grandma referencing “Fibber McGee’s closet.” I have slight memories of radio shows from our sojourn in South Dakota, before emigrating to The Land of TV. _Inner Sanctum_ began with a scary sound–I don’t remember any of the scary stories. When I saw _The Lone Ranger_ I remember thinking he didn’t look as I’d envisioned him–South Dakota cowboys didn’t wear fancy off-white suits! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/54 "2015-02-26T15:40:21Z")
I do, but only because it was part of a plot point on an [episode of _NewsRadio_ (the TV show)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0660245/). If not for that, I wouldn’t have heard of it. American, born mid-70s. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/55 "2015-02-26T15:41:03Z")
No idea. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/56 "2015-02-26T15:42:52Z")
I remember hearing the name “Fibber McGee” and the expression “t’ain’t funny, McGee” referenced by my grandparents, but I didn’t know what they were speaking about until years later when I read about it. ’ ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/57 "2015-02-26T16:39:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Wow! Fifty answers already! > > I read _ **Mad Scientists’ Club** _ in 1966, and had to ask my mom what a “McGee’s closet” was, so that’s how I learned what it meant too. > > The age spread here is interesting; I wasn’t sure someone born after 1955 would have any idea what I was talking about. > > Sometimes I feel like just an old fart. Last evening, after one of the contestants on _ **Jeopardy!** _ mentioned the _Bismarck_, I started singing the hit song from 1960. My 19-year-old daughter stared at me and asked “Where do you get all this crap?” Yeah, I got that feeling during a recent episode of _Scorpion_, when Cabe, the middle-aged government agent, made a comment about [Peek Freans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4R3fqsyl4k). The team didn’t know what he was talking about, so he asked “How old _are_ you?” Toby responded, “How old are _you?_” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/58 "2015-02-26T16:43:47Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Yeah, I got that feeling during a recent episode of _Scorpion_, when Cabe, the middle-aged government agent, made a comment about [Peak Freans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4R3fqsyl4k). The team didn’t know what he was talking about, so he asked “How old _are_ you?” Toby answered, “How old are _you?_” The worst moment ever was when I offhandedly mentioned Carly Simon one evening and Liz asked “Who’s Carly Simon?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/59 "2015-02-26T16:46:04Z")
Nope. I’ve never heard of it. I was born in 1962. I wondered to myself that it might be from Fibber McGee and Molly; but didn’t know what it meant. On a somewhat related note; I recently heard my mother in law say something was as “ugly as Molly’s ass.” There wasn’t by chance a donkey on Fibber McGee and Molly was there? 🙂 Anyone know the origin of that phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578/60 "2015-02-26T16:49:20Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Nope. I’ve never heard of it. I was born in 1962. I wondered to myself that it might be from Fibber McGee and Molly; but didn’t know what it meant. > > On a somewhat related note; I recently heard my mother in law say something was as “ugly as Molly’s ass.” There wasn’t by chance a donkey on Fibber McGee and Molly was there? 🙂 Anyone know the origin of that phrase? Hah! I just found that I asked this very question back in 2006! > **[What's the origin of "Molly's Ass"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=389332)** > > I’ve occasionaly heard from an older generation that mine different phrases about “Molly’s Ass”; i.e. “that’s uglier than Molly’s Ass”. Has anyone else heard this? Does anyone know it’s origin? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-dopers-of-all-ages/713578.md?page=4)