A lexicon of Mountain Kingdom nicknames...from Booty to Woodtick
By Patrick Bell
In 2012, Allebo Lloyd, a childhood friend from Rossland died. I knew his given name, but he was more commonly known by his nickname. I sent a note of condolence to his wife and in it, admitted that I was not sure how to spell his nickname.
This situation made me realize that I was equally uninformed on the source and nicknames of a number of other friends and acquaintances from my hometown. My wife, Dolores,(nickname Mickey) lived for one year in Rossland and is therefore the penultimate authority on the city, opined that there were more nicknames in Rossland than the total in the rest of the Kootenay municipalities.
I shared my wife’s observation with another childhood friend, Wayne Ferrey (nickname Fairhole) and we agreed there did seem to be a large number and great variety of nicknames in the Golden City.
I decided to do a little informal research and enjoyed the experience as I recalled nick name after nickname. I began to make a list and begrudgingly admitted that my wife might be right, again, on this matter.
Most of the nicknames that I recalled, belonged to men. There seemed to be more men with nicknames than women, possibly I was more familiar with the male culture in our city, so this may account for the discrepancy.
The origins of some nicknames were obvious, as they referred to physical features, ethnic backgrounds, local incidents, occupations, family history, sporting/fine arts activities etc. Some family members were identified by age, and/or size: Tom senior/Tom junior, Young Bill or Old Bill, Big John or Little John.: Some nicknames are socially unacceptable today, but I never internalized or witnessed any significant discriminatory event or intent in the use of these nicknames.
Some families seemed more prone to using nicknames and some of those nicknames moved outside the family into common use in the community. Some families had several uncommon nicknames, and other families, some with many children had none.
I was born and lived in Rossland, until I left to attend university in 1954. Since that time I remained in informal contact with the city through visiting my parents and relatives and communication with my eight siblings. I know or knew almost all the people on my list of nicknames and made an educated guess on the spelling of those names.
The list is alphabetical by nickname. I have omitted obvious nicknames that are common forms for given names, so no Bills, Toms , Chucks, Eds or Jims are on the list. For some, I knew them only by their nicknames and to this day Ido not know their last names. The men’s nicknames are in regular print and the women’s nicknames are italicized.
This research project is unscientific and names have been assembled without reference to any published documents. My main reference period is from the 1950’s through to the 1990’s. I did ask a few friends (Bob Bowen, Maureen and Tara Holmes) to review the list and provide advice on names that might be included. I apologize for omissions and errors and hope that I have not been offensive.
If you have additions, comments or observations on this document, I would be pleased to hear from you.
A.
Ace Bailey Argie Zanuzzi
Allebo Lloyd
Angel Jecks
August the Tailor
B
Babe Laface Bessie Klenzing
Backfire Jensen Brick Santori
Banana Laface
Barney Dougan
Barney Keane
Barney Lawrie
Beast Legare
Beeb Fisher
Bent Campbell
Bigga da Mike
Big Steve
Big Jack Sardonovich
Blackie Spitari
Blackjack Albo
Blondie Marzocco
Bogo Ham
Boots Rossi
Booty Griffiths
Booser Holm
Bram Eccles
Brass Manson
Brick Littley
Bubba Holmes
Bucky Marsters
Bud Fox
Bud Fulton
Bud Godderis
Bud Pollock
Bud Scorgie
Buddy Duperon
Buddy Mack
Bugsy Ferguson
Bunny Griffiths
Butch Boutry
Butch Dawson
Butch Manning
Buster Brown
C
Carse Howe Caddy McCauley
Cassie Cassegrande Cookie Dixon
Chang Seaver Curt Triggs
Cherryballs Cherrington
Chesty Leonard
Chewy Heidt
Choppy Manning
Chow Sodao
Chick Jones
Chick Turner ***
Clem Cameron
Cookie L’Ecluse
Coon Lavoratto
Conny Jimroy **
Corky Perkins
Cowboy Eastcott
Cowboy Glover
Cowboy Thompson
CPR John
D
Derf Simister Dee Dee Fourt
Ding Dong Bell Dofee Mara
Doc Maitland Dolly Smith
Dusty Sinclair
Dutchie Couture
Dutch Singer
E
Egghead Fodor
F
Father Mac Fanny Albo
Fireball McNabb
Foozie McKee
Frenchie Bousquest
G
Gandi Miller Gert Cofflin
Garnie Best Ginger Webster
Gib Hunt
Grunty Rutherglen
H
Hambone Ham
Horse Lloyd
Hoss Drake
I
Itchy Mann
Indian Harry
J
Jake Aiken
Jimmy the Hat Driscoll
Joker Laface
Jug Cameron
Jumbo Paul
K
King Comozotti
L
Lardo Haight Lita Commozzi
Lefty Lavoratto
Little Peasoup Ruelle
Longo Torressan
Lundy Hamilton
M
Manny Triggs Mitzi Feeney
Mitch Bell
Moby McMaster
Moe Fisher
Moe Paul
Mouse Smith
Mort Johnsen
N
Nosoap Thompson Nina Lenarducci
Nigger Profili
O
Onion Espenhain Old Lady Jesse
P
Peasoup Ruelle Pinky Hartley
Pepper Dougan
Pepper Slubowski
Pie Laface
Porky Martin
Porky Gleave
Porkchop MacKenzie
Porty Gill
Q
R
Rags Magnone Riggie Miller
Red Conroy
Red Haymond
Rolly Phillips
Ronnybill Tweed
Russia Bollieau
Rusty Wynn
S
Sachmoo Mc Millan Slink Lindquist
Sandy Heidler Spit Petrie
Scotty Tait
Scrawn Mc Watters
Scratch Johnson
Shorty Reid
Sib Johnson
Slim Evans
Skip Ferguson
Skid Marsters
Slopsy Martin
Sonny Corrado
Sonny Samuelson
Sonny Mc Calley
Spud Martin
Spike Treverton
Squeaky Jones
Squeaky Gordon
Smitty Smith
Stump Tait
Suds Sutherland
Swifty Swift
T.
Teach Starcevic Tibby Nyman
Thick Dork **
Tinker Oliver
Tiny Webster
Tongo Taylor
Toots Scott
Torchy Torresan
Tubby Mills
Tuffi Ruelle
U
V
Vanner Beckman
W
Waxey Dyson
WeeDavey Tweed
Whiz Topliff
Widemouth Mason
Wiggy Davis
Windy Walters
Woodtick Lloyd
Whitey Severson
X
Y
Z
Zeeb Holoboff
Miscellaneous
Blackie’s Taxi
Booty’s Ski Shop
Freddy’s Bakery
Paddy’s Taxi
Smitty’s Taxi
Chinese residents, all males, were commonly known by one name.
a. Those who gardened in the south area of the city and marketed produce door to door from large wicker baskets
Louie
Long Prong
Wye Gum
b. Those who operated restaurants
Rosie Empire Cafe
Sammy Silver Grill
*** Chick Turner This is a bit of a ringer. John Turner, former Prime Minister of Canada, lived in Rossland as a young child (circa 1933) (Turhune’s house)I did not know him and believe the nickname Chick appeared during his days at UBC. I am confident that he would overjoyed to be included in this august list of nicknames
** Two somewhat uncommon nicknames are included in the list. One is my old friend Jimmy Conroy and the other my dentist for over four decades,Dick Thorpe.
Final note
Robbie Read (no nickname) He was known by most Rosslanders and served as a model through which residents became acquainted with and gained an appreciation of, Downs Syndrome. He was embraced by individuals, businesses and institutions as he interacted with them in completing his daily ritual routines throughout the city. In these interactions he often exclaimed “I’m so happy”. I believe he was happy and in turn made others happy and the support he received is a tribute to the spirit of Rossland.
