By Jack Brummet, Pacific Northwest Ed.
The Skookum apple brand has been around forever; it's still around. People say this is
the most famous apple logo/label of all time. It's been reprinted in all sorts of media.
Having grown up and lived much of my life in the Pacific NW, I have often heard the word skookum used as definition one—usually "everything's great," "everything is just fine," or even as a synonym for another favorite word, copacetic
[def.: In excellent order.] One of my favorite place names in the region is Skookumchuck. In Canada, there are several legends of people named Skookum something. And a real person, known as Skookum Jim, was one of the discoverers of the Klondike goldfields in the Yukon. There is also a breed of dwarf cat called a Skookum.
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A Skookum cat. Skookums are curly-haired, big-eyed dwarf cats that weigh between 4 and 7 pounds.
The Wikipedia entry on Skookum:
"Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word that has come into general use in the Pacific Northwest region of America and some parts of Alberta, Canada."
"The word skookum has three meanings:
- a word in regional English that has a variety of positive connotations;
- a monster; similar to the sasquatch.
- a souvenir doll once common in the United States in tourist areas."
Skookum Dolls in a display case at the Native American Nations Trading Post in Billings,
Montana,a roadside joint where we have eaten and made pit stops at over the years.
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