tin Lizzie

Model T. The innocent-sounding "tin lizzie" comes from the name Elizabeth (also Liza or Lizzie), which was such a common name for Black women (H.L. Mencken posited that its popularity came arose from Eliza in Uncle Tom's Cabin) that it was used from the 1880s until the late 1920s as a generic name for any Black woman, but especially a servant, maid, or cook (Stuart Berg Flexner, I Hear America Talking). Flexner says the name was given the car because it, like the maid, "worked hard all week and prettied up on Sundays." (Henry Ford said the car was available in "any color you choose as long as it's black.")