Both radio & tv. The tv ad was animated, a young man getting his hair nice and oily. "It's made with soothing lanolin" they sang (the jingle was something like Workin' on the Railroad). Lanolin was an ingredient du jour at that time. At least one of the ads is on YouTube.

There must be some among The Faithful who look at such things and give a fleeting snicker.

I remember that one. "It keeps your hair in trim." Then hair oil fell out of favor, as men wore their hair longer. And used hair spray (manly hair spray, of course).

Or maybe the people around you like a colorful turn of phrase.

Yes, I do think it's an obscure phrase these days, even if it's still in use occasionally.

I doubt that every single white person in the US is unfamiliar with the expression. How many people have never heard the song, anyway? If family members of any group say what their predecessors say, an expression lives on. I've heard "brick sh*thouse" used many times by many varieties of people.

The actual phrase I heard when I was a kid (c. 1950s), was "She's built like a brick sh*thouse." I had no idea then what it meant. There were no longer any outhouses around where I lived by that time.

Not sure about that. I assume he's got some kind of escape fund. I think there's still a chance he'll try to leave the country.

My experience of people like this, who have ridiculous amounts of $$$$ is - whatever they say they have, or what apprears in their official accounting -- they have lots more, hidden & spread all over the world. Talking to you, too, Pillow Guy & Rudy.

I'm a big fan of pulp fiction. Some excellent wriring there. One type I especially like is humor pulp, like with cute, hapless gangsters and wise-cracking dames.