When Lois is dictating a letter, she states the name, company, and street address of the addressee and then says the word "city". This was a quick way to avoid having to write the city and state in an address or return address. The recipient of the letter would know this meant that both sender and receiver were in the same city. On an envelope, the Post Office would know this meant the same city in which the letter was mailed. This practice became obsolete when Zip Codes were adopted in 1963 because "city" alone became insufficient information.
Andy says the closest he came to making a sale was a "pair of BVD." "BVD" is a brand of men's underwear that came to be used for any underwear. It's the initials of the three company founders: Bradley, Voorhees, and Day.
When Tom goes to see Lois to demonstrate his rowing machine, Ruthie drops him off at Lois' building which shows a "J. J. Newberry Co. 5-10-25 cent" store in the background. Known as "Five and Dime" stores, they sold a wide variety of inexpensive goods. All but one chain have gone out of business, and that market niche is now served by so-called "dollar" stores. Both WalMart and K-Mart started as Five and Dime stores.