gaffer (GAF-uhr) noun

The head of the electrical department responsible for the lighting setup on a movie or television set.

--- comes from the fact that in the beginning longshoremen were employed to move heavy lighting equipment on a production set. They worked in a hierarchy and the one at the top was called gaffer as a term of respect.

Also: 2. An old man, especially a country man; and
3. A foreman, supervisor, or boss.
[Contraction of godfather, influenced by grandfather.]

It seems to me that "old people" are consigned to the scrap heap linguistically long before they consider themselves scrap.

An old man is a "gaffer" and an old woman is a "bag". But I guess that's the subject of another thread.

BTW I thought a "gaffer" was the guy in the old Vaudeville shows who gaffed the crooner off the stage with a cane just before the curtain went up on the strippers. But I guess I was wrong.