A childhood belief about misheard lyrics

My parents used to watch a lot of All in the Family reruns when I was around 6-10 years old. This is how I heard the lyrics:

By the way glad miller played
Songs that made the hit parade,
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.

And you knew where you were then,
Gals were girls and men were men.
Here's to we could use a man like Herbert Hoov'r for our den.

Didn't need no world's best date.
Everybody pulled his weight.
G.R.O. la sal-man grate.
Those were the days.

I was willing enough to belive that Herbert Hoover had been a great conversationalist, and therefore someone you'd want around your den; and it seemed reasonable that an old fart like Archie might find the modern dating scene not to his liking.
But what was a "sal-man grate"? After much thought, I came to the uneasy conclusion that it was something you put over the ducts in your house to keep out the salamanders. Later, I toyed with the idea that "Salmangrade" was some small, obscure Eastern European state, but that wasn't quite satisfying either.

Later I found out the real lyrics:

By the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the Hit Parade,
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.

And you knew who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.

Didn't need no welfare state.
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee our old LaSalle ran great.
Those were the days.