On Past Dressing Styles

Fred and I will be traveling to my 55 High School reunion this summer. I have been digging out old pictures for the video that will be shown then. And on top of that,  

Fred and I recently attended the 50^th Wedding Anniversary celebration of two good friends, Otis and Greta. There were pictures everywhere.  As I looked at the many memories, I thought how much we forget about our lives.

            Such reminiscences those pictures evoke! Where has the time gone?

            I noticed the dress attire both in the wedding photos and my high school pictures. I couldn't help but observe that no one was overweight!  I refer to my teachers, the guests at the wedding…all the pictures of the common population in the photos. Everyone was a normal weight. We know that these folks ate well.  I asked myself "What has gone wrong in this country with all these heavy people?"

            Some of these pictures caused me to ponder. I hope my descriptions bring up some memories for you. You younger ones are going to get a good history lesson!

            Women wore dresses, and skirts and sweaters, most of the time. We owned hats for special occasions. I wore hats to church and I remember when the "whimsy" came into style. Gloves were a common "dress up" item as well.  

             "Panty hose" were non-existent in the 50's and early 60's. But stockings were a normal part of our dress attire. We secured the stockings with garter belts. The hose didn't come up totally on the thigh, so the garter belts had to reach down the top of the leg to connect with the top of the stocking. Was that uncomfortable? I don't remember. It's just the way it was.

            The guys wore slacks, button down collar shirts, and narrow belts. But the fashion Fred remembers the most is that the guys wore jeans rolled up; penny loafers with a real penny in the slot, and shirts with the short sleeves rolled up. If you were a real daring guy, you stuck a pack of cigarettes in the rolled up sleeve. The "ducktail" was a popular hair style among some of the crowd.

            We shouldn't forget the "letter jacket" either. The guys wore them proudly, and the girls wore the guy's class ring on her finger (with tape wrapped around the ring so that it would fit) if she was going "steady".

             We girls wore saddle shoes and both guys and gals wore white bucks. The "white bucks" were nappy, white, sporty oxford-type shoes. We carried a little chalk pillow to tidy them up with they got scuffed.

            Angora sweaters were the rage for a time. We wore little scarves around our necks. Does anyone remember the fuzzy colored balls on a string that also were worn around the neck?  The scarves were a longer lasting fashion. But the little fuzzy balls on a string were definitely accents to our school wardrobe.

            Somewhere in the early 50's, the see-through blouses became popular. I bet our teachers went ballistic in the teacher's lounge. We had "slips" then that we wore underneath, but still….

            Clothes were laundered in automatic washers by the time we were in college in the 60's, but in the 50's, we washed clothes with ringer washers. Water was hosed into the washer, and the machine rotated the clothes. Once washed, each item then had to be lifted out with a spoon or stick (the water was hot), and run through the ringer. I had heard stories of fingers and hands caught in the ringer so I was very careful. The same water washed several loads, (whites first and colored next) and once the clothes were removed, the washer was emptied, refilled with rinse water, and the process of rinsing all those rung clothes again began.

            We hung clothes to dry outside or in our basements during the winter. In my hometown in the north, the clothes often froze on the outside line, and they remained there until they eventually dried. Once in the house, the clothes were sprinkled with a bottle of water with a stopper in the top. We rolled them up to get good and damp, and then ironed them.

            What a tremendous luxury it was to own a modern washer and drier. Many went to the Laundromat to wash clothes, and of course, still do.

            It's amazing how fashions and society has changed. But the kids still take as much time and expense to dress cool. That's not changed. However, today no in that crowd irons clothing. Oh I know some of you are saying right now, "Well, I do!" me too.  We are not those "no ones." No one wears an item of clothing twice. Our modern laundering tools waste water…And maybe, just maybe, we will return to some of those habits from the past.

             They say the pendulum swings.        

                       

On Cleaning the Cabinets

            I am getting ready for a mob of company next week. The weekend of June 12 and 13 is Santa Fe Trail Days in Larned, and our kids and relatives are coming to visit.  

            I decided I had better get hopping. You know, get ready for the group.

            Clean house, you say? Oh no, I am far beyond that simple concept. No, I decided to clean and rearrange all my cupboards in the kitchen so that I could find places for the items on the countertops.

            Fred wonders about me. He remarked as he was tromping through the kitchen in his garden shoes, leaving dirt on the floor, "Why are you doing that? It's not important."

            You see, Fred is busy in the garden, weeding and hoeing. I could ask the same.

            I started with the 3 tiered circular, turning, spice shelves. If I could consolidate them, then I could move things from the …well, its like "musical chairs".

            I peered into the cabinet, wet washcloth in hand.

            I am so embarrassed. I think I have bought a few duplications." I must be losing it", I thought.

            Let me tell you in all honesty what I saw as  I peered into those shelves, standing on a stool to get a glimpse before I sorted the mess.

            There were five packages or containers of toothpicks. Two packs were the fatter, substantially larger, old timers, and the rest were the new sliver-thin kinds. I guess I thought we needed more?

            I found six boxes of baking soda, four jars of honey, six or seven salt shakers, six full packages of fine ground sea salt, and two bags of coarse salt, three partial jars of instant coffee, and 2 ½ boxes of Splenda.

            No wonder the shelves were full.

            My greatest shock was the eight containers (Crystal Light) of drink mixes, and five little squeeze containers of flavoring for water. What have I been thinking? Or maybe the question should be, "What have I been drinking?".

            As I stretched to reach the top shelf, I discovered a gold mine up there. There were three jars of bouillon, two packages of large cupcake papers, two boxes of Hershey's cocoa with one only holding about two tablespoons of cocoa, and three bottles of vanilla. As I dug around with my washcloth in hand, I recovered two full sets of food coloring, and a box of corn holders.

            Here's my two cent advice. If you yearn for more cupboard space, start weeding out the extras.  You won't believe what you find! I challenge you!

            While drinking coffee with Velma and Goldie this morning, I polled them about their experiences. Goldie says that she still has spices in her cabinets that belonged to her mother who died forty four years ago. OK, then.

            Velma is short in stature, and her cupboards are way too tall for her. She doesn't know what is on the top shelf of her spice cabinet. She operates like me, "Out of sight, out of mind".

             She explained that her "Rufus" likes to buy in large quantities "just in case" they run out. She found two large containers of cinnamon there. Rufus rationalizes that if one is good, two is better. Velma says she won't have to buy cinnamon ever again in her life.

            I guess!

            Now, let's proceed to the cupboard cleaning adventure.

            I was on a roll as I continued to dig and discard. I combined bottles of like substances, threw out the little bits here and there, and put extra stuff like salt and pepper shakers, plastic bins, etc. in a box for the budget shop.

            I found places for things that I had never imagined before and now the cupboards were clean and clear. I juggled this stuff to that place, and emptied other locations. I found a place to hide the toaster, the bread box, and the dish drainer.

            Does that feel good or what?

             I don't know if our guests will inspect my organized cabinets. Nor will they care. But I care. I have gained two empty drawers from this effort and I cannot wait to fill them….with junk.