Those were the good old days
If you have been around long enough, you remember when suits were sponged and
pressed for 25 cents.
Pants were hung on a wire hanger with newspaper tightly wound around the bar.
When the customer called, you requested he extend is arm so you could drape the
pants over it, then match up the shoulder seams of the jacket as you turned the
coat inside out.
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Plastic bags? Never heard of them! And who could afford to give away a wire
hanger?
Most gentlemen (women did little drycleaning) drycleaned their suit once for
every three presses. Usually they waited while you pressed.
When cleaning was necessary, the pants had to be wetcleaned, but the customer
was told they were “water brushed.” It was the only way to get out the stiffness from perspiration.
Suits were sold with two pair of pants and, of course, with a vest. You could
buy any color you wanted so long as it was blue serge, which wore like iron and
shined as much.
You had credit if the tailor would accept “pay you next time.” You were cut off thereafter if you failed to pay. No credit cards, just a
joking, “Mark it on the ice!” And that was one guy you were careful not to stiff – the ice man.
Men wore long underwear, called Long Johns, summer and winter and heavy
overcoats as well. Clothes aired out on the line and nothing looked funnier
than a few pair of frozen underwear on a windy day.
Boys under 10 or 12 wore knickers. If you had holes in your pockets, the large
knee could hold all your worldly possessions, such as marbles, old chewing gum,
baseball cards or a Spalding rubber ball. Kids got baldy haircuts in the summer
and it was the practice to gang up on a recent victim and vigorously rub his
newly shaven head, yelling “Baldy! Baldy Give me luck!”
Men wore hats called Portiers and you had a summer carpet (hemp, straw, sisal)
which you put away and brought out the winter carpet (Axminster broadloom) and
just about all had a fringe. Carpets were cleaned and stored and came delivered
with a bamboo pole, which found a hundred uses, such as a clothes drying rod on
a roof or to wave off pigeons.
Suspenders were in vogue and the well-dressed man even wore garters so his socks
wouldn’t fall down.
Coats were heavy, with raglan sleeves and a tie belt, the occasional short pile
fur collar and, of course, the ultimate Chesterfield with a black velvet
collar. My father-in-law dressed like that and it was amazing how people parted
out of his way when he walked down the street. Clothes made the man!
In summer, men wore flannel wool pants that invariably turned light tan or
yellow due to residual soap from washing or inadequate bleaching.
All kids from six years and older worked, always at something — delivery boy, running errands, or selling newspapers. Some took to shining
shoes, using a discarded fruit box to make a shine box with a leather strap or
rope as a shoulder strap. A big “5¢” was painted on with hopes of getting business but always with a tip. You never
had change , hoping the customer would give you a quarter and say “Keep the change!” Wow! That not only gave you movie money, enough for a double-feature, cartoons
and a serial chapter, but also candy!
Ah, the good old days. We were poor but didn’t know it and rich in love and family ties.
