Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fall & Winter in the Midst of Summer

Photo Credit: The Fifties Web

The JCPenny Fall & Winter 2009 catalog arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. I don't know about the rest of y'all but the last thing I'm thinking about right now are winter clothes.

Not that we actually really need those down here anyway. Okay, sometimes we do when we have those occasional bursts of winter air. But not very often, and certainly not for very long.

I watch the little blurbs on the news every winter, showing those of you in the northern regions of our country, all bundled up and lookin' miserable fighting against brisk and very cold winds, and snow and ice, just tryin' to get around back and forth to work and to take care of daily errands for pete's sake! How y'all deal with it all is beyond me and I realize that despite the heat, this is one reason why I have never left the south. The very rare occasion that it does snow enough to put any minor accumulation on the ground down here, well, it pretty much shuts down the entire Coast and turns it into a snow day! We simply do not know how to function in that stuff!

Anyway, getting this fall & winter catalog in the midst of summer here had me reminiscing of school clothes shopping days of years past.

My Daddy, who worked all of my life as a simple bookkeeper for a very small company, used to save his tax refund for our fall school clothes shopping trip. It was quite a big deal when clothes shopping day would roll around! A very big deal for us back in those financially leaner and much more simple days. This was the 60s after all, and there were 3 of us, so my Mama had to stretch those few hundred tax refund dollars out but good to get us all fitted with new clothes, one pair of shoes and school supplies. Mama was a genius with that kind of stuff though ... she could stretch a dollar.


We were always so excited because it meant not only did we get to go shopping, a rare thing for us, but we got to try on and get brand new clothes! Nevermind that it was still in the midst of summertime heat that we got to try on our new and often itchy and scratchy winter wardrobe. That didn't matter to us a bit!


So, we'd traipse on over to Gulfport to the Sears and the JCPenny's store, because while the Edgewater Mall in Biloxi had actually arrived by then, I figure that must've been a bit too high dollar for my Mama, so Sears and Penny's it was!


How exciting it was to get all those new clothes and once we got home, we would try on everything over and over and over and model them for each other, admiring our new purchases, until Mama would fuss at us to put up our new clothes until school started the next week. And, yes, we actually wore those hot and itchy clothes those first days of the new school year, even though it was still blazing hot and back then air conditioning in school was unheard of. They were new afterall!

If I close my eyes, I can actually still envision some of those clothes - paisleys & plaids were popular, and lots of sleeveless shifts, but the one thing I can remember fighting with my mom about the most were the mini skirts. Thank goodness back in those days they came with bloomers!

Photo Credit: The Fifties Web

It sure was a groovy time. And so much more simple. Peace.


Photo Credit: ioffer.com

21 comments:

  1. Nice bit of reminiscing! My DH has a very similar southern story. As for me, I can relate to all but the weather! I was north and loving the fall weather. Never did like the snow though. That's how I ended up down here!

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  2. I remember those days of shopping for school clothes. When I was in grade school, my mom still made a bunch of my clothes, but of course we shopped for shoes and a winter coat.And I remember those mini skirts in high school!
    I'm dreading winter as our last 2 have had severe winter storms.But I adore autumn, so guess I'll just have to take whatever comes! :)

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  3. Oh Mary, what a sweet story! To think of you and your siblings and your "fashion shows." I can remember when Sears was a much bigger store and would teem with back-to-school shoppers.

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  4. Oh I do long for that crispness of fall Kathy! It may be short lived, but I love it. I can breathe - don't you just love taking in that air?

    Lynda, one of my most favorite dresses was one my Mama made for me. It was a summer frock - a sleeveless shift dress of yellow cotton patterned with dainty flowers. I'm sure that I wore it much too often. I can still see it in my mind's eye!

    Penniwig, the fashion shows were were best part. To think such excitement over clothes - things that kids today simply take for granted. And you are right, Sears back then was a very big deal!

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  5. I loved the smell of new pencils and crayons!! We got new clothes too and it was in 5th grade that we girls were allowed to wear shorts and jeans to school, such a different time back then! In the 4th grade I remember waiting for the bus in freezing weather with a dress and knee socks...froze my arse off if ya know what I mean. That was in Ky...up here we live on the school street and I feel so sorry watching the kids trudge to school in the snow and ice...it doesn't stop much up here!

    Great post, Mary!!!

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  6. Oh and did your Sears have a hot nut vender??? Ours did...it was inside the door and Mama would always purchase us a bag of warm cashews to share!!

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  7. Oh my gosh! I freaked out when I saw that picture of Edgewater Mall! Do you remember eating lunch at Walgreens? I bought my first wedding dress in 1983 at a shop there. I loved the little store where you could get taffy. Years later I actually worked at the mall. Wow the memories!

    It's been three years since I had to leave my coast and move to the Memphis area and I still can't stand the cold. This area may not be considered far enough away to be called "North" but it's pretty cold to me!

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  8. Tammy I love the smell of new pencils too, but especially new books! Still do!! Don't recall the hot nut vendors though I do seem to recall popcorn now that you mention it!

    Grits, isn't that photo great? Yes! I ate at Walgreens all the time. It was fun to sit in a booth and people watch! I worked at several stores at that mall over the years too. It was fun! The Cajun (my hubs) and I were up in Nashville around Christmastime one year - I don't think I have EVER been that cold before!! Hope you get back "home" someday.

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  9. I still shop from the JC Penney catalog! :) I love it!

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  10. Isn't it amazing that we get these catalogs so far in advance? I know when the summer is half over because I start getting those kid Halloween catalogs! Just let us enjoy the summer already, right?!

    BTW, thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I'm glad you did. ;)

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  11. Ahhh back to school shopping. Actually I love the clothes in that first picture. Can we go back to that fashion? I know, we did sort of but it didn't look the same all modified.

    The sucky thing about back to school shopping here is you are buying clothes for the first day of school in August, when it's scorching hot outside, but in just a month or two the temps start to drop. So you have to buy clothes that will last into fall and maybe even winter...in JULY. I found myself wearing sweaters in August many times just to get to wear my new clothes back to school!

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  12. I grew up in New England ~ HATING the snow and ice every winter!! The Hubs and I moved to Florida in 2004 and have loved the heat ever since... I do however remember shopping via the JC Penney catalogue every year. I was the third daughter out of four and got several hand-me-downs each year, but I do remember getting a pair of JC Penney "Plain Pockets" jeans every year. Thanks for the memories... and thanks for stopping by my blog today.

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  13. for a second I got concerned that the first photo was from the new JC Penney catalog-- then I read on...We live in the south, too; and my son wears shorts to school 10 months out of the year. thx for stopping by my blog today :D

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  14. Thanks for taking us down memory lane with you. I really enjoyed this post.

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  15. Love your blog, I just tried making your Jimmy Carter Pudding Cake and I found that the first layer was not generous enough. I had a hard time spreading it out and then in the corners there just wasn't enough dough. I ended up making another 1/2 of the dough and then it worked out. Otherwise it taste fantastic!

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  16. Christy & Mary, it's funny how little things - like getting a JC Penny catalog in the mail, can trigger these old memories!

    Theta, Stephanie, Lorie & Carma - thanks for stopping by to visit me!

    Likeschocolate - Thanks for your comment on my Jimmy Carter Cake. While the bottom crust on this dessert is a fairly thin one, you'll note in the tutorial it fully covered my 9 x 13 pan. I wonder, could it be possible that the pan you used was slightly larger? Thanks for letting me know that you ran across that issue though. I'll be sure to make a note on the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!

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  17. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I remember getting Penny's catalogs as a child. It was such a BIG deal!!

    I don't know how we handle the winter!! I hate the snow and cold!!

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  18. I had a pair of "hot pants" that my mother actually sewed a hem of lace to the bottom because she and Dad said they were too short. I was in the 9th grade and used to leave for school w/the lace down like Mom wanted, then tuck it under the leg of the shorts until I got off of the bus. Poor Mom never knew what I did. I was BAD!

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  19. Oh that is so funny, and yet... seems very familiar LOL!! Oh if only that were the extent of "bad" today, huh?

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  20. I hear ya. Love school shopping! I even love the fall and winter weather.

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