Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories. With Marysville and Union County celebrating Bicentennial anniversaries in 2019 and 2020, respectively, these articles help depict what life was like in those early years.
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Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of fads in women’s fashion. There were mini-skirts and midi-skirts. Then there were ballerina skirts that came all the way down to the lady’s ankles, and even skirts that had a poodle dog appliquéd on them.
But it wasn’t just skirts. There were a lot of other fads, like bobby sox and saddle shoes.
I think the strangest female fashion occurred in the 1950s and early ‘60s. That’s when women wore white gloves. They didn’t wear them all the time, just when they were wearing a dress. Let’s say it was Sunday morning, and they were going to church. They put on a dress and maybe a color coordinated hat. But they didn’t leave the house until they had put on their white gloves.
It was the same when women went shopping in Columbus. A lady just wouldn’t want to be seen in Lazarus Department Store unless she was wearing a dress and white gloves. I once went Christmas shopping in that store in the early ‘60s, and when I stepped inside, the first floor was packed with lady shoppers who were almost all wearing white gloves. I never saw so many white gloves in my life. It was like I had walked into a mime convention.
Even little girls wore white gloves. Our daughter, Jenny, wore them. She was in the Brownies, and when she wore her Brownie dress, she wore them.
At the other end of the age spectrum was my Aunt Berna. She was about 80 years old, a widow who lived in north Columbus. She was a movie fan, and she made trips to the Palace and Ohio Theaters in Columbus when new movies came to town.
Before leaving her house, she donned one of her favorite dresses and a hat. Then she put on white gloves. She took the bus down High Street, got off at a bus stop that was only about 30 feet from the Lazarus front door, and immediately went inside.
But Aunt Berna wasn’t there to shop. Instead she went directly to what she called the “Tea Room.” I think it was on the fifth floor, and it was a favorite place for women to eat lunch. My aunt loved their chicken salad, but I think it was the ambience of that place that attracted her most. As the ladies ate, there were models wearing some of the store’s latest fashions. They circulated throughout the room, and customers could examine the fabrics and talk with the models. I think she’d really liked that.
After lunch, she walked to the theater for the first afternoon showing. She took her gloves off as she watch the movie. You see, she always ate popcorn while she watched the movie, and she didn’t want to get her white gloves soiled. That was one of the problems with white gloves … they showed everything.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at bill@davidwboyd.com