The outfit/uniform I remember my mother wearing was a dress. Not just any dress but, the ones she made with a fitted bodice with gathered or pleated full skirt, that fell just below the knees. The necklines varied from boat, square, oval, round as well as V neck. Not the cowl, turtle, or high necklines I preferred.

The fabric in those days was cotton, her’s were quite colorful with varied designs: flowers, stripes, plaid, very few plain. This was the code of passage, a real sign of the times.

She would sprinkled these with a bottle that had a stopper fit on the top with holes, not the spray bottles of today. Since we lived in Eastern Oregon, she put the clean sprinkled dresses in large bags. They were stored in the freezer to prevent drying or mildewing. It was my job to iron at least one daily, which was a challenge I enjoyed. Not like at Grandma’s house where I had a whole bag of: hankies , pillowcases, dress shirts, etc., which seemed to take hours to iron when I was in my youth.

I remember a time when I was in high school, mother and a neighbor would bicycle early in the morning  in their dresses. They would try to be earlier than the buses and/ or traffic.

“Are you up advertising this early in the morning?” Dad asked mom.

Carol Bouchard