Sister, Sister

I love this snapshot of my sis, Shirley and me, in our matching dresses and hair bows. It is dated 1943 - I think we had the "original" mini-skirts !! I do remember that our hemlines were usually just barely below our panties ! When Mom would stand us on a chair to mark the hems for finishing was always exciting because I knew I was going to have a new dress to wear within the next couple of days. Our cotton dresses were always starched and ironed to be crisp and sharp looking. I didn't like the feel of them when first donned. Maybe that is why we both look so grumpy in this photo !!!

Patriotic Dresses

Another example of my Mom's creativity and talents !! This photo of sister Shirley and myself, is dated 1943. I think I remember these dresses because I wore Shirley's hand-me-down when she outgrew it and I had outgrown mine. Mom had seen them in a store window, of course, and made up her own pattern. The fabric was white with red stars and red with white stars. The collars were blue with white stars. Then she made those big red bows, attached to barrettes, for our hair. It was war time and we were very patriotic looking ! For any "dress up" affair, we had "Shirley Temple" curls put into our naturally curly hair. I always loved it when Mom "fixed" my hair. Weren't we just the cutest two little girls ? Even when finances were short, we always had nice clothes because Mom could do anything ! There are a few professional photos of us kids, but, the only one of the five of us together was when Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Thank heavens for Kodak cameras !!!

New Coats

I wish this photo, dated 1949, was in color -- a perfect example of two sisters showing off their new winter coats in their favorite colors !! Of course, mine was bright red and Shirley's was emerald green, although I believe her most favorite color was probably baby blue. I know we always had warm winter wear, but these two coats are ones I recall, whether it be because of the photo or the circumstances. When fall clothing came into the stores that year, Mom took us shopping for coats. The weather was still warm and back then, there was no air conditioning in the department stores. It was really uncomfortable trying on those winter coats, but, they had to be chosen and "put on lay-a-way" so they could be paid off before winter came. There was no buy now, pay later credit card plan for our family. When Mom picked this red coat off the rack for me to try on, I knew it was "the one". Gee, I hoped it was going to fit ! It was a bit too big, but, lucky me, Mom thought it was fine. It gave me "room to grow". Kids at school dubbed me "Red Coat" that winter.