There is an old saying ” there are but two gifts we can give to our children, one is roots, the other is wings”, Anon. Well, I can assure you never were those words more true than in the America of the 1930’s ! And yes, we did go to bed hungry but we didn’t complain, what good would it have done? We simply learned to share, it became our way of life, that and the love of God sustained us ! I worked three jobs until the time of my marriage at age 25, close to “spinsterhood”. Keeping busy was the impetus of the day, and the time-worn admonition, “Idle hands do the devil’s work” was the familiar motto! We sure had roots as family was our “community” and wings translated into “dreams” of which there was always an abundance! How I miss the love that we knew then, it was free of conditions, fear and bribery. Can you imagine, love for the sake of affection?
Sincerely,
Claire B.
Claire V. Bogdanos 
DATELINE: Hoboken, NJ, USA ” ORANGE PEELS ” ( 2013 ) 2013/06/14
Tags: Blog, Clothing, Commentary, Family, Life, Memories, Opinions, Recycling, Writing
Are you familiar with the term ” hand-me-downs ” ? For those of us who are , it epitomizes a way of life that seems to have faded into a form of casual oblivion ! However, with this disappearance we lose a huge chunk of the basic tenets of our American heritage, our raison d’ etre. I’ve been wearing ” castoffs ” for the better part of my life, which is why and how I learned early to boldly ” cut and sew ” or to turn used sweaters into vests and ” bobby sox “. I was taught to knit and crochet by the age of eight and to weave by ten. It was ” disgraceful ” to discard any object that displayed even the faintest signs of ” resurrection “. Recently, I was thrilled to watch a TV program about the recycling of orange peels into feed for cattle ( chock full of vitamins ). Bravo ! When I was first married, my favorite place to shop was called, the ” Salvation Army ” , and every item chosen became a labor of love ! Each eventually made its way into a ” family heirloom ” or a garage sale, thats American ingenuity and entrepreneurship ! I must admit that as my sons entered grade school, I ceased ” making ” their clothing but they did wear ” hand-me-downs ” for an extensive time after. The result of which is that the youngest of four remains to this day a vision of sartorial splendor ! Hmm, I wonder why?
Sincerely,
Claire B.
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