29 Dresses
At the end of December in 2023, we made a drive from Ohio to New Jersey to be with my parents. When we were there, I revealed I had started quilting and asked if I could turn old clothes into a quilt for her, something she has mentioned a few times over the years. For some reason I thought she had a lot of my grandfather’s clothes, but she’s worn them over the years while gardening and there aren’t many left. She did, however, have a box full of her mom’s clothes that have been in a box since her passing in 1971. She said I could go through all of them and use what I want for her quilt.
There were almost 60 dresses and rompers (or some people call them jumpsuits or culottes). They were in pretty good condition considering they were in a cardboard box with all manner of nature that finds itself inside an attic. I went through each one, looking them over for rips, tears, stains, and holes. There were 29 that I felt comfortable repurposing for the quilt so I brought them home to Ohio to wait until a sunny day was in the forecast.
After sharing about it on my Instagram, it garnered a lot of attention that was surprising to us. I thought it would be something interesting for my followers to watch the process, but suddenly traction built up from a 7 second Reel. A few questions were asked, and being that I never met my grandmother, I passed them off to my mom to answer. So enjoy a little background about my grandmother, Mary, and a peak into her life (and wardrobe)!
Where did she live?
She lived in a small town of about 2,000 or so people in central New Jersey. Her mother, father and nine brothers and sisters moved there from Pennsylvania when she was in grade school. She was next to the oldest, having an older brother and two sisters. The rest were boys. It was a town where most men worked in the cement mill and the women were housewives. They were of immigrant stock: Hungarian, Russian, Slavic, Italian, Irish, etc. Many people spoke their native tongues until they learned English and every group could converse with the other in their language, at least somewhat. Everyone knew everyone else and helped each other when the need be. You could always count on your neighbors.
Did she have a favorite dress? + Did she make them herself?
She liked dresses with prints--flowers or designs. They always had to have pockets because pockets were so useful for many things, carrying a handkerchiefs, a pack of seeds, a few dollars, a grocery list, etc. Her dresses were made by a neighbor woman who would hem clothes or alter them, etc., for extra earnings. I don't know if she made anyone else dresses besides my mother. They were very good friends and she lived close enough that my mother would walk there. My mother didn't make any of the dresses, but she could hand sew and had a treadle sewing machine for mending and such. I never heard her say that she disliked anything that was made for her. She appreciated and wore them all. She disliked "going uptown" to buy her dresses that were for everyday wear or casual wear. She had a few, but not many. Special occasion dresses were bought in department stores and were a rare purchase. She preferred cotton dresses with zipper fronts that were called culottes back in the day. There was material in the middle that separated the legs and made garden bending easier and more modest. Buttons were too fussy and took too long to do and undo. Most were like a loose jumpsuit that looked like a dress and were easy garden wear. They were made of light denim or cotton fabric. She never wore slacks and the dresses were usually sleeveless. The cotton material was different than what you see today. It was a different weight and weave. The more you washed them the softer they got and they seldom faded. They always kept their shape and didn't shrink. I would assume that it were all American made in those days since there were many cotton mills in the United States back then.
Which is your mom’s favorite?
I liked the paisley prints in the bright colors of the 1960s, as that was when I was a teen and they were a popular print. She had quite a few of them. I also liked the flowered ones, which reminded me of summer. Now my favorite ones are the denim, the worn out ones that she was in almost every day to work in the garden that she loved so much.
Does your mom have a favorite spring time memory of her mom growing up?
Springtime meant the garden and yard work. Two of her brothers would help her by doing the plowing and the heavy chores that had to be done. The garden was large and had a lot of different vegetables in it: several types of tomatoes, peppers and lettuces, corn, onions, garlic, dill and other herbs, several types of squashes, eggplant, peas, several types of beans--I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. She had beautiful shrubs and trees that flowered in the spring: tulips, daffodils, amaryllis, crocuses, orange blossoms, lilacs, lilies--gorgeous. Summer flowers came next and then the maturing of the various fruit trees of several types of apples, peaches, plums, pears, two types of cherries--it was so nice to go into the backyard and pick fresh fruits! A spring tradition was picking the dandelion greens for salads. Dandelion greens are the first edible salad greens to sprout in the spring and when picked young and tender are so delicious. She had a certain knife that she would use and take a bag with her and walk along the road (not too close ) or go along stream and cut out the dandelion plants in one piece. My father loved to fish and would pick wild watercress in the local streams after fishing and bring them home, too. A nice trout dinner with fresh wild salad greens dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar can't be beat! I know certain groups eat the greens with a hot bacon dressing, but my father was born in Italy and they were always in a salad with a bit of scallions from the garden. My mother was Slavic in her background, born here, so spring meant Easter and the dyeing and coloring of Easter eggs with traditional patterns. Not Pysanka eggs, but eggs with certain patterns made with hot wax and then colored. She taught me, I taught my children and my grandchildren how to do it so the tradition will live on.
How did she meet your grandpa?
I really never knew how my parents met. They lived on the same street just a few houses apart and I always thought they met in grade school or during various neighborhood introductions or activities.
It’s been really amazing connecting to my personal family history through this project! Up next is photographing each outfit before they evolve into a family heirloom.
If you have any other questions you’d like to know about the project, my grandmother, or anything else, please reach out to me :)
