Hand Me Downs

You are likely to have been a recipient of hand-me-down clothing, unless you are the oldest child in the family, your family is rich, or some other accident of nature. In my day we barely even had that luxury, as we were poor, as was every one else we knew, and clothes got worn till they were thrown out, not handed on. However, having an older brother, I certainly was a candidate to be victimized by this overwhelming trend. My only escape proved to be to grow so fast that eventually I caught up to him in size and then got even bigger, so he was in danger, except that I always wore my clothes out. Besides he would NOT EVER have worn anything of mine!!!! I can't say I blame him because it probably would have been disgusting anyway. But in this proverbial woodpile, we had cousins that were better off than we were in; fact, we secretly thought that they were rich. Being sons of Dad's favorite cousin, the families kept in touch, much to our dismay. The first hand me downs turned out to be "long pants." Now if you never had long pants, this should be a treat. However, these pants turned out to be jodphurs and buttoned just below the knees with enough material in the leg to be able to curtsy, if so inclined. Also, since we were not jockeys, we carried on and hated, really hated, these "pants." Then, as if to top this off, we received wool suits that had been lined. Wool itches little boys, and lining does not stop that problem. So two little boys got to wear these uncomfortable things to CHURCH and itch. Now our parents were grateful for these fine additions to our scant wardrobes, but the lesson for me was NO HAND ME DOWNS EVER.