Clothing   

An extract from the book Amol in Rassein (Once Upon a Time in Rassein)

(C) 1976 - George M. D. Wolfe. Reproduced here with permission

"My clothing was generally handed down to me from my older brother, but on some pre-holiday occasions my mother would arrange for a seamstress to produce a shirt and pants for me from new cloth or from some used garment. This involved fittings which I resisted since the seamstress seemed to make too much fuss over me. Moreover I was not too keen on wearing new clothing, since I had to walk the length of the synagogue to reach our family pew and was eyed by other children who were either envious of my good fortune or were simply bent on making fun of anything new or novel.

Out of curiosity I often visited the men's tailoring shop where the owner and several assistants worked sitting on tables or at sewing machines. The workers in this shop were "proletarians", friends of our Jewish maid Alte and members or followers of the radical Jewish working class party The Bund. They hardly acknowledged my presence in the shop, but allowed me to watch operations. I would meet them frequently in one of the public gardens where they once invited me to sit in a gondola like swing which they swung to a great height.

With the exception of summer sandals, my shoes and boots were made to order and I spent a great deal of time at the two or three shoemakers whose customers we were. One of the shoemakers was the father of one of the two salesladies working in our store and I therefore enjoyed a special entree to his homeshop. The process of making a shoe or boot fascinated me and I was determined to watch every step in the operation. Fittings were held often and there were always repairs to be made since I did a great deal of walking and wore shoes out quite rapidly.

In general my friends and I came from middle class families who paid a great deal of attention to shoes, polishing and greasing them often, especially in winter, and throughout the occupation period when we played at soldiering and considered our shining boots as part of our uniform". 

Navigation between the chapters:-  Use the side bar, or the links below

Cover     :     Early Memories of Rassein     :     Jewish Rassein      

Schooling    :    Making Matzoh    :   Whats in a name        

Household Chores    :    The Sabbath, Holidays and Holy Days  

Amusemenyt and Diversions   :   Trade and Commerce   :     Clothing