AMERICAN ECONOMIES

Southland Times, Issue 18845, 10 June 1920, Page 2

AMERICAN ECONOMIES

EVERYBODY WEARING OVERALLS. (Christchurch Press Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, April 27. Donning the denim, or the wearing of overalls, to combat the high cost of clothing, is now in full swing all over the American continent, all the populace having adopted the cheaper class of wearing apparel with an eagerness that has driven the profiteering clothiers almost to a state of frenzy. From an almost insignificant commencement. the wearing of overalls spread all over the continent with amazing rapidity, for, once pedestrians “condescended” to don the lowly workman's industrial attire, everybody appeared to be in the run, and daily the discomforture of the irate tailors was added to, and the newspapers exercised an overpowering delight in adding to the misery of the disconsolate clothiers, whose appeals for censoring the news had fallen on the deaf ears of the publishers who eageily sought all details of the movement of the donning of the denim. It was in Alabama that the overalls first had the big vogue and there the lowly workman’s garb immediately supplanted the well-known “pinch-back.” Rainy weather there served to fortify the wavering intentions of those who had resolved “to see what the other fellow did” before they donned denim themselves. As a result the pledge to put ’em on was universally kept from an early stage in the movement. City commissioners functioned in denim ; judges applied the law in the same uniform, bankers, doctors, lawyers and merchants wore their overalls with an assurance which could only have been acquired after long practice before the mirror In Birmingham, Alabama, the women had quietly “organised” at home. Towards noon on the first day many appeared in dresses of ctdico and gingham, and the variety of colours gave the down-town section the appearance of a carnival. “MOVEMENT NO JOKE.” Retail clothiers had advertised "bargain sales,” in men’s wearing apparel, and lower prices were quoted in the store windows, but the people totally ignored the trickery of (he clothiers. The cost of overalls in Alabama remained at six dollars, and there seemed to be an unlimited supply. “I would rather pay six dollars for my overalls than sixty dollars for a suit,” said Judge William E. Fort, of the Alabama Circuit Court. “This movement is no joke. It will bring down the cost of clothing.” The subject even percolated the discussions of tlie Senate in Washington, where the “Dcnimitcs” were led in the topic of “Overalls, when to wear ’em, and why,” by Senator Dial, of South Carolina, who called upon the American people to go back to overalls and calico and to stay in those humble but honest garments until the cost of living crashed. From all parts of the nation came reports of new "overall” clubs formed. Bisbces, Arizona, had two strong clubs functioning. Chicago had a big club, and in New York City thousands (locked to the banner of “General Overall.” The De Witt Clinton High School students and Columbia University, numbering more than o'JOO, all swore to wear denim, whilst another dozen or more strong organisations of a scholastic character joined the movement wholeheartedly. Just because they did not trust the merchant, scouts in New York quietly bought overalls at wholesale in large quantities, in order to offset any concerted move to boost the price. Naturally the new styles promised to he a bit varied, but, a popular one just- after the movement was initiated included a neat little jacket., accompanying the trousers, belted in the back, the "suit” costing the usual six dollars. PREACHERS USING THEM. The first Sunday of the movement witnessed tlie overalls invading the pulpits, and it was peculiarly significant that the clerical overalls mounted the pulpits first in that city of culture, Boston, where the Rev. Louis L. Duniiiiigtou appeared in his pulpit at Orient Heights Methodist Episcopal Church wearing overalls and jumper. With such a worthy example, the congregation. to the number of over 200, signed the “overalls pledge,” ami on the following Monday overalls: headed the list of the shoppers in Boston. At Meodford, in the same Eastern State, the Rev. Rollin S. Tuttle, clad in white denim, preached bis first sermon as pastor of the Hillside Methodist Episcopal Church, and here also the congregation emulated his example throughout the following week. Reports continued lo arrive in New' Aork indicating that the overall campaign to combat, the high cost of living was receiving semi-official recognition by State officials at various points in the United States, many of whom had joined the movement. At' El Paso, the judges wore overalls while dispen.-ing justice, as the result of the formation of a club at the County Court. House, where all attaches, from judge down to office boys, a,dopled the denim as their daily garb. Judge Kennedy wore a suit of overalls at Cleveland when he occupied the. Bench. Pro- editors, deputy-sheriffs, clerks, and bailiffs followed the example of the judge, appearing in blue denims and jumper jackets. . One hundred State officials appeared in the State capital m Austin donning the cheaper attire, whilst fifty Estate officials and employees at Santa Fe pledged themselves not to buy new clothes until the ruling prices declined. A dozen cities and towns m Arkansas icported clubs organised, including one formed of employees of the State capital and County Court-houses at Little Rock. Several hundred High School boys at Little Rock hUo took the pledge. Waiters numbering 330 appeared in one of New York’s largest restaurants clad m denim, and an entirely new line wans truck a! Newark, New Jersey, where a fad sponsored by a dull of young lawyers was responsible for the appearance there of overalls with creases sewed in, evidently as a protes', against the high cost of pressing! SURPRISING NEW YORK. Naturally. New York sought to outstrip the rest of America, and succeeded in staging “something different.” Started as a publicity “stunt" by the irrepressible press

agents of the Broadway Cheese Club, the back-to-overalls fad in New York outgrew its original design, spreading to Court benches, class-rooms of exclusive schools, the V.M.C.A., and the Y.W.C.A., as well as the municipal offices, and even to head waiters. The prettiest things in overalls yet seen in New York emerged on the iirst Sunday afternoon, single file, from the stage door of the Capitol Theatre, 20 in number, and strolled down Broadway, picking up scores of new followers every block of the way. They wore the tegular old-fashioned, kind, without any silken frills, but each dainty coiffure was crowned with a wide-brimmed hat composed of ribbons, cherries, and stuffed birds resembling Long Island ducklings. The demonstration probably attracted more attention to the occupants of the overalls and to the overall craze itself than any other single enterprise up to that time undertaken in connection with the New York swatting of clothing profiteers. On returning to (he theatre, the girls were followed by a man wearing overalls of trousers and jumper, together with a fedora hat, chamois gloves, silk socks, snakewood stick, and a blue denim overall dress. This individual did not fail to attract the notice of New Yorkers. The following advertisement appeared in anewspaper published in Newark, Now Jersey; “Substantial overalls, in fashionable oncpiecc models, made of strong, serviceable material, suitable alike for dress, for office work, for bricklaying, for hanking, for boilermaking, bookkeeping, fishing, school, gardening, banquets, church, and theatre.” They are pleasingly priced as follows:—■ “Plain overalls 2.20d01. to 3.30dn1,; overalls, with belts and solid gold, sterling silver, and French enamel buckles, from 10.70d01. to 40dol.; overalls with rhine stone buckles, 42.25d01. to 43.50d01.”