MAKING HISTORY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 862, 4 January 1930, Page 8

MAKING HISTORY

MOUSTACHE-CUPS AND BOOTS OBSOLETE HOW MAN IS CHANGING History is being made right under our very eyes. Think of the things which have become obsolete in this generation; the ordinary once-everyday-things which, have been sacrificed to the thing called progress. Moustache-cups, queer drinking receptacles which bring back memories of beards and whiskers and hirsute adornment of man’s face, are relics now. How many men does one see wearing boots? Not so very long ago the mere suggestion that man should appear in shoes was met with a Victorian scoff. Nowadays, almost without exception, shoes are the only footwear in use. And what of black socks for daywear? These died almost with the boot. Black socks, of course, are essential in the evening except among those people who are in favour of brighter clothes for the male, but during the daytime—“No”—-most certainly “No.” And the smoking cap! That, too, will die with the old school. The high starched collar which fitted under the lobes of our anceslors’ ears finds a place only at the fancy-dress ball, thank heaven. Even the ordinary starched collar has lost much of its prestige, and more or less limp linen is considered much more comfortable. Gold watch-chains, glorified by dangling sharks’ teeth, greenstone or medals, no longer decorate as many manly girths as in former years. Champions in the cycling world or the world of billiards still cling proudly to custom or is it the pride of possession? However, the less ostentatious wrist-watch is the more favoured item nowadays. WHERE ARE THE BOWLERS? Bowlers, too, seemed to have been tossed on to the historical dust-heap oC men’s clothes, though they periodically make a bold bid for favour. Few are seen in Auckland, and at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day there might have been three or four. Even the delicate question of men’s underwear has undergone many changes. Heavy woollens may be all right in the far South, or even in Auckland during the winter, but light cotton garments are the most popular. Some modern youths will claim, without a blush, that they prefer pastelshaded silk undergarments, but the modern youth of Auckland is fortunately not all built that way. Men’s sacrifices have been really rare, but once he has discarded something he has little desire to go back to it. ' Woman, on the other hand, goes back to past fashions (with modern adjustments, of course) with that delight, which has left a path strewn with accounts rendered throughout her whole history.