I remember that it was 1977 and I was working at a small variety store in our little town called Cornets. Remember that store? It was what Wal-Mart or Target is now, a place where you could find anything from baby clothes to candy, patterns and fabric to rakes and brooms, women’s underwear and motor oil!
I was working there part-time while I attended Bakersfield College where I was earning my Associates Degree in accounting even though I am the worst mathematical mind in the history of numbers…but that is another story for another time!
There was a small clothing store in Shafter, right on main street, called Johnson’s Department Store. It was a very fancy store in my eyes and I would go in there often with my mom and just look around. One day I saw a sweater and I fell in love. This sweater, it was no big deal, nothing unusual or fabulous about it, the only reason it stood out for me is that it was pink and I loved pink and I had never owned anything of my own that was pink (my mom’s fav color was red, so my closet abounded with red clothing).
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| The Sweater was almost identical to this one. |
One day while visiting and lovingly fondling my sweater I saw a sign that said “ASK US ABOUT OUR FREE LAY-AWAY PLAN”. So I asked and was amazed to realize that for a mere $5.00 I could have them place the sweater in their lay-away bin and I could come back each week on payday and give them another $5.00 and once the balance was paid I would own my sweater! I was beyond happy to know that finally my beloved sweater would be mine, so I put that puppy on lay-away!
I went back to Johnson’s Department Store after that and continued to put clothes on lay-away for a few years until I switched jobs to a Montgomery Wards Store and they gave me a credit card…it was all downhill from there, you know how it is once you get into credit card debt! But I always remember how proud I was of myself for being able to buy my own clothes and not having to rely on my parents, it was a great feeling! Do you remember the first thing you ever bought “with your own money”? How did it make you feel
Normally, I would remember something like that, but since I started working at like 15 1/2 I think the first thing I bought with my own money was like a few cassette tapes.... even back then I had a tendency to spend money on crap HA
ReplyDeleteI started working at around 15 also, but my mom always bought my clothes, hence all the red I used to wear in high school! But I used my money to pay for gas and insurance, it wasn't until after I graduated and got a part time job with a few more hours that I decided to buy my own clothes. I didn't go crazy though, I still let my mom buy my underwear and socks, you know...the important stuff :)
DeleteI bought a winter coat my freshman year in college with money I earned from cleaning out cockroach cages for the entomology department.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Cockroach cages? I'm assuming the cockroaches were still in there and still alive if they dirtying them right? It never ceases to amaze me the people out there that do jobs that no one would ever think of! I bet you treasured that hard earned coat didn't you? Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI honestly can't remember the first clothing item that I bought for myself. I do remember buying a pair of expensive RayBan sunglasses in college with the money I earned working at the stable. With my first teacher paycheck I bought an antique oak washstand. I'm not as crazy about it now as I was then but I'll never get rid of it because of how I purchased it.
ReplyDeleteI love your pink sweater story. Anything that you work hard for is worth more to you than something that is just handed your way.
Thanks Paula! I always wanted a pair of RayBans, but I started wearing glasses in the 8th grade and could never get used to contacts so I never owned a pair. I don't think I've ever purchased a piece of furniture brand new. I've always just gotten hand me down furniture and stuff from Goodwill or Salvation Army. Someday I would love to buy the bedroom suite of my dreams!
DeleteYou are so right, I've always appreciated the things that I've had to work hard for, but like you I've always appreciated items given to me by relatives, especially the ones that have passed on.
I just wrote a long comment and don't see it. I won't repeat in case it is here somewhere that I'm not seeing.
ReplyDeleteYou were right, it did show up :)
DeleteI can't remember buying any clothes, so I guess the first thing I spent money on was my car--used. My dad paid for it and I paid him back in payments. Got it paid off in a little over a year, not bad for making a buck an hour. Of course he didn't charge me any interest so I got off easy. In the summer of 1968 I bought a stereo that I could not afford. $300 which was better than a month's pay for me. I had the notion that having a cool stereo like the guys in Playboy would make me cool. I was mistaken. I spent better than a month's pay and not only remained a virgin (you need an apartment to go along with the cool stereo) but turned into a whiney geeky audiophile trying to attain stereophonic perfection on the cheap. Coolness has never been one of my attributes.
ReplyDeleteI think cars equate to clothing with women. My first car my dad bought for me, the 2nd car he co-signed for me and the 3rd car my paternal grandfather gave me, it was a stick shift and I couldn't even drive one...but I learned!
DeleteI just love your self-deprecating comment! Coolness is highly over-rated! It's great to have memories of the first car, first stereo, first sweater we ever bought with our own money. Thanks for sharing!
Alicia, my sister and I shopped at Cornets all the time. We used to love to buy marbles from there because they had the most variety. I loved that store. Did you work at the one in Bakersfield next to Montgomery Wards? I too recall the first piece of clothing that I bought with my own money. It's funny because I was just thinking about it yesterday and now here I am and you are writing about your first item of clothing with your own money. Silly, mine was also a sweater and nothing fancy. It was a grey sweater and I loved it a lot. I think I may have a picture of myself somewhere wearing that sweater. Ah, the good ol' days. If you worked at the Cornet in Bakersfield, I may have actually seen you in person. 1977 is around the time we were going there because we just lived a few blocks away. I was in 7th grade.
ReplyDeleteHey JarieLyn! I actually worked at the Shafter store, but I did work at the Bakersfield store right next to Montgomery Ward for about six months! I bet we probably did meet at sometime. I'm pretty sure our paths have crossed many times in Bakersfield and we just didn't know it!
DeleteI loved Cornet Store,loved their fabric department, it was so much fun and I loved the people I worked with, sad that they went out of business when K-mart came into the picture. And then when Wal-mart came into the picture K-mart became the new Cornet.
I don't think I ever took a picture in my pink sweater, I really should have, I was pretty proud of it :)
I do, I do! I took the train into the city to the big Wanamaker's in Philadelphia with 3 other gals from high school. I bought and awfully colored lime green sweater. What was I thinking? It was probably 1976!
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, my 1st job was at McDonald's and I had to wear a lime green uniform. It must have been the in color!