Snowsuits

Did you have a snowsuit when you were little?  We have some great pictures of us when we were little wearing matching snowsuits.  My sister’s and mine were matching light blue suits and John’s was a darker blue but the same style.  We’d zip those little puppies on and go out not afraid of the cold or snow.  We just had rubber boots for winter boots but we had 3 pairs of socks on to keep our feet warm.

       My father said they were the most expensive snowsuits to be had and for years we thought he just meant we had really nice suits.  However, the truth was that my dad had a brilliant idea of canning and marketing water back in 1958 but my mother insisted that the money should be spent on the children, not a crazy idea.  My father naturally listened to the wiser head of his wife.  So he never got the patent or the idea off the ground until 1980 when his children went into partnership with him.

       Fortunately my father was a sensible man and also one with a great sense of humour, hence the allusion to how expensive our suits were.  Meanwhile we thought we were rich to have such nice suits.  It was one of the few times I felt happy to have something different from the other kids in school.  Most of the time I just wanted to blend in and it would embarrass me to be wearing fashions 2 years ahead of my peers because my grandmother would send us things from Denmark.  When girls had tall boots, Jeanette and I had to wear white rubber ankle boots (and those never did come into fashion over here).  When other girls wore fuzzy knit winter caps, we had ones made of white fur (they were gorgeous, but we didn’t blend).  One year, and I really don’t know what Farmor was thinking, she sent over pinkish grey duffle coats that were 10 sizes too big.  I am not exaggerating.  Here we were, 10 and 11 years old, both of us together didn’t weigh 100 pounds, and these coats were made for women considerably taller and at least a 100 pounds heavier.  Those, thank God, my mother never made us wear.  They were even too big for her!

       Oh yes, and let’s not forget the white and blue satin bloomers – but that’s for another story!