by Donna Swagerty Shreve
I decided it was time to purge my closet of all of those unworn clothes that took up so much space. As I decided to take out various articles of clothing, I realized each item of clothing had a history of memories for me. Each piece could tell its own story. I found it is a good idea to purge my closet just before I switch out my summer clothes for the fall and winter seasons. Thrift stores loves me!
As I built my ever growing pile of clothes, I realized there were some items I wasn’t ready to left go of yet. The item in question that clogged my progress was my “happy coat”. It had always been known as the happy coat. It has quite a history. It had been worn by both my sister and mother and me on special occasions.
My parents decided my 18th birthday should be a memorable occasion. Being a child of four, birthdays were not always a big celebration. When I turned 18, I was a freshman at the University of the Pacific. My parents offered to take a male friend and me, to San Francisco for a day of shopping for a coat, fancy dinner, and a show. The first problem was I had no special boy type friend as it was October in my freshman year and I certainly had not made obtaining a boy friend my top priority. My dear cousin was asked as he was attending U.O.P. with me and was just seven days younger than I am. Keith was an easy date and off we went for our adventure.
Dad and Keith found ways to entertain themselves and Mom and I went to work finding a fancy coat. I got to try on real furs but I knew they were far beyond the allotted budget. In 1967 furs were still in style and there was not a social conscience to consider, just price tag. As we were beginning to getting discouraged, we found it.
The coat was made out of a fabric known as borganna, which is a fake fur that is soft and warm. The “fur” is thick and heavy. If you stretched your imagination, it almost looked like beaver fur. It did have a fox collar that set off the three/ quarter length warm, elegant treasure. The length of reached just below my knees. It just happened to be on sale and my parents decided to spurge a bit and get it for me. On sale was $150, which was quite a sum for parents in 1967. I was so thrilled as I had never possessed anything so fancy and special. I wore it out of the store and kept hugging myself.
The fancy dinner and movie followed and I can’t remember the details of either. I had my coat and I only wore it on special occasions. There have many occasions where I would decide it was appropriate to wear my happy coat. I tried to save wearing it when elegant attire was called for. I also wore it when I lived in Connecticut and the cold winters required a warm wrap. A few years later, my mother was going to a Rotary convention and she asked if she could borrow it so she could feel special. How could I refuse her? She came back from her fun weekend and said the coat was the piece of resistance that gave her confidence to feel she had dressed appropriately. I remember her borrowing my coat several times when she needed an elegant wrap.
When my younger sister was invited to one of her many formal dances, she asked to borrow the “happy coat.” When she returned it, the coat lining had a burn hole in it. I, of course, quizzed her unmercifully but she pleaded ignorance. Years later after a few drinks at a family affair, she admitted to burning the hole in the lining when she was trying out smoking and drinking as a high school student. As an Olympic athlete, she certainly wasn’t going to confess that digression when it happened.
The lining has been redone and the buttons replaced and the “happy coat” still hangs proudly in my closet. Stockton never quite needs such a warm coat. I visit New York City at least once a year but the happy coat is just too bulky to take on a plane trip. Can I get rid of the happy coat and make room for something else? No. There are just too many special memories attached to it.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 