Cleveland, MS. Own small farm near Booneville, MS | IMO it was because even though they were, in many cases, very poor, especially during the Depression, they had a certain amount of pride in themselves and respect for both themselves and others. In other words, they cared. So many people today just don't care. They don't care how they look nor what other people think about them. Many have no respect for themselves, others, or anything else.
When I was growing up I would sometimes start to leave the house in something less than what my mother considered "appropriate attire." She would demand that I dress more appropriately and would sometimes add, "Don't be doing that (whatever "that" may have been). People will talk about you." Both my parents cared deeply about their reputation in the community and so they acted in such a way as to build a good reputation. This included maintaining a good appearance, paying their bills, and keeping their word. Their reputation was such that I could go into almost any store in town and purchase anything from a suit of clothes to tools and parts on just their verbal word that they would pay for it.
In those days most people cared about how they looked, how they acted, and what others thought of them (their reputation). Nowadays, many just don't care. I knew one fellow of that generation who occasionally hired out to my father to hoe cotton. He came to work every morning in a clean shirt and bib overalls. He went home in the evening sweaty but clean. I also knew people of that generation who often wore their bib overalls to church. They may even have been patched, but they were clean, starched, and ironed, as was their shirt (sometimes even with a tie). |
Why Did Farmers Always Dress Up (Old Farm Pics)
