Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sunday, Sunday........

Does anyone remember the ads on the Philly radio stations:  Atco, Atco, Sunday, Sunday........?
Al Roker seems to have been there , because he chirps up with a "Sunday, Sunday..."every once in a while......you had to be there, but it's one of those things that automatically kicks in everytime you hear a vague reminder of the ad.............Atco was a Dragway, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, and Sundays were THE day to go............
That was after church, mind you, when you got changed and took off for parts unknown with your buddies, Atco or not.......my crowd wasn't into drag racing...we were into rollerskating, with our little outfits. Not a hat to be seen in the rollerrink,by the way.  
Sunday was the day we got dressed in our civilian clothing.  It's how my hat addiction started out.  No school uniforms on Sundays, just miles of pastel dresses, hats, gloves, clutch bags, and of course, matching shoes.  It was another uniform, to be sure, but what else is social dressing, but a uniform? Hats were de rigeur in the fifties, and until 1964, a part of all of our lives when we planned our Sunday outfits.  The Ecumenical Council changed all of that, as did the beehive, Jackie Kennedy, and post WWII lifestyle.  But then, the hat reigned supreme, since it was all you could see once everyone was seated in church. 
What a picture!  Mrs. Broderick's little flowered bucket; my girlfriend Joanne's yellow straw helmet; my pink straw with the cabbage rose.  Whew!  We wore hats that only a mother could love.  Think Doris Day and that should engrave an image on your brain.  In the Sixties we started wearing triangular kerchiefs, to supplement our hat wardrobes.  Thrilling!  Denimheads, or madras, to match our reversible windbreakers, that matched our reversible wrap skirts.  But they were never as picturesque as the hats.  The trims, the shapes, the outfits concocted to match.  How delirious were the hatmakers of America in the 1950's to have every head covered.  Those were the days.
P.S. Atco Raceway is still going strong.

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