Evening star., 1900-06-28
THE GENESIS OF POCKETS.
She Was Sxeptical as to Their Useful
ness and He EnIiGhtened Her.

She Was Skeptical as to Their Useful
ness and He Enlightened Her.
They We're standing before the window of
one Of Washingtons Fashionable tailors,
and to a critical observer they would have
been sized up as still slipping the sweets of
the first stages Of their honeymoon.
Il could never see any particular change
in the styles of mems Clothes" she said.
pointing to a June fashion plate reposing
among piles of imported goods. For IN
stance, the figure showing a young man
in a new spring overcoat looks the same
to me as dozens of others I have seen in
past years. An overcoat is an overcoat.
How may 1t be changed. pray?'
Your lovely innocence, my dear he
said. with evident pride, 'is one Of your
many graces. So. too, Is a skirt skirt,
and a Jacket a Jacket But the way your
sex can modify the styles Of these gar
ments is we'll known and to the sorrow of
the superior being who pays the bills. 1t
is so with mems clothes; it's in the modi-
fication of the style.
You will observe that the plate before
you is the latest issued, and If you scan it
closely you will further observe that on
the left top side of the overcoat appears
an opening for a pocket. Overcoats have
been cut for several years without these
upper pockets. and why the style Is re-
vived is a mystery. These upper pockets IN
an overcoat or sack suit are superf1u-
ity and ruin the set of the garment. since
they permit perceptible sagging on that
side and interfere with the fold when the
lapels are thrown back which is a graceful
motion and one your lords and masters
are very fond of affecting. The hand
kerchief is not carried therein. and they
serve no useful purpose. Men do not snow
their handkerchiefs in these pockets now.
7 narrnit tailor to nut upper
pocket in an overcoat, and l believe that
most men who give attention to the detalls
of their dress are of the same nina. Inc
style is probably revived for a change.
But l have no use for pockets. she
said.
''Of course, since you draw on the con-
tents of mine with a lberalty which pleases
me at present because am very much In
love with you, but which several years
hence will he another story: However,
don't get mad, and ! will tell you some
thing about pockets. If lady has a pocket
in her gown she can never find it. and most
gowns are without pockets. Your sex Will
never rise to the equal Of my own until you
come to pockets.
''From the genesis Of pockets to the pres
ent, their presence and number have been
indicative of mans civilization and prog
the good book falls to record 1t. Nero's
wife had an easy time going through the
old mans toga when she wanted some
small change to buy soda water and ice
turning from the gladitorial festivities.
They carried their money in purses then,
and a knife, latch key. matchbox, cigar cut
ter, cigar case, cigarette case, key ring,
box, pocket book, handkerchief ana a rev
other essentials to a mans comfort hadn't
come into fashion to be carried about on
the person
'.In the early days pouches were carried.
and the fourteen pockets to be found today
in the suit of mans clothes, to which may
t. :, to, t,a
result of the evolution Of the leather pouch.
Chaucer, in referring to the pockets of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, says:
ga Jolly poppere baar in his pouch
(Which means, my dear, in the vernacu-
lar Of the Goth century that the gentlemen
of the period carried their gin ricl1ies and
small black bottles in their leather bag,
and not in the hip pocket as now
"It Is to Shakespeare we turn In this
brief history of the pocket. and what the
gifted poet didn't know about them and
worth knowing 1t is considered Joke to-
day to forget to post wffe's letters. In
King Lear the poet gives voice to the same
sentiment in the line:
'And in Antony and Cleopatra, Cleo said
Ibid you pocket my letters?
"It Is q safe bet that he did, since the
free delivery mail service wasn't in opera
ton at that early date. The poet also fore
stalled the funny paragraphers OF today as
regards the handy joke OF the Wl1eS re-
ported nightly Investigation of her hus-
bands clothes. for he says in Much Ado
About Nothing!
Putting the hand in the pocket
"Out Of courtesy to your sex, no doubt,
failing to add when I'm fast asleep
"It ought to interest the ladies to know
that If they now think pockets spoil the set
of their gowns. in the time Of Julius Caesar
that belief was not entertained. In the
tragedy of that name occurs the line:
"I put 1t In the pocket of my gown,
(Which proves that she was sensible
woman"