Milford chronicle., 1960-08-05
| Remember Milford
BY George d. Truitt
An Evening aOn the Town,

yOuuS society set, ALMOST every
Spring and Summer evening the
place to see and be seen was the
tennis court on Causey Avenue
Not much tennis was played. Real
ly, not much of anything happened.
1t was an opportunity to practice
the rather formal type of conver-
sation art which was the order of
the day-and, of course, to display
your wardrobe
The young ladies wore long white
dresses almost invariably embel-
l1shed with yari-colored silk sash
es. Topping this almost uniform
ike costume was floppy Milan or
Leghorn hat with a garden of arti-
f1clal flowers attached. The under
pinning was rarely larger than a
size five shoe. 1t was limited that
lace stockings were also worn. But,
since a modest girl never inten-
tlonally revealed more than a little
lnstep, one could not really know.
You can see that maneuvering
around tennis court with these
restrictions required a special kind
OF skill that our present-day stars
need not bother with. The evening
parade costume was practically a
duplicate of the churchgoing outfit
worn on Sundays. Two features
were added. One small lace-glov-
ed hand carried a fan, the other
held most elaborate silk, lace, and
Hover bedecked parasol.
Do you think the men were to be
outdone by all this sartorial splen-
dor? Not in the least At the ten
mis- court the style demanded white
duck trousers and flannel coat call
ed blazer. Tan shoes were high
style, but for some reason tan pol
lsh was not available. Shoe drum
mers advised that the best way to
get a shine on the shoes was to
rub them with the inside of a ban
ana skin. The basic costume was a
must. How far you went after the
minimum essentials were satisfied
depended largely on ingenuity and
some of those young blades did not
lack inVentiVeness. The stripes of
the blazers reached two to three
inches and the colors would have
compared favorably with Joseph's
coat. The real dresser had a silk
sash around the waist and the more
ones had gold fringe attached to the
ends. The sash went twice around |
the middle and the ends came well |
below the knees. Some years ago
there was a costume affected by |
certain young people called a
"Zoot Suit" Our tennis clothes
and this suit had something in |
common. No gentleman ever play
ed tennis in his shirt sleeves. In /
fact no coat was ever removed in |
the presence of ladies. And, al |
ways the hat came off (rain or
shine) and stayed off until conver-
sation while ladies were present
was ended.
There were dances, too. The
polka, the waltz. the gavotte and '
the square dance, Virginia reel
and the lancers. BUT, if a man
went to a dance with alcohol on his
breath he was in trouble. Every
proper girl ostracized him.
Hotels
Milford attracted many drum
merS from mercantile houses in
Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Bal
timore. The three hotels sent their
hacks to meet every train. A nights
lodging was fifty cents and dinner,
which was served in the middle of
the day was also fifty cents. Sup
per, also big meal. was fifty cents
too. 1t seemed to be rounded fig
ure for practically everything. And
look what was served: Frog legs,
quail, fried chicken, ham, sausage,
scrapple, fresh pork, oysters, fish.
Everything in season was served
and almost everything available ap-
peared at every meal. Guests sat
at long tables and helped them
selves. Muskrat was a special item,
and you may take my word that it
was superlatively good. The no
tells made their money in the bars,
much as they do today, but in
those days you could help yourself
to an elaborate free lunch to go
with your drink. Picked eggs, cold
cuts, picked pig feet, all were
standard items.
Garby's Hotel was a wooden
structure with a high porch roof
chat took in the second story win
lows. The porch floor was really
The brick pavement lined with
chairs and always occupied by the
salesmen and the male hangers-on.
When meals were ready, a colored
waiter stepped into the street and
pounded on a gong which could be
leard all over the neighborhoOd
Jet Lowrey's Hotel was on the
corner of Front Street and every
slity of the owner. He was stout
and jovial, very Falstaff of man.
Most of his anecdotes could not
De printed, but everybody in Mil
ord knew about them.
Mr.. Smoot operated a hotel in
South Milford 1t was very like
hose of his competitors with the
Inevitable line of chairs along the
'front.' with the inevitable customers
and loafers. But this place had a
arge room on the top floor given
over to travelling shows. Uncle
Toms Cabin" and the various Minis
.rels always held forth here Mr..
Smoot eventually sold out to Cap
ain Hethers. who was another Mil
ord character well-liked and full
If fun. 1t is said that he could
neither read or write, but was in
he habit of sitting on his porch
deeply engrossed in his
newspaper obviously to conceal
lis deficiencies). About this time
he America Cup yacht races were