MY ALPACA COAT

        This past week, while assisting a lady out with her groceries at the Burg Grocery, the talk, of course, ended with the "weather!" I also commented about her sleek down coat she was wearing. She thanked me for the compliment and replied that it was good to have really warm winter wear that was not around many years ago. 

        Quite to the contrary I quickly responded. Most of our winter wear was, I admit, much heavier and bulky. We were usually exposed, generally, to longer spells of cold and we just bundled up with more "stuff---mittens, over-shoes, snow pants, etc. 


        One thing came to mind right away and that was the "alpaca" winter coat that I had while in high school at Laurel. My mother had bought it for me at a men's clothing store in Newton. Iowa called Wormhoudt's Clothing Store. This coat was extremely warm and was came down to knee high. Even when it started to wear around the wrists and around the front buttons, my mother simply had it re-lined in those areas. I would hate to think what a coat like that would cost today!