Bib Overalls...

Grandpa Gene with his grandson in his new  bib overalls.

My father doesn’t have the best taste in fashion.  That I make this comment is no insult to him and he would freely admit to the trait.  There were many times I can remember him coming into the living room ready to leave for a family event and my mother would frown at him…and ask “You’re wearing that,” in a disgusted tone of voice.  Dad would usually turn around and go back to the bedroom to find another shirt…many times Mom would head back there with him to make sure he made a better choice.  Dad can’t even blame his bad taste on color blindness…he just doesn’t really care.  One item of clothing that he always loved to wear were bib overalls….and Mom put her foot down on that particular item of clothing.  She really didn’t want to see her husband wearing the same type of clothes that she remembered her father and grandfather wearing…or my Dad’s grandfather.  Bib’s were for little kids and old people…and her husband didn’t fit either one of those criteria.

It was always kind of standing joke among the family that when Granddad Gage got out his good Bib overalls, it was a special occasion.  The new ones only came out for church on Sunday or special days.  On other days, Granddad Gage wore his older, faded overalls for work or everyday use.  Mom always remembered seeing her father when she was young and her grandfather wear bib overalls.  One day, Dad went out on his own and came home with a brand new pair of bib overalls.  Perhaps he figured he was 50 years old and he fit the old man status.

Mom told Dad that only old men wore bibs...while using this
picture as an example...Dad was not old and she certainly
wasn't old either!

  Dad fought through Mom’s disgust for Bibs…and wore his pair of bibs while outside working.  Mom really hated seeing him in them…and so Dad would change out of his bibs before he came into the house.  They really only made it in the house to get occasionally washed and then they go back out to the shop.  Dad was really fond of them because he didn’t need a belt to hold his pants up and they had lots of pockets to stick his work tools.  My brother enjoyed teasing my mother and on one father’s day presented my Dad with a pair of striped bib overalls.  Mom was not pleased.

Mom's Grandfather, Pop Friddle siting in his chair wearing his favored pair of bibs!

Mom passed away almost seven years ago and can no longer frown at my father in his bib overalls.  I don’t usually say much about them but do occasionally point out that it might be time to be thinking about getting a new pair and retiring his old pair to the rag heap.  Dad isn’t quite ready to do that because he feels that they are much too comfortable.  Dad has never worn a new pair to church or dinner, but he has considered wearing them to family reunions.  They still don’t make it often in the house and he doesn’t generally wear them out in public.  I think that when he wears them,  he enjoys teasing my mother in absentia when he can be found working out in his shop in an old pair of bibs.