Family, History, The Future, Uncategorized

501 Jeans

48 Comments

My husband is a pretty finicky fellow, and has definite preferences regarding the clothes he wears.  He has been somewhat distressed lately after futile searches for his favorite jeans-Levi’s 501 jeans. Those are the ones with the button fly.  I have no idea why he prefers them, but there it is.

He has had trouble finding the size he needs  as well as the colors he wants.  His secret worry has been that they are no longer being manufactured,  and that he will have to find a new style and brand of jeans to wear.  This makes him feel as old and as out of date  as the Dodo. It is as though he can still imagine himself as a young man  at U of Wisconsin when he wears those jeans with his Frye boots.

He was delighted this weekend to find some on-line.  He tends to shop in stores instead of on-line, and our choices out here are limited.  Now his youthfulness  is preserved, and he can go forward into his mid 60’s with confidence.

What keeps you feeling young?  What do you fear will go out of production?

48 thoughts on “501 Jeans”

  1. Living in today’s connected, computer-dominated world is a mixed blessing. Although there are problems we didn’t use to have, there are some advantages. One blessing of modern shopping is that it is economical for retailers to offer special models, sizes and features that weren’t profitable until computers made them so.

    For example, my feet are wide and short. Actually, they don’t differ greatly from the norm, but I remember a shopping trip to a mall where I learned that every one of the five or six shoe stores carried merchandise only in the very most popular sizes. Before the internet it might not have been profitable to offer a niche product.

    Because the internet reaches so many people, a product with highly limited appeal can be a winner. Your husband once had to purchase products with such broad appeal that retail stores in a small town would keep them in inventory, No more. (But, alas, that does not quite suffice to keep me “feeling young.” Nothing short of a time travel machine could, and they are not in stock even on the internet.)

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  2. Rise and Shine Baboons,
    I have been teaching a young woman I know how to drive. Car time is great talk time. Doing this has not made me feel young, but it has invigorated me (maybe it is the fear-based adrenaline caused by a new driver’s misjudgments!) and I really enjoy this young woman.
    On that same track I fear that with self-driving cars coming along, the pleasure of driving may go away. There are times I really enjoy driving.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. I’ve outlived several products that at the time cause me some grief that they were gone but now I can’t remember any of them. I do however worry about my MorningStar vegetarian sausages and bacon since those are a staple at our house. As to what I do to feel young I think it’s the opposite for me. I often have to remind myself to behave because I’m older than I feel.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    3. And this just points out how different we all are from each other. I don’t like driving that much and if I could really trust a self-driving car, I’d be snuggled up in the passenger seat with a book in a heartbeat.

      Like

      Reply

  3. I’ve outlived several products that at the time cause me some grief that they were gone but now I can’t remember any of them. I do however worry about my MorningStar vegetarian sausages and bacon since those are a staple at our house. As to what I do to feel young I think it’s the opposite for me. I often have to remind myself to behave because I’m older than I feel.

    Like

    Reply

  4. I’m also worried about Ralston hot cereal. We used to be able to get it everywhere then it was down to a handful of stores in St.Louis and Nonny would send it to me. Now there are a couple of “vintage” websites where I can get it but I’m worried. I’ve been eating Ralston hot cereal my entire life and if it goes away before I do I will be very sad.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Just after I discover some wonderful cooking sauce at Trader Joe’s, they replace it with something I don’t think is wonderful. And I hardly wear any make-up, but sometimes lipstick, and my favorites seem to be the ones that get replaced.

    I know there are others – will be back later.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. The running joke when I was a monster maker was that you should never say out loud how wonderful a material was, because the minute I out did, it would become “no longer available”.

    I grew up in Iowa where having sorghum on your cornbread was a routine pleasure. In Minnesota, it has become an “experience” to be rationed out, although I have seen a jar for sale here (but come to think of it, that grocery store is now gone).

    What makes me feel young? I never feel anything but 😀

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. Sometime during the Nixon administration some manufacturer broke my mother’s heart by discontinuing a product. The experience left a scar. She began saying ,”As soon as you decide you like something, they stop making it.” The way her mind worked, I’m sure she saw causality here: liking something was sure to put it out of production. When we cleaned up her house after her memorial service one dilemma was what we were supposed to do with such things as 17 new (meaning unused) aerosol cans of her favorite hairspray.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. My father fell for the Johnny Carson hoax about a imminent toilet paper shortage. He bought an enormous 4ft×4ft×4ft cardboard box full of toilet paper and stored it in the basement.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. Those of us who watch TV will immediately be reminded of the commercial for Charmin in which a family of bears travels with a supply of Charmin toilet paper because the papa bear is terrified by the prospect of using a lesser product. I envy that bear. It would be nice if I could have a great day just by using my favorite brand of tp.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

      2. Actually buying a big 4 by 4 by 4 crate of toilet paper doesn’t phase me at all. I hate to pay money for toilet paper although I will admit I don’t want to go back to Sears and Roebuck catalog days. So I buy my tp at the co-op a case at a time – that way while I pay an enormous amount when I do buy toilet paper I only have to do it every 9 months or so. So it doesn’t piss me off very often.

        Liked by 4 people

        Reply

        1. If Costco keeps track of such things, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do, they probably think I run a daycare based on the amount of toilet paper our household uses. I can tell you with certainty, that given the damage that the six weeks of radiation did to my bowel twenty-five years ago, I’d buy a truckload of tp if I thought there was a threat of a scarce supply.

          Like

  9. I’m always on the lookout for ‘out of print’ or ‘one of a kind’ stuff. Hence, my addiction to places like Half Price Books and websites like eBay. It’s kind of a combination of the detective work of finding the ‘gem in the sand,’ making someone happy by finding it for them, and making a few extra bucks.

    Speaking of which…I’ll be listing a copy of Keepers Christmas on eBay tonight. Was lucky to find one. First I’ve seen since they were offered in 1997. We’ll see what happens…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  10. I don’t think there’s anything I could buy that would make me feel young. My wardrobe hasn’t changed substantially in the last twenty years, but it wasn’t notably youthful or mature in the first place. Some of the particulars have changed—I kind of migrated about fifteen years ago from black jeans to blue jeans and then about two years ago from jeans to cargo pants. But if a brand goes away or changes, as brands do sometimes, I can adjust. Or else I can just go back to the previous style choice- I still have a pile of black and blue jeans.

    About the only thing that returns me to my youth is when I get together with friends from college. When we do, there’s an adjustment period where I have to get used to how much they’ve aged. It pains me more to see it in them than in myself. I don’t always see it in myself. The mirrors in our house are curiously subjective…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  11. I can’t think of a thing in either category. I can think of several things that make me feel old, but nothing that makes me feel young comes to mind. Likewise, I’m not particularly invested enough in any of the products we use in our household to worry about having to do without them.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. I totally get the jeans thing. I can relate to finding something I like and being unwilling to settle for anything else.

    I listen to the college students around here and I don’t really want to be back there. The worry about things that in a few years won’t matter. But I remember that too. Or they’re not worried about things (like passing this class!) that really will matter in a few years! And there is a lot of pressure on them. No, don’t envy them at all.
    I know we’ve all said before I want my 20 yr old knees and feet again. Back when I’d run up the steps because I had too much energy! I wish!

    I used to drink a lot of the code Red Mt Dew. They quite making it in the 24 oz bottles. The 20 oz bottles now just don’t work for me and it made me grumpy. I’ll show you Mt Dew! I’ll quit drinking it! so there!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. What keeps me feeling young is sometimes the physical activity, like the singing and dancing and t’ai chi. Although at times these things also point out limitations that are caused by age. A paradox.

    What I’m most afraid will go “out of production” are skills that people used to have before the digital age – making change comes to mind. Heard an interview about problems that the cell phone generation has with basic relationship skills – making eye contact for one…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  14. Well, I suppose this is spoiling, but it makes me feel young to tell daughter to reserve tickets for her and her friend to see Hamilton on Broadway in February, and I will pay for it.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  15. I feel somehow younger putting on string bikini panties. When I was young you could find them in stores quite easily. Then we seemed to enter an era in which retailers assumed that young women would want thong underwear, and that seemed to replace the string bikinis. There was a lot of shelf space dedicated to briefs and “french cut” panties, which I despise. Then came the introduction of something called “boy cut” underwear. I don’t know whose idea that was. I will probably have to follow Chris’s example and start ordering underwear online. They do still make string bikinis, apparently, but you can’t often find them in stores.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

        1. This is truly getting to be an intimate group. In view of recent revelations with regard to the sexual proclivities of various “celebrities,” perhaps it’s better not to publicly admit to what you underwear is? We already know that Guy Moore likes his “tighty whities.”

          Liked by 3 people

      2. I really like the Duluth Trading Buck Naked underwear. It is good but the waist band is weird. It flips over in the wash and I don’t understand that.
        The armachillo is nice too. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

      3. I have ordered from the Vermont Country Store, too. They used to have plain white undershirts. I bought a bunch and dyed them blue, pink, and yellow, and sewed appliqué flowers on them.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    2. I don’t know whether I should admit this or not, but I don’t even know what a string bikini is, but I’ll know that I have come full circle when I order Depends.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. I’m watching the late night drama of the senate’s vote on the tax bill, and I’m wondering if they could possibly make this process any more cumbersome and painful? This is clearly not a process designed to arrive at a reasonable and sound decision, but rather a marathon designed to wear out senators who don’t have the stamina to withstand the onslaught of the opposing forces. NOT my idea of how democracy should work.

    Like

    Reply

  18. Excuse my French: Fuckers!

    At the age of 74, this tax bill won’t have a lot of impact on me personally, but I grieve for all those struggling families who are trying to gain just a little ground. Makes me sick. If you don’t hear from me in the next few days, it’s because I need time to recover from this.

    Like

    Reply

    1. with trump in place we need to be certain he leaves an appropriate legacy and those who voted for him understand fully what they did.
      the scary part is i think they do.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.