Metamorphosis-ed, Part Two

Prior to Joe of NYC's "The Big Switch" posting, he wrote a great story for this blog based on his experience as a boy growing up in the Big Apple with this, posted March 5, 2017, one of my favorites:

Holy Union Suits!
                   Contributor: Joe of New York City

Here is a story I was told (and I have no way of proving it but it sounds true enough).

Back in the late thirties and early forties in New York City (the lower east side of it, in this story), the world was preparing to go to war. Everything was being rationed and that meant heat and fuel.  So, union suits (long handles/ gotcha's - historical fact: "Long Johns" wasn't coined until the late forties) became a winter necessity for guys. Whether indoors or outside, with no fuel heating furnaces, it was cold. I recall that in the early 50's seeing union suits sold in boxes. I don't know if they contained 3, 6 or a dozen but they were in boxes and on the front was a guy sitting in an easy chair, legs crossed, in slippers, a white union suit (heather oatmeal sounds fine and dandy but it was not an option back then) smoking a pipe. These were displayed in the windows of haberdasheries.

As I stated, all the boys wore 'em including our Parish priests. Churches then were barn-like big and impossible to heat under any conditions. Our church was next to our parochial school run by nuns. As a washing machine was a luxury and the clothes dryer had not been invented yet, the good nuns did the laundry for the priests - including the white union suits they wore to keep warm. Everybody on the lower east side hung their clothes out on clothes lines. In Europe - especially Italy - they still do.  I saw it last year but it was warm and seemed more in the bedding variety. So, after washing them, the good sisters of charity hung the union suits out on clothes lines strung high above the playground of the school to dry. It became a game, or so I was told, to try to figure out which priest wore which union suit. A short priest would probably be the proud owner of a small sized union suit while a tall guy had an extra long one/ a fat priest had a large one, etc.  

Innocent days and probably a fun game too.

Today, most city boys would rather freeze then put on a good, old-fashioned, and reliable union suit or even two piece thermal drawers. Of course, their hero's are not John Wayne, John Payne (the Restless Gun) or cowboys. They think a guy in a union suit or long johns looks funny. Heck boys or any man stripped down to his underwear is going to be a comical sight - a union suit just covers a bit more ground and is of historical significance.

Joe: Your postings have have been but two of the many contributions you've made to Union Suit Fan. Thanks for all you've done to help make this blog achieve whatever success it has had! ... Your greatful pal, Chris

Joe of NYC during Covid
Covered from head to toe for protection
in mask, socks, and union suit
(tucked in, of course)