The Golden Years of Goodwill

I would have to say that the golden years of Goodwill were from about 1970 to pretty close to 1990.

Back then there was a glut of all kinds of neat stuff on the market and for cheap. For a couple of buck you could walk into a Goodwill store and walk out as anyone you wanted to be.

If you wanted to look like an attorney, no problem. Five bucks and you'd look just like you were off to defend a man falsely accused of murder. On the other hand you could come out looking like a Reno used car salesman. Then again for about $4.50 I walked out looking every bit like a 30s gangster in a double breasted pinstripe suit, a black shirt, white necktie and a big fedora. An extra $1.50 bought me a violin case to carry which presumably had a Tommy gun in it.

The WW2 generation was cleaning their closets out and the Vietnam guys had started putting on a little weight. My all time favorite was when I scored a few white linen suits the GIs had custom made in Thailand that fit me like a glove.

Add a 25 cent white shirt, a godawful purple necktie and a white Panama type straw hat and I became the Governor of American Samoa. It was a look I enjoyed for years in Kodiak. I even wore it when I ran a sham campaign for mayor.

Once I found a perfectly fitting Superman suit that I had some fun with. I actually wore it at work siding condos but I had to be careful if it was windy as the cape blew all over hell.

Before Steampunk became Steampunk you could buy a really neat outfit for a couple of bucks.

Want to be Audie Murphy? Cool. There were still a lot of WW2 uniforms up for grabs cheap. Another one of my favorites was an Australian Navy Coastwatcher outfit I put together for cheap. Swap out the Aussie bush hat for a $2.00 pith helmet and I was ready to go to India and carry on there. Right-o! Carry on! I have to meet Rudyard Kipling for lunch. Sorry, but I must not tarry or I'll be late.

B-24 pilot? No problem. Khaki pants and shirt, leather jacket and fifty mission crush hat ran $4-5 for the entire outfit. I saw a jacket that didn't fit me with a CBI blood chit on it for $2.00 once. Too bad it didn't fit me.

Wanna be a cowboy? No problem. Two or three bucks.

I once found a pre WW2 Boy Scout uniform complete with campaign hat and to the amusement of the guys I spent and afternoon helping little old ladies across the street until I got beaten half senseless with a cane by one that didn't want go.

One of my running partners always seemed to gravitate towards the Reno used car salesman look but once came out looking like he was Doctor Ben Casey. He fooled some woman into believing he was an open heart surgeon. I fooled her girlfriend into believing I was a professor of some sort from UCLA that night and a good time was had by all.

Of course all good things come to an end but it was a lot of fun while it lasted.







To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY