Ladies Department in Conitz Dry Goods Store

Selling Underwear

in Conitz Dry Goods Store

Calvert, Texas

8.5" x 11"

pencil

The Every Day Matters Challenge #210 was to draw underwear.

I tried to think of some interesting underwear to draw, and then I remembered the panty counter at grandpa's dry goods store. All those stacks of panties! I wasn't sure I wanted to draw that and then I thought of drawing someone selling the underwear. I moved my clerk (probably "Toot") over to the bra and girdle display. And I remembered a long talk I had with a customer whose doctor had told her to wear a girdle to help her back. I thought of those miserable, hard to get into girdles of the time, and thought how hard it was for me to get one of those things on. And I thought this poor woman would have a battle to get into one of those tight undergarments. And I wondered if one might help the back trouble I was having. I wasn't willing to struggle with a girdle every day, and suffer through the heat rash and raw skin that those things always caused me.

But, I showed her what we had and talked to her about a lot of different things. I think she bought one that didn't seem so hard to get into, and she paid for it with money wadded up in her handkerchief.

In my picture, I gave the customer a friend. One who enjoyed her dip of snuff as she listened.

My little sister is shown by the counter where we measured fabric. That counter also held a display of ladies handkerchiefs and children's socks. Behind the counter were shelves with boxes of stockings and socks. On top of the shelves, there were rolls of cotton batting used for making quilts.

Barbara liked to wear boys' clothes and play with boys' toys. In this drawing, I showed her dressed in overalls with a striped polo shirt. She has a toy truck in her hand. But, she wasn't just playing with the truck. She was working! Her first job was to watch for shop lifters when the grown ups got busy waiting on customers. Mama worried about her possibly hitting her head on the corners of the counter, as she tried to run around in the store.

In the picture, I am sitting on the floor of the show window. The big plate glass windows gave an excellent view of Main Street, the picture show, and traffic passing by. I liked to get in the show windows and look out, and play with some of the merchandise-like hats! I was put to work doing things like stringing handkerchiefs and putting pin tickets on merchandise, sweeping, straightening, and waiting on customers.

As I draw, these memories and details come to me. It's similar to the mapping exercise that I have written about previously.

We had the basic kind of things in the store. For the fancy things like Merry Widows and petticoats, ladies had to go to Hazel's, or Sue's, or to Bryan, Marlin, or Waco, to the big department stores.

In the front, there was a display case, like those on the tv program, "Are You Being Served", that held things like slips, gift items, and boxes of better handkerchiefs.

Underwear for the older ladies were kept in boxes under the counter with the towels and bath items, and tablecloths. I was told that the older women would not want people to see what kind of underwear they wore. Snuggies, teddies, cotton slips and stockings in orange, pink or nude (beige).

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about selling underwear in the dry goods store!
For those of you who are familiar with Conitz Dry Goods Store, and you are old enough, you might remember the last time that the store burned. That was February 1, 1951. I'm adding a couple of photos. One of the store before it burned, one while it was still burning. And there is another that shows the interior of the store after it was rebuilt.

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Jody Powers, owner of Zamykal Gourmet Kolaches in Calvert, sent word that the segment featuring her and her shop will be on tv this coming weekend, Feb. 21st. It will also be on some stations Sunday the 22nd, too. Look at your local tv guide for times.

Jody also sent me a couple of pictures that I will post here tomorrow.

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Saturday is the big Plein Aire Painting Workshop with Virginia Vaughan in Calvert. You can see pictures on my blog from the last workshop in October. For more information and a supply list, contact me! You can see more on Virginia's blog and website, http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com and http://www.v-vaughan.com .

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Gassin' Up

Gassin' Up (detail)
Image size 11" x 15"
Paper size 12" x 16"
watercolor
"Gassin' Up" is a work that has been in progress for a while. I worked on it some more last night. It's a self portrait, actually. This is one of those paintings where it takes two people to do it. One to paint the picture, the other to hit them in the head and make them stop! Trouble is, I keep stopping, put it aside, look at it for a long while, think of a different thing to do, work on it some more, then look at it for a long while.

My sister stopped at a fillling station in Hearne to get gas late one afternoon, headed south after a trip to Calvert. I was riding with her. While she went in to pay for the gas, I was looking at the backs of the old buildings across the alley. I thought those would be interesting to paint, and it would be good to record them while they are still standing. Those buildings have changed so much since I was a little girl, and used to ride with relatives to this town down the highway from my home town. Some buildings are gone and just the concrete slab is left. All my life, the buildings have been a sedate brick color, with maybe some green or white, maybe a touch of black, trim. Now, bright colors have been used, and colors that don't always exactly match, in my view. That kind of grates on my senses. But, then, the buildings aren't mine. I know that those colors are used to attract attention as cars whiz by on the highway, in hopes that travellers will stop, visit, and shop or eat in small towns. I think they would be much more appealing as they used to be, with dignity and charm.

As I looked at the backs of the buildings, I could see the back of an old cafe where there once were outside stairs that led to rooms and offices . Some windows had been covered with wood. My aunt talked about going there to eat when she worked in that town during World War II. And I remember it as being a nice place, with white tablecloths and heavy silverwear, and a black and white tile floor. But, it was closed for a long time.
I can't remember what was in the building where only a slab is left. I do recall offices, and rooms for rent upstairs in buildings and cafes that catered to travellers and people who worked for the railroad, right across the highway . This was a busy little town with a lot of different businesses downtown.

I didn't have a camera with me, so I used a cell phone to take a picture across the alley. My sister got back in the car and we were on our way. Later, when I looked at the picture, I realized that I had a picture, not only of the alley, but also I had taken a picture of myself in the side mirror! That was a surprise.
When I decided to draw the alley, I thought that it would be different to put the mirror with the face in it to help fill the bottom of the composition.
And, as I started painting, I decided that I would give myself purple hair. I like Cobalt Violet, to start with, so I used that color. (I always thought it would be fun to do my hair different colors! After all, Mrs. Slocumbe on "Are You Being Served" changed her hair color for every program, and, shouldn't the art teacher be colorful! But, when I was told that I would need to remove the color to get the shade I wanted, I decided that would take too much maintainance and be too expensive. When it turns white, maybe I could try it. But that is never going to happen. It may turn gray, but no one in my family has ever had white hair-not even at age 96!) At one point, when they were popular, I wore some wigs, and I tried a red rinse on my hair, but it hardly showed.
Anyway, I gave myself Cobalt Violet hair in the painting, added sunset colors to the backs of the buildings, and shadows where the buildings are recessed. The parking area of the filling station was asphalt, so it is black. I left the parking lot a pale blue, and tried to decide if I wanted to darken it, or if I want to keep it all light.
I finally thought, "Just do something to it and see what happens! Finish it and go on to something else! " So, yesterday, I just let some light blues and purples flow into some water, and I added a figure walking in the alley. I had been thinking of someone going home for supper at the end of the day, with a sack of groceries .
It was a bit too dark in the late afternoon to check colors or to paint, so I propped the painting up and looked at it some more. I've turned it upside down, sideways, looked at it in a mirror-all the tricks I can think of to check my painting. I even asked my "critics" (family), whose response is often, "Do whatever you want to".

With a transparent watercolor technique, you start light and build layers of color to darken. So, I can still add more layers of color to darken the paved area. I'm thinking of going as dark as Indigo Blue. But, with watercolors, which are a staining medium, some of those colors are not going to come off or lighten again, once they are down. My next idea to check on whether or not I want to use dark colors in that area, leaving the buildings and sky light, is to cut out a sheet of dark construction paper and lay it over the parking area. That might give me some idea of what I want to do next.

Another problem that arose is that, when I went back to my picture on the phone to check it, my picture, and a few others, have disappeared. So, I don't have my reference photo anymore.
I have tried and tried to figure out how to get photos from a phone, of things I want to draw or paint later, to the computer, without having to buy something else. So far, the people who I have asked, don't know either. I hope I don't lose the rest of my pictures!
At least I do have this painting. I may have to do the whole thing over and just change it all.
In the scan, there appears to be a lot of yellow. In the actual painting, there are more peach and orange tones, instead of such strong yellow. I'm not getting good camera images, so I'm scanning things in sections.

See below to look at a little bit more of the painting.

The Brazos Valley Art League (See their link.) is having a show coming up. I'm trying to think of what I might enter. I don't think that "Gassin' Up" is something that I might enter, but I'm thinking, and trying to finish up some things.

I added a new link under my Interesting Sites section. This one is for Zamykal Kolaches in Calvert. Some good eating there from one of the old buildings! There are also some updates on the Hammond House link and the Calvert website. Calvert is getting ready to have their Victorian Gala with a tea, booths downtonw, etc. Take a look at the website to find out more. The owner of Zamykal's Kolaches was on tv, talking about the event. There are pictures online from last year's Gala. Sounded like fun, and a chance to dress up in Victorian clothes.




Gassin' Up (detail)