Today is my Dad’s 87th Birthday! I am remembering how he’s looked to me through the years.
In most of my memories of Dad he is wearing a gray short-sleeved work shirt with a few grease spots on the front, tucked into dirty Levis, which covered brown worn work boots. Some kind of cap topped it off. When we were small he wore a Panama hat spray painted white. He said it kept him cooler in the heat on the tractor.
Dad had a stack of gray shirts, purchased at JCPenney’s. The Levis probably came from there too. The work boots came in a Red Wing box. Dad kept his work clothes in the back bathroom. The bathroom was just inside the back door, and he could come in and clean up before tracking dirt into the house. His church clothes and nice clothes were in the bedroom.
When we were little, Dad had a red plaid flannel shirt. It was my favorite because it was soft and worn and he looked handsome when he wore it. It also had a good smell to it.
Dad dressed up for two things: Toastmasters on Thursday nights, and Church on Sundays. His suits were usually brown or navy and his ties were wide. He wore short-sleeved shirts, and his farmer’s tan stayed year-round. During the 70’s he had gold and green shirts along with his white.
When Dad married Kris the gray shirts disappeared. Now he wears other plaid button up shirts with his clean Levis. It’s just not the same. I miss the gray.
Ann Lewis about Arthur Laemmlen
5 September 2005
20 September 2017 update from Kris Laemmlen:
Art still has 3 grey shirts. When I married him he had a box in the back bathroom closet with the grey shirts in it with the price tag ($3.00) from JC Penney on them. He wears them now when it’s cooler outside because they are too warm. He has worn them ever since I have known him. I’ve never known a shirt that could last so long. He could do an advertisement for Penney s.
The red wing boots are parked by the front door as a reminder to me of the many years of hard work this farmer performed.
Art Laemmlen’s Red Wing Boots, 2017
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