School clothes. Now it is the mall and the outlet stores. That's were you go for school clothes. When I was growing up it was the Sears catalog and Bobby Brills. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with Mom as we went through the book. Pants and shirts were selected. The price was the primary concern, fashion was definitely a secondary consideration. That was alright though, because half the kids in school were shopping from this same book. The rich kids, from uptown, might be going to Robert Halls or some other fancy place in Riverhead but not us. Whatever fashion dear Mr. Sears offered, is what we got.
Other needs we usually picked up at Brills clothing store. This store was located b'low the bridge in the section of town known as the hook. My neighbors Mom worked there,I think she worked there forever. You went in that front door and was greeted by two rows of what can only be described as bins. Wooden bins that ran almost the length of the store itself. The floor was wooden too, and creaked as you walked. In places you could feel it give just a little.
Those bins were filled with shirts,pants,sweaters,jackets,dresses and skirts. Some had underwear in them and tee shirts. There weren't too many things on hangers in this store. And the store always seemed a little dark. Brills sold shoes too. All manner of shoes. They had tennis shoes with their trademark green soles. Anyone in town that saw those shoes with the green soles knew that is where they came from. The Brills specials we called them.
All the way toward the back right hand side of the store was the checkout. Close to this area was a rack with belts on it. They had wide black leather belts that we called garrison belts. For some unknown reason we thought these belts were somehow special and a little dangerous. Maybe that was because they resembled the belts the Police wore, not to mention other very bad people like Nazis. Whatever the case. I wanted one but Mom said no.
When I got to high school I did my own shopping and Brills faded into memory. Seldom did I shop there anymore. I started to go to Riverhead to shop. I took the bus. Mom thought it a foolish thing but I had the need to be cool. Brills just didn't fit the bill.
Years later I happened to be talking with my Mom about this. It was then she told me that Brills sold mostly factory seconds. There were slight defects in that clothing. Sleeves different lengths or pockets not aligned exactly right. I never noticed. And now the memory of Brills store brings a pleasant feeling. I can smell the new clothes smell and hear the creak of the floor. I remember having to ask for the correct size and Mrs. Collum rummaging through those bins to retrieve it. Brills was a great place to shop. Another piece of Americana, small town America, relegated to memory. It's hard to explain to anyone that has never have that pleasure but those of us that did, remember.
Other needs we usually picked up at Brills clothing store. This store was located b'low the bridge in the section of town known as the hook. My neighbors Mom worked there,I think she worked there forever. You went in that front door and was greeted by two rows of what can only be described as bins. Wooden bins that ran almost the length of the store itself. The floor was wooden too, and creaked as you walked. In places you could feel it give just a little.
Those bins were filled with shirts,pants,sweaters,jackets,dresses and skirts. Some had underwear in them and tee shirts. There weren't too many things on hangers in this store. And the store always seemed a little dark. Brills sold shoes too. All manner of shoes. They had tennis shoes with their trademark green soles. Anyone in town that saw those shoes with the green soles knew that is where they came from. The Brills specials we called them.
All the way toward the back right hand side of the store was the checkout. Close to this area was a rack with belts on it. They had wide black leather belts that we called garrison belts. For some unknown reason we thought these belts were somehow special and a little dangerous. Maybe that was because they resembled the belts the Police wore, not to mention other very bad people like Nazis. Whatever the case. I wanted one but Mom said no.
When I got to high school I did my own shopping and Brills faded into memory. Seldom did I shop there anymore. I started to go to Riverhead to shop. I took the bus. Mom thought it a foolish thing but I had the need to be cool. Brills just didn't fit the bill.
Years later I happened to be talking with my Mom about this. It was then she told me that Brills sold mostly factory seconds. There were slight defects in that clothing. Sleeves different lengths or pockets not aligned exactly right. I never noticed. And now the memory of Brills store brings a pleasant feeling. I can smell the new clothes smell and hear the creak of the floor. I remember having to ask for the correct size and Mrs. Collum rummaging through those bins to retrieve it. Brills was a great place to shop. Another piece of Americana, small town America, relegated to memory. It's hard to explain to anyone that has never have that pleasure but those of us that did, remember.
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