Patches

by Forest F. Harvey

“Don’t throw it away – Mend it” was the slogan of the MENDETS (REG. U.S. Pat. Off.).

Recently my wife found a display card with two MENDETS still attached. …. Cost 10 cents. These were used to patch holes in aluminum cookware as well as other household items in bygone times.

This brought to mind the era of using patches . When I was growing up people had to use whatever they had to survive.

Your button might or might not match. Children wore hand-me-downs, often darned or patched and passed down from older siblings or cousins. I did not have a brother so I never did get hand-me-downs but I had holes in my clothes, sweaters and socks that had to be patched or darned often. Grandpa would sometimes give me a pair of shoes that had been brought in for repair and never picked up. I would wear them to mow the grass, work in the garden or clean out the chicken house.

Patches were put on by attaching the “patch”, cutting the hole a little larger to cut away the weakened threads and putting on the patch made of like material inside the hole, put the edges under and stitched by hand. This was equal to the pieces of a beautiful quilt made by hand. I still sleep under some of them today in 2015.

My uncles Frank, Jim, John and Grandpa Abston would wear overalls that had patches on top of patches. In those days a lady would put her clothing that needed mending aside and reserve a special time to repair them.

My Grandma did neat needlework and was an artist with the process.

My wife, and mother of Edwin and Fred would do patches occasionally but was in the “iron on” era and kept the holes fixed. Sometimes Sears helped her with the knee patches.

I wore a few patches myself. I was always proud of a nice patch on my pants and still am to this day. Behind every patch is a loving mother or wife who was an artist in her own way.

Fast forward…..every day in Florida I see holes in pants with no patches …all sizes, for children and both ladies and men. You can see their “hide out” and they are not the Lone Ranger.

This style with holes, no patches is very much sought-after and adds quite a lot to the cost of the garment today.

They say that “what goes around comes around”. Perhaps the patches style will come back around soon?

Forest F. Harvey