Then there is the unsolved problem of clothing. As in the case of
food, so with dress; the general effect of the organization of the
department stores in the different neighborhoods can be only
misleading and confusing. Many misleading devices that would no longer
deceive the older residents are tried again on the newcomer.
The women at first find it difficult to judge of values and prices.
The local stores are there with the bargain counter and the special
sale and all the other devices. The Poles and the Lithuanians with
whom we have talked have dwelt especially on the helplessness of their
countrywomen in the hands of the unscrupulous merchant or the shrewd
clerk.
Clothing presents to even the enlightened and the sophisticated a most
difficult problem in domestic management. "Fashion wears out more
garments than the man." The anthropologist, the physiologist, and the
sociologist are all concerned to explain why the clothing worn to-day
is often so unsuited to bodily needs as well as to the demands of
beauty and fitness.[39] To a very real extent practices of waste
prevail in the selection of clothing, and to that extent neither
reason nor art finds a place in the scheme. Where an attempt at
economy is made, the influence of the new science of hygiene is
impeded by old ideas of durability. So that from the well-to-do of the
community comes little suggestion that can be of service in
directing the expenditures for clothing of any other group.
[Illustration: IT'S A LONG WAY FROM THIS ELABORATE CZECHO-SLOVAK
COSTUME TO THE MODERN AMERICAN STYLES]
The foreign born are faced with a particularly difficult problem. They
often come from places where dress served to show where one came from,
and who one was. In the United States, dress serves to conceal one's
origin and relationships, and there results an almost inexorable
dilemma. Follow the Old-World practice, and show who you are and where
you come from, and the result is that you remain alien and different
and that your children will not stay with you "outside the gates." Or
follow the fashion and be like others, and the meager income is
dissipated before your eyes, with meager results. The Croatians have
emphasized the waste of American dress and the immodest styles often
worn, while the Italians have chiefly dwelt upon the friction between
parents and children.
In some neighborhoods Jewish agents go about offering clothing on the
installment plan at prices much higher than those charged even in
inefficient neighborhood shops. Shoes are particularly a source of
difficulty, both those for the younger children and those for the
older boy or girl who goes to work. In some neighborhoods where the
older women go barefooted and are thought to do so because they wish
to cling to their Old-World customs, they are simply saving, so that
the children may wear "American shoes."
Certainly the foreign-born woman who undertakes to manage her family's
affairs in an American community is confronted by no easy task. The
question arises as to what might be done to render that task less
difficult. The dull of sight cannot lead the blind at a very swift
pace. But certain steps might be taken to simplify the problems for
all consumers, including the foreign born. In fact, whatever renders
the system of retail dealing less chaotic and less wasteful will
benefit all. The establishment of markets for foodstuffs at
appropriate places where grower and consumer can meet, and certain
costs of double cartage can be eliminated, is, for example, a
recognized item in reform of the present food traffic.