Overalls make a man - Trenton, MO (March 22, 2010)

Men in Missouri wear overalls. I’m talking, blue jean overalls, dirty from the fields, or simply just worn as the regular ol’ casual everyday article of clothing. I have never seen so many men in overalls in my life. Just like us city folk wear suits to work every day, men, ages, I would guesstimate, 40 to 85, wear overalls. At HyVee, the local grocery chain, I saw men in overalls. Early this morning at the community gym, I saw men, well, in jeans (I guess that is what men who normally wear overalls wear as their workout clothing!). As I drove from Trenton, MO to Douds, IA, I saw men in the via towns hanging out in front of their shack-like homes wearing...overalls. You name it, Missouri men ain’t livin’ unless they are sportin’ the overalls. I (kinda) wish I was a Missouri man; if I could wear overalls everyday I would be a happy young lady! Maybe that is why these older folk here in “Missourah” are so gosh darn friendly - they are comfortable in their skin (a.k.a overalls).

Here is a picture I took last August when I was running through Milan, a town near Trenton, MO! This is my dad walking by a an old man in overalls...and I remember commenting that day to my dad about his get-up:-)

I asked my host, Vince Harris, this morning about this phenomenon, “why is it that men wear overalls here? Are they all farmers?”

Vince chuckled a I-should-have-guessed-you-city-girl-would-notice-that chuckle and replied, “you know, that’s true, isn’t it, Katie! Maybe it’s because of their attitude...like [each one of these men] wake up every morning and say, ‘well, it’s another day, ain’t it, how about my overalls...’ like a living day-to-day mentality, and wearing overalls helps them make each day easier...”

My question actually sparked Vince to tell me a related story about his grandfather, a story about how he ended up marrying Vince’s grandmother.

Vince’s grandpa (let’s call him Tom), then captain of the Trenton High School football team, was given the honor to walk the homecoming queen, who happened to be Vince’s grandmother (who we will call Susan), across the football field on homecoming night. The only caveat was that Tom had to wear a suit to do this. Tom could not, and never in his wildest dreams afford to buy a suit to wear for this occasion, so he quit the football team in order to work a job to earn money to buy a suit to escort Susan, the beautiful homecoming queen (now, that’s discipline for ya). His teammates were devastated to see Tom go, so they devised a plan that would win him back. They each gathered some money, and snuck up to Tom’s house one night, knocked on his door, and then presented him with all the money they had collected for Tom, enough to buy him a suit to wear to present Susan! Tom bought a suit, rejoined the team, and then walked Susan, who turned out to be his bride, across the field. Aww, how romantic.

Anyway, overalls. Back to the older men at the gym this morning - they made my day. Who else wears jeans to work out in? There was an indoor walking track next to the weight machines, and there was one man walking, outfitted in his plaid collared shirt tucked into his fitted jeans, who, every time he walked by the other old men on the weight machines, would lift up his hand for a wave and nodded his head. Once he called out to a fellah, “hey ol’ buddy...how does it feel to be 140 this morning?!” I smiled.

Gotta love those darn Missourah men, even without the overalls;-)