Watch Yourself Go ByField, Al. G. (Alfred Griffith)
General
Watch Yourself Go By
Field, Al. G. (Alfred Griffith)
Circus performers -- United States -- Biography; Field, Al. G. (Alfred Griffith), 1848-1921; Wit and humor
The coat cut, Alfred had to stand out in the entry while the women used
his nether garments to pattern by. The door a little ajar, Alfred
impatiently watched the two women cut out the pants. Lacy remarked,
after he had asked for his pants twice:
"Land sakes! Have a little patience. You climb trees, run through
thickets, till you're rags and tatters, and I hope when we get these
clothes done you'll settle down and save them to wear when you go
anywhar."
The women decided, or rather endeavored, to make the suit after the cut
of the uniforms worn by the soldiers. Lacy insisted that a blouse would
not look well on Alfred and it was decided to make him a jacket at the
bottom "close fittin'" as Lacy expressed it.
Nothing like this suit was ever seen before or after the war. Angles and
folds were, where should have been smoothness; too short at the bottom,
too high at the top, too tight where they should have been loose and
vice versa. The jacket was short in the waist and high in the neck. Lacy
remarked as they basted the thing that there seemed too much cloth in
some parts but she thought it would take up in the sewing. The surplus
cloth in the west side of the pants hung to the boy's calves, covering
the limbs that far down. Therefore, it was difficult to decide at a
distance where the jacket ended and the pants began. In fact, the boy,
from a backside view at a little distance, seemed to be wearing a
long-tailed coat.
Going from you, Alfred looked like a grown man; coming towards you he
looked more natural. Wherever there appeared a bunch or angle that
seemed out of place, Lacy endeavored to modify the over abundance by
tacking on one of the ornaments taken from the old uniform of which a
great number were used. The shoulders of the jacket seemed to fit to
suit Lacy, therefore she used the epaulets from the shoulders of the old
soldier's uniform elsewhere. The seat of the pants hanging so low, Lacy
said looked too bare, whereupon she tacked the epaulets on that part of
the pants, with the yellow and red fringe hanging down.
There was a very large lump resembling "Richard the Third's" hump; on
this Lacy perched a brass eagle with wings spread as if about to fly off
with the coat. Red and yellow stripes ran up and down the outside seam
of the pants.
Lacy said they "looked so purty it was a shame the folds of the cloth
kivered so much of the stripe"; she "allowed it was too bad that more of
the folds had not found their way into the seat of the pants cos it
wa'n't noticed there, the epaulets hid it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account