A dress with a story to tell
Occasionally a vintage garment tells a story. Between the bold lettering on the fabric and the accompanying photograph, this dress provides many of the pieces to its own mid-century puzzle.
I found this extraordinary red-and-blue corduroy dress at Tossed & Found, my favorite vintage and antique shop in Spokane. FOLEY marches down the front; CONGRESS down the back. It came with a photograph.
The dress was made using a simple shift pattern, in two bright shades of cotton corduroy. At the upper back is a short nylon zipper. Those white felt letters were cut by hand and sewn on with a machine straight stitch which occasionally wanders off the letters slightly. Someone made this, it seems, with some urgency. Was it a campaign volunteer? A local seamstress? A mother of one of the girls? A girl herself?
The photograph is stamped, “Barry Andrews, Spokane, Wash. KE 5-5185.” Andrews had a phone number using the Keystone exchange. Where did he shoot this photo? What was the event?
The start of Tom Foley’s political career
In 1964, Spokane-native Tom Foley challenged the 11-term Republican Walt Horan for Washington’s 5th District. In the photo you also see Washington Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, who was an important Foley mentor and supporter. Foley won the election and began the 30-year congressional career that eventually took him to the Speakership of the House of Representatives.
From the Spokane Chronicle October 28, 1964.
From Spokane. For Spokane.
I have kept the Foley dress for years because it seemed like a little piece of Spokane—and even United States political history—that had somehow survived. Now it feels like the right time to let it go. I'm offering it as part of Vintage for Spokane, with the proceeds helping our community recover from the devastating fires.
And, one last part of the puzzle:
Do you recognize anyone?
Besides Jackson and Foley, do you recognize anyone in this photo? It has been sixty-two years—do any of these girls and young women look familiar to you? Finding out could be the very best part of the puzzle.
I still don't know who made the dress, who wore this particular one, or exactly where Barry Andrews took his photograph. Perhaps someone in Spokane will recognize a face—or remember the dresses. After sixty-two years, I'd very much like to know.