I Love Snowsuits

This time of year always takes me back. Late October it was always getting cold in Minnesota. Several years there had already been snow (and there was a huge "Halloween blizzard" when I was in college). Sometime in October was when my winter dressing routine always began. Sometime around the first freeze, my summer clothes would be boxed up and the winter ones would come out.

Long underwear came out when the frost did. Some years that was actually September, but it was usually October. I had three sets (top and bottom) that I cycled through during the cool or cold but not really cold weather.

Jeans went over those. They usually came from the thrift store so they were sometime well worn. If they weren't already patched, they would be when winter was over. Many years I did get one new pair, but that was saved for special occasions, then became a pair for regular wear later as I recall.

Same thing for shirts. I would get a couple of long sleeve shirts and wear those. I also had a thrift store sweater I had to wear in colder weather.

Then over it all went a snowsuit. I usually had two snowsuits one for school and one for chores. For several years, my dad had a small farm operation, so I wore one suit for doing chores before and after school and on the weekends. The other suit was for school. They were always bought large (from a thrift store if they could be found, otherwise new) to last longer. Like with the jeans, the "school" pair was usually the larger pair for me to grow into. The next year, that would become the work pair.

Even though I was working with chores before and after school, I was still out a lot in winter beyond those. It seems like I was always on the go. After chores and on the weekend, I would wander around the property or walk to a friend's house. Some of my friends also had snowsuits, but more of them had winter jackets with separate snow bibs. But I had to wear the snowsuit. My dad said if it was cold enough for a jacket, it was cold enough for a snowsuit. (I did have a hooded sweatshirt I would wear under the suit when it was really cold. I was also allowed to wear that in September when it was still too warm for the suit. As you probably guessed, it was usually used and too big too. The idea was for it to last me 2 or maybe 3 years.)

There was usually a big cold stretch around January. It wasn't unusual for there to be a couple weeks where it didn't get above zero (Farhenheit). I had a union suit for those stretches that I had to wear. Whenever the high was forecast to be below zero, I had to wear the union suit as my first la<x>yer.

When I was older and in high school, I graduated from a snowsuit to insulated coveralls. The rest of the dressing routine was the same. It was much more unusual in high school, though. As you might think, even when it was cold most of my friends wore a jacket--or maybe even not that--and only a few had to wear long underwear. I didn't mind, though, I was warm and comfortable. And my friends were used to me dressing differently than I did. When we would play football in the snow or just go out and mess around, they often said they were jealous of my coveralls. (A few friends also farmed or worked with their dads, and they also had coveralls, but didn't usually wear them to school like I had to.)

As part of the economy (a snowsuit or insulated coveralls was cheaper than separate coat and bibs), I also usually work a ski mask instead of a stocking cap in winter. I would just roll it up when it was warmer out. I usually wore Sorels or something like them for boots in winter. They usually ended up with duct tape on them to patch them, but they were still usually really warm.

And, yeah, there were times when I would wear my snowsuit inside, too. It was usually no more than 60 degrees in winter, so wearing a hat and warm clothes was important.

So this time of year, I think back to those old times. I sometimes even wish I was back there. Despite being poor, they were mostly good times for me.