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Weslaco,
Texas
WESLACO'S
FRUIT, VEGETABLE AND FLOWER SHOW SELECTED
WOMEN'S FASHION ENTRIES
1936 TO 1950Is
that a new perfume, or zesty Italian salad dressing?
Six vintage photos courtesy of The Weslaco Museum.
Nearly
all of these images are included in Arcadia Publishing's
Weslaco volume from
their Images of America Series.
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The Weslaco
Images of America book also includes 18 costumes and models that entered the Women's
Fashion Category of Weslaco's Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Show. The
only limits set were decency and the entrant's skin's tolerance to eggplant peel
and citrus membrane.
The following photos showcase the ingenuity of Hidalgo
County women and the versatility of Rio Grande Valley produce. A basic
shift of unbleached white muslin was cut to the model's form and then covered,
draped, festooned and sometimes simply smeared with virtually anything vegetable,
edible or potentially edible.
We're not sure how or why people came
up with this unusual diversion, but it did develop in an era when home entertainment
meant exactly that - you had to entertain yourself at home. |
| Vintage
Photo 1 - This is a photo of Alice Edrington, who was no doubt related to
the prominent town photographer. She won First Place in the "street costume division"
in 1939 with her dress made of "eggplant with checks of eggplant and citrus membrane."
She was representing the Weslaco PTA. |
| Photo
2 | | |
Marjorie
Schwartz (no date available) |
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| Vintage
Photo 2 - The Chaps
in this outfit were corn husks and the shirt and pants were grapefruit leaves.
Grapefruit leaves were ground to make the hat, boots, belt and gun. (Photo by
Edrington Studios) |
| Photo
3 | | |
Mrs.
Phillip O'Connell of the Evergreen Farms Co |
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| Vintage
Photo 3 - Mrs.
Phillip O'Connell of the Evergreen Farms Co. of Elsa was wearing this blouse of
barley seeds, skirt and jacket of oats and what was left was covered in dehydrated
cereal grass. |
| Photo
4 | | |
Mrs. Golda LaDuke Roberts, 1936 |
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| Vintage
Photo 4 - Mrs.
Golda LaDuke Roberts, 1936. Her doublet was the inside of citrus peel and the
dress was citrus leaves trimmed with grapefruit, orange and tangerine peel. The
headpiece used citrus seeds as jewels and citrus peel also formed the front panel
of her gown. (Edrington Studio Photo). |
| Photo
5 | | |
Mrs.
Loretta Barbee, 1948 |
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| Vintage
Photo 5 - Mrs.
Loretta Barbee, 1948, represented the Weslaco Garden Club. Nearly the entire outfit
is the white inner peel of grapefruit with poinsettia trim. |
| Vintage
Photo 6 - Although
this photo probably belongs to the Doll and Buggy Parade, we've included it here
since it is yet another example of citrus as fashion. | |
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