Robert Hall

Memory Lane. Year 1957. Easter. Time for a new suit, and yes, youngins' a
tie. http://moourl.com/sy2nz


I hadn't given much thought to the store named Robert Hall since the clothing chain went defunct in the 60's along with giants as Woolworth, J.M. Field, and W.T. Grants (with its musty smell and day-old reheated popcorn). Yeah, the good stuff.

Back to Robert Hall. I only thought about the store because my brother mentioned a few of the landmarks in the Stratford area that were reminiscent of childhood days. I rattled off a few. A few of the structures are still standing (barely), but few remember the imprint on one's impressionable mind. As I mentioned the name, my sister in law, with her classic Brooklyn accent, started to sing and we all chimed in with impeccable recall:

When the values go up, up, up
And the prices go down, down, down.
Robert Hall this season
Will show you the reason
High quality! Economy!

And believe it or not, I remember the store well. BLACK suits were the fashion 365x7x24. Black never went out of style while attending Catholic school.

In finding the jingle with commercial (recorded by Mary Ford and Les Paul), I had to chuckle at the last line by a gentleman who put a post under the video. It reads:

"My dad and my uncle bought their business suits from Robert Hall in the late 1950s and early 1960s and when I was about 6 years old my parents bought me a wool black and white houndstooth winter coat. I have to say that I don't why Robert Hall takes a bad rap by some people. The prices were low beacuse [because] the stores were not fancy inside but the suits were made in the USA and of good quality. Better than any crappy suits of today that are mostly slapped together in China or worse."

Now that's a man a little bitter over the free-trade agreement. Enjoy memory lane--even the youngins'.
China-ing out,
O'