TexasEscapes.com HOME Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas
Custom Search
New   |   Texas Towns   |   Ghost Towns   |   Counties   |   Trips   |   Features   |   Columns   |   Architecture   |   Images   |   Archives   |   Site Map

Counties
Texas Counties

Texas Towns
A - Z

Texas Trips
Weslaco Hotels

More Hotels
Weslaco, Texas

WESLACO'S FRUIT, VEGETABLE AND FLOWER SHOW

SELECTED
WOMEN'S FASHION ENTRIES
1936 TO 1950

Is 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.

Book Hotel Here › Weslaco Hotels
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.
Photo 1
vintage photograph of women wearing produce outfit
1st Place, 1939
 
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
vintage photo of women in cowgirl outfit
Marjorie Schwartz (no date available)
 
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
Texas woman in vintage photograph
Mrs. Phillip O'Connell of the Evergreen Farms Co
 
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
Texas woman in vintage photo
Mrs. Golda LaDuke Roberts, 1936
 
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
Texas woman in old photograph
Mrs. Loretta Barbee, 1948
 
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.
Photo 6
vintage phto of children in parade
 
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.

See Weslaco, Texas
More Vintage Photos

Book Hotel Here:
Weslaco Hotels
Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic photos, please contact us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Texas Escapes Online Magazine »   Archive Issues » Home »
TEXAS TOWNS & COUNTIES TEXAS LANDMARKS & IMAGES TEXAS HISTORY & CULTURE TEXAS OUTDOORS MORE
Texas Counties
Texas Towns A-Z
Texas Ghost Towns

TEXAS REGIONS:
Central Texas North
Central Texas South
Texas Gulf Coast
Texas Panhandle
Texas Hill Country
East Texas
South Texas
West Texas

Courthouses
Jails
Churches
Schoolhouses
Bridges
Theaters
Depots
Rooms with a Past
Monuments
Statues

Gas Stations
Post Offices
Museums
Water Towers
Grain Elevators
Cotton Gins
Lodges
Stores
Banks

Vintage Photos
Historic Trees
Cemeteries
Old Neon
Ghost Signs
Signs
Murals
Gargoyles
Pitted Dates
Cornerstones
Then & Now

Columns: History/Opinion
Texas History
Small Town Sagas
Black History
WWII
Texas Centennial
Ghosts
People
Animals
Food
Music
Art

Books
Cotton
Texas Railroads

Texas Trips
Texas Drives
Texas State Parks
Texas Rivers
Texas Lakes
Texas Forts
Texas Trails
Texas Maps
USA
MEXICO
HOTELS

Site Map
About Us
Privacy Statement
Disclaimer
Contributors
Staff
Contact Us

 
Website Content Copyright Texas Escapes LLC. All Rights Reserved