Republican Young Fogeys Celebrate International Pipe Smoking Day
February 20, 2015
Today is International Pipe Smoking Day. You don’t need to be a young fogey or Republican to celebrate it, though it probably helps.
Pictured above is a photo that originally appeared in LIFE Magazine in 1963. You can buy a print of it at AllPosters.com where it bears the title “Pipe Smokers Listening to Speech by Senator Barry M. Goldwater at Young Republican Convention.”
Only half a joke, actually. The family name was changed from Goldwasser to Goldwater in the 19th century by Barry’s great grandfather, a German Jew. Baruch (Hebrew) and Barack (Arabic) have the same etymology. Barack Obama was known as Barry until 1980. Barry is also commonly used as the English equivalent of the Hebrew name Baruch, when given to Jewish males at the circumcision ceremony.
I believe Baltzell records the anecdote: Goldwater was turned away from a restricted golf club to which he responded, “Well, I’m only half Jewish. I should at least be allowed to play the front nine.”
I’m always amused at the beating that Republicans like Goldwater take. BG was one of the first ever to consider gays in the military a non-issue, as it should be. “You don’t have to be straight, you just have to shoot straight.” Sounds good to me, as a retired military officer. Anyway, he probably bought at Penny’s and Sears like the rest of us then. Only a guess.
Well, George, that made Goldwater a libertarian, not a conservative. Libertarians, being the hippies of the right, are often mistaken for conservatives, but the two groups’ values do not actually coincide.
Indeed, back in the day, Penny’s and Sears sold some pretty good clothes, as did Montgomery Ward and Mervyn’s. Now, the latter two are defunct, and the former sell junk.
I was going to comment for the benefit of the younger readers, but Henry beat me to it. In the 1960s, it was possible to find tweed jackets, Oxford cloth button down shirts, gray flannels, and penny loafers at both Sears and Penny’s.
I worked in the 1964 Goldwater campaign in Virginia after working in the 1960 Nixon campaign in Maryland. Oddly, I smoked a pipe at the time as, looking back, so did a lot of the full-time workers who, in the East at least, were college educated and wore Ivy style attire. Senator Goldwater smoked a pipe.
Barry was a lifelong Episcopalian as his mother, a descendant of Roger Williams of Rhode Island, was Christian. His father was Jewish. Barry went to Staunton Military Academy in Virginia and briefly to the Univ. of Arizona. He was well dressed but not Ivy. He was once voted the most handsome man in the US Senate. He was also a general in the Air Force reserve. The family deprtment store, Goldwaters in Phoenix was a very nice store, on the order of Nieman
Marcus, Bloomingdale’s or Garfinkle’s in DC, the former owner of
Brooks Brothers. I should remember, but cannot, if it became affiliated with Allied Stores, Associated Dry Goods or Federated Stores.
True, looking back now, Sears, Pennys, the campus stores and most department stores had pretty good Ivy style stuff back then. As one of the Napoleans said to his Hungarian chef while being led to the firing squad, “We never thought it would come to this!”
There are moments when the scent of polyester leaps off the page (okay, screen). This is one. I am guesssing a poly wool blend. Don’t drop that pipe on your jacket, big fella.
Let’s not exalt the heyday too much. With the democratization of the shape/styling (natural shoulder for all!) there came a dumbing down of cloth. Even, I am aware, in more elite ready-to-wear sartorial circles. I suspect plenty of snobs were doing custom at Brooks, J. Press, and Chipp for the sake of excellent cloth. Paul Winston and Jay Walter have confirmed as much.
Sometimes I think Haught Ivy had (has) more in common with Savile Row than with the cheaper versions of Ivy.
I bought my my first Harris Tweed jacket in 1982 at JCP in Seattle made in USA. Great jacket that I owned for twenty years! You could still find those gems back then. Now many ‘adult’ men look like they borrowed their little brother’s 9th grade Confirmation suit.
Find the fogey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BJ3rWva4_g&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This is the closest that Baruch Goldwasser ever came to Ivy Style:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2494/2586/1600/goldwater.jpg
Baruch Goldwasser … oh, I get it. A little joke, nicht wahr? Very nice.
@DSF
Only half a joke, actually. The family name was changed from Goldwasser to Goldwater in the 19th century by Barry’s great grandfather, a German Jew. Baruch (Hebrew) and Barack (Arabic) have the same etymology. Barack Obama was known as Barry until 1980. Barry is also commonly used as the English equivalent of the Hebrew name Baruch, when given to Jewish males at the circumcision ceremony.
I believe Baltzell records the anecdote: Goldwater was turned away from a restricted golf club to which he responded, “Well, I’m only half Jewish. I should at least be allowed to play the front nine.”
Some interesting bits-and-pieces:
http://swja.arizona.edu/content/goldwaters
I think that Rockefeller was much more Ivy of Goldwater.
@Carmelo,
Goldwater wasn’t Ivy at all. Far from it.
I’m always amused at the beating that Republicans like Goldwater take. BG was one of the first ever to consider gays in the military a non-issue, as it should be. “You don’t have to be straight, you just have to shoot straight.” Sounds good to me, as a retired military officer. Anyway, he probably bought at Penny’s and Sears like the rest of us then. Only a guess.
Well, George, that made Goldwater a libertarian, not a conservative. Libertarians, being the hippies of the right, are often mistaken for conservatives, but the two groups’ values do not actually coincide.
Indeed, back in the day, Penny’s and Sears sold some pretty good clothes, as did Montgomery Ward and Mervyn’s. Now, the latter two are defunct, and the former sell junk.
I was going to comment for the benefit of the younger readers, but Henry beat me to it. In the 1960s, it was possible to find tweed jackets, Oxford cloth button down shirts, gray flannels, and penny loafers at both Sears and Penny’s.
I worked in the 1964 Goldwater campaign in Virginia after working in the 1960 Nixon campaign in Maryland. Oddly, I smoked a pipe at the time as, looking back, so did a lot of the full-time workers who, in the East at least, were college educated and wore Ivy style attire. Senator Goldwater smoked a pipe.
Barry was a lifelong Episcopalian as his mother, a descendant of Roger Williams of Rhode Island, was Christian. His father was Jewish. Barry went to Staunton Military Academy in Virginia and briefly to the Univ. of Arizona. He was well dressed but not Ivy. He was once voted the most handsome man in the US Senate. He was also a general in the Air Force reserve. The family deprtment store, Goldwaters in Phoenix was a very nice store, on the order of Nieman
Marcus, Bloomingdale’s or Garfinkle’s in DC, the former owner of
Brooks Brothers. I should remember, but cannot, if it became affiliated with Allied Stores, Associated Dry Goods or Federated Stores.
True, looking back now, Sears, Pennys, the campus stores and most department stores had pretty good Ivy style stuff back then. As one of the Napoleans said to his Hungarian chef while being led to the firing squad, “We never thought it would come to this!”
There are moments when the scent of polyester leaps off the page (okay, screen). This is one. I am guesssing a poly wool blend. Don’t drop that pipe on your jacket, big fella.
Let’s not exalt the heyday too much. With the democratization of the shape/styling (natural shoulder for all!) there came a dumbing down of cloth. Even, I am aware, in more elite ready-to-wear sartorial circles. I suspect plenty of snobs were doing custom at Brooks, J. Press, and Chipp for the sake of excellent cloth. Paul Winston and Jay Walter have confirmed as much.
Sometimes I think Haught Ivy had (has) more in common with Savile Row than with the cheaper versions of Ivy.
Strange how the memory works, or doesn’t work. In reading the above comment tonight, I realized my comment two above was incorrect.
It was Maximilian 1 of Mexico who made the utterance. He was a toad eater for Napolean 3rd and died by firing squad.
I bought my my first Harris Tweed jacket in 1982 at JCP in Seattle made in USA. Great jacket that I owned for twenty years! You could still find those gems back then. Now many ‘adult’ men look like they borrowed their little brother’s 9th grade Confirmation suit.