The "Good Old Days"
In Ringgold County

The Modest Styles of Long Ago
Sleds, Hoops, Bustles and Booze

From the Mount Ayr Record News, June 3, 1925

Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 25, 1925

Mr. Sam SPURRIER, Mount Ayr, Iowa

Dear friend, Sam: I am enclosing a check in order that you may push my subscription to the Record-News up a notch. We always look forward eagerly for the coming of the Record-News, which is in reality a record of news of former friends and acquaintances.

I think you now have an excellent bunch of assistant editors, who are acting as reporters from the many communities of Ringgold county.

We enjoyed Mrs. B. M. LESAN's write up of the early events of the pioneers of the county; also L. O. IMUS report of the effects of wet goods on a man when taken both internally and externally. The W.C.T.U. has made wonderful progress in the past fifty years. Mr. IMUS story reminds me of a little incident that happened in Ringgold county in the early days. In those days it was common occurrence for many people to take a “we drop.” One of our neighbors went to Mount Ayr one day in the winter driving a team hitched to a sled made of hickory poles. A neighbor girl about sixteen years of age went along. Along in the evening they started for home. The neighbor had imbibed a little too freely and got quite hilarious and happy. Sally, the girl, had to not only manage the team, but to brace up her companion;

also in the hilarity he got off the seat and in some way fell through the boards which were used for a floor, and became wedged between the cross pieces of the sled. Sally halted the team and tried to pull him out but could not. Another neighbor soon came along and they together finally got their helpless companion extricated. They assisted him onto the sled and again started for home. Then the unfortunate man began to talk. He said, "If it hadn’t been for Sally's bustle I would have fell out." How styles have changed! In those days the flapper tried to wear miniature silo hoops around them below the waist with a wire bird cage in the rear.

With kind regards and best wishes, I am, sincerely your friend.

W. B. BUCK, 115 N. Cedar St.

Transcription by Tony Mercer, February 11, 2025

The "Good Old Days" is a series of articles that appeared in the
Mount Ayr Record News in the 1920s about the early history of Ringgold County

Articles in this series:
Five Negroes and A Dog Funeral
Indian War of 1855
When Mount Ayr Was Wet
My Experiences of the First Two Years in Ringgold County
When Saloons Cursed Mount Ayr
How Pioneer Mount Ayr Met the Rebel Guerrillas
The Modest Styles of Long Ago
A Kidnapping Incident in Early History of Ringgold County
Early History of Ringgold County Settlers, Part 1
Early History of Ringgold County Settlers, Part 2

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