Summer of '79

The summer of my 19^th year was filled with memorable firsts. I spent Memorial Day through Labor Day with girlfriends in Atlantic City, I got a taste of independence from my parents, I drove a tram on the boardwalk, I met lots of new faces from all over the country and Ireland who came to AC to work, and I fell in love.      

A quaint outdoor shopping center filled with boutique shops had recently opened near the tram facility called Gordon’s Alley, so my roommate and I checked it out on our first free day. We were giddy with all the trendy, fun stuff we saw that spoke to our sense of style and whimsy. I was truly in my glory there, surrounded by all the things I was obsessed with at the time: tie-dye, bell bottom embroidered jeans and…leather.

That’s where IT happened: at the Frye leather shop, where I found the look, feel and smell of leather absolutely intoxicating. It was love at first sight for me, when I eyed the most perfect pair of boots. They were a gorgeous “banana” color, with leather on the upper and suede on the shaft. The heel was about 2” and had a slightly pointed toe that varied from Frye’s iconic square style.

The price tag of the boots was steep: they cost in the upper $80s or $90s. That equated to more than one week of work, paid at the minimum wage rate at that time of $2.50 per hour. This was a lot of money for me to spend when the expenses of the summer were just getting started and were entirely on me, with no help from mom and dad. I could not give up a week’s pay – how would I go out to the bars after my shifts ended with my tram crew if I did that?

I was, however, intent on getting these boots, even though I knew that my mom would think they were a waste of money. She would say that I already have a pair that I don’t wear much, but those were my sister’s old lime green go-go boots, and I didn’t get them until she outgrew them, when they were no longer fashionable.

My mom had given me a credit card and said to use it only in an emergency, and I knew that buying these boots was not that, although there was no way I was going home on Labor Day without them. Back then, layaway was a popular and very smart option to manage the cost of expensive items so that no debt was accrued. The Frye store arrangement was that I’d come into the store once a week for about 6 weeks and pay off the boots. That could have been risky if every time I went in there or to any of the other shops I’d want to buy something else, but I kept my other impulses in check, thank goodness.

By the end of the summer, my boots and I went home together, and we were inseparable.  I was happy as could be. I wore them for years and years until there wasn’t much left of them. I have bought other boots since, none of which were Frye, and none compared to my love for my very first pair. About 20 years ago I bought a Frye handbag which I still enjoy today, but it’s way too heavy to use on a daily basis; it actually feels like luggage. Still, it fills me with memories of my carefree existence way back when, and that is surely worth some shoulder discomfort.

What was your first love?