MovieChat Forums > Destry Rides Again (1939) Discussion > He Only Owned One Pair of Pants?

He Only Owned One Pair of Pants?

posted 13 years ago by bebop63-1
6 replies | jump to latest

Taking into account that this is a western with comedic elements, did men at that time only afford one pair of pants at a time? Otherwise why did Boris resort to stealing another man's pants when he lost his to a betting game with Frenchy? Didn't he or couldn't he afford to get another pair? (an afterthought to this is maybe Lily Belle hid the rest of his pants, if he had any, so he couldn't sneak out behind her back). For that matter, the boarder from whom Boris stole the pants didn't have a spare set either.

[–] ljspin 13 years ago

I think that, since Boris, in his quest to be a true cowboy, bet his pants in a poker game with Frenchie, Lily Belle took all his pants so that he could not leave the house and had to stay home and "gaze upon" the photograph of her first husband.

I cannot, however, give a suggestion as to why the border did not have another pair of pants, except the comic situation of the border, in his long underwear, trying to get the attention of Lily Belle in a roomful of women.

Spin

[–] !!!deleted!!! (14789810) 13 years ago

He seemed like he had gambling habits so perhaps he had been gambling away all his personal things, preventing him from affording pants.

http://www.imdb.com/list/ZN26QIXaX_k/

[–] chicago85 13 years ago

They didn't have clothing factories back then. You had to be rich to have a real wardrobe. People wore hand me downs until they were rags.

Levi Straus got rich converting sail cloth into pants using brass rivets on the pockets. In the gold rush regular pants wore out fast, With those rivits they could cram ore samples in their pockets. Those were the first denims or blue jeans. Those pants made Straus a multi millionaire.

[–] reece-26 9 years ago

Well, they did have factories, but clothing was still very expensive in real dollar terms. A cowboy/working stiff might only have one pair of pants and shirt, maybe a 2nd spare shirt plus outerwear.

More affluent types, like a clerk, might just have a Sunday suit and another everyday suit which was worn six days a week.

I've been in quite a few historical houses where the main bedroom had one 2'x3' wardrobe cabinet for both the husband and wife's clothes.

[–] willjohn 9 years ago

People at that time would have one suit of clothes that they would keep patching up. The wedding dress was a case in point. rather than a sign of virginity it meant that a woman was rich enough to have a dress she wore once only.

[–] WeAintFoundShin 9 years ago

His wife wouldn't let him put on another pair as punishment.