National Clothesline

Who likes drycealners the most?

By Bill Bogus

Almost 75 years ago, a reporter and editor for the Washington Daily News, which no longer exists, traveled extensively throughout the United States searching every nook and mountain writing about what he saw and the people he met. His curiosity led him into unusual places, where he asked unusual questions.

His name is Ernie Pyle, the late Ernie Pyle. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet during World War II in the Pacific Theater of operations. He preferred to be with, and write about, the infantry soldiers because they were the ones who met the enemy head on. And they were the ones who had the most casualties.

Before Ernie Pyle went to the war zone in Europe, he was stationed in the Washington, DC, area.

One of his dispatches that interested me was the time he wrote about people and their clothing. Being a drycleaner gave me more reason to be interested. Ernie Pyle wrote about seeing more handsome men well groomed and well dressed, as well as more women well groomed and beautifully dressed, in Washington than in any other city in the United States. Now, that’s a compliment that women appreciate.

After World War II, in 1948, the Washington Post made the same observation about the beautiful well-dressed women that Ernie Pyle saw. Most of the women were government workers. Who else!

The Washington Post ran a “Miss Government Girl” contest and part of the prize was a nine-day trip to Bermuda. More than 900 women responded to the contest and sent pictures of themselves to the Post. To any Washington Post employee who happened to be a bachelor who couldn’t find a girlfriend, the pictures helped him to find one. If it wasn’t for women, drycleaners would be as needed as a dog needs fleas.

In addition to the trip and cash prize, the Post offered the winner the opportunity to serve as a model for a new character in the “Mary Worth” comic strip. She would be drawn to look beautiful and serious-minded, not a stupid-looking character.

Drycleaners should wake up to the fact that it is the women who keep the drycleaning industry alive. Drycleaners need not be deceitful in their advertisements. Let decency and truth prevail. Publish the truth when advertising.

Women are quick to recognize phony-baloney advertisements where cheating is apparent and deceitful, when one claims quality, when it isn’t there. When one claims the finished garment looks like new and it doesn’t, that’s deceitful.

When a tag is attached to a garment stating that any attempt to remove the stain will damage the color, now that’s a lie when the color is white. “Sorry tags” are best used when truth is apparent and are false when used for convenience only.

Something else that is troublesome for the serious-minded drycleaner is the Immigration officials allowing more people entry into the United States as drycleaners. What immigration didn’t know was that there was no shortage of drycleaners. Consequently, allowing more immigrants to become drycleaners can devastate the industry.

Years ago, immigrants coming to America helped in building a strong, growing nation. But too many immigrants can be intrusive and disruptive if they are more for “take” than “give,” taking advantage of what serious-minded drycleaners built on quality and satisfaction, using fundamental principles and not discounting.

We don’t expect nor want immigrants to go away. We want them to stay. We want them to join the serious-minded professional drycleaners in helping to build a strong drycleaning industry so that every drycleaner will benefit.