Amateur Cultural Activities, on a Local Scale

When I reached the seventh grade, I transitioned from the short, girl's Lithuanian folkdress and grew into a pre-teen model. The pre-teen folkdresses were mass produced, and many girls had similar ones, but in different colors. My new folkdress was green and gold; another common color was turquoise.

Suburban Chicago, June 1970. What distinguished the pre-teen folkdress from the adult model was: (1) the lack of variation in the colors; and (2) the cheap quality of the fabrics. The crown of the pre-teen folkdress was nice, and I wore it into adulthood.

*     *     *     *     *

I nonetheless was very excited to have moved to wearing a full-length skirt. When the Lithuanians in our small, suburban enclave reached back into the tradition of staging amateur cultural exhibits, I took the opportunity to wear the new folkdress.

The "Lithuania" exhibit at which I debuted the new folkdress took place at Winston Plaza, the shopping center that was the heart of our suburban community. We bought our groceries at the Jewel, selected 45s at Lorraine's Record Shop, walked across the wood floors of Newberry's, and bought finer clothing at Madigan's. There was also a small JC Penney, A Dutch Mill chocolate shop, and a place that made a mean bucket of Broasted Chicken.

Melrose Park, June 1970. Like most cultural exhibits, this one included a table that displayed traditional weaving, sashes, and woodwork. Winston Plaza organizers tucked the table into the corner of the shopping center—where the doctors' offices were—and under a roof, in case it rained. All of the children from our little Lithuanian School stood behind the table.

After people had had a chance to absorb the lovely folk art, my Lithuanian classmates and I danced some traditional numbers to delight the audience:

*     *     *     *     *

Amateur hour was over. For the second half of the program, the organizers brought in the big guns from Marquette Park—the famous folkdance group, Grandis.

Grandis belted out a spectacular, fast "Suktinis."  Notice that the woman of Grandis wear the adult folkdresses. No two costumes are alike, and within each costume, there are many variations of texture, color, and pattern.

All photos from "Lithuania Day" at Winston Plaza, Melrose Park, Illinois. June 1970.