Jean's Journal: Making a resolution to shop locally

My first New Year Resolution was to stop writing about The Catholic Church – so this is a ‘religion-free’ article!

My second one was to shop local. However, the very sad fact is that there are very few local shops left in Athlone.

Before Christmas, I wanted to buy a piece of jewellery for my daughter, as well as a good warm scarf for my brother. I walked down Church Street to Sheffields and Burgess. I was very glad to give both fine stores my custom.

These two shops are open for many years in town. They are owned and run by Athlone families. Let’s support them.

On the subject of Burgess - ‘The Way We Were’ in the Westmeath Independent prints advertisements from times past. Recently I read an ad for Burgess there. It was from 1960 and was an invitation to the people of Athlone to attend their first ‘self-selection’ fashion showroom.

Only those of us of a certain age know what this meant. No longer would we have to purchase our clothes across a counter. No longer would we have to ask an assistant could we see ‘a cardigan.’ No longer would there be cardboard boxes on shelves with ‘ladies blouses’ or ‘ladies slacks’ written on them. From now on all these clothes would be hanging up, outside the counter, for us to peruse at will.

The pictures with the advertisement showed ladies wearing costumes (remember those?) Also shown were knee-length wedding dresses. I’m sure many a ‘going-away outfit’ was purchased in Burgess for the honeymoon, as well as lacy nighties for the much-discussed ‘first night!’

Back in 1960, another very well-known shop on Church Street was Foys. Ernest and Jack Foy ran what can only be called ‘an Emporium’ there. Their shop was where the present Bank of Ireland is, as well as the building beside it.

In this photo (above) are members of Ernest Foy’s family. I had the pleasure of meeting them all at Geoff Foy’s birthday party recently. In the back row are Geoff, Richard, Breffni and Dermod. Juliette (Judy) and Peter are in front. Missing is their other sibling Lydia who was unable to attend, Geoff told me.

Jack Foy’s children were Michael, Hazel, Mary, John and Cecil. I’m sure that some of you were in school with these Foys, in the past.

I had a chat with Geoff about what their shop sold. There were two petrol pumps on the street out front. Inside, one could buy shot-guns, toys, prams and much more. He remembers there being a great demand for Raleigh bicycles. These cost about £40 in the 1950s (according to Google!) Many of you will have fond memories of this marvellous shop.

I wonder are all our local butcher shops closed now? I walked down the main street of Dun Laoghaire lately, with friends. A butcher shop, called Hicks, seemed to have hit on a great idea. They were cooking meat outside their premises, on the street. One couldn’t but stop because the smell was so delicious. We sampled a sausage, as well as a piece of a lamb burger. All of us went straight in and bought meat there.

Some of you may have made a New Year’s Resolution to find a new partner. If so, never mind Tinder and similar on-line dating sites. Just buy Ireland’s Own and read the ‘pen-pal’ page. I came across a copy of this magazine over the Christmas and found it interesting.

I read about many ‘well-groomed, articulate, tall, slim, cultured, jolly, kind, caring’ older men and women. They are looking for ‘friendship and social outings.’ These social outing included ‘dancing, chats over tea or coffee, GAA matches, nature walks, visits to the concert hall, sun-holidays, afternoons drives and eating out.’ One man added, ‘And see what happens.’

However, what fascinated me was what all the initials beside each ad. This is what they mean. WLTH - would like to correspond with. RC - Roman Catholic. NS, - non smoker. ND – non drinker. GSOH - good sense of humour. ALA - all letters answered. NSA - no strings attached. OHAC - own home and car. LTR - long term relationship.

Armed with this vital information, there is no excuse to be lonely. I must say that all the people looking for companionship sounded very sincere and genuine. The majority gave their ages (60-plus) and the part of Ireland they live in. The reader writes a letter to Ireland’s Own and it is sent on to the person requesting a new friend. Maybe give it a go!

Another New Year’s Resolution of mine is to lose some weight. I’ve been on a diet now for sixty years – to no avail!

In the afore-mentioned Ireland’s Own magazine I read very interesting facts about dieting. Over the centuries there have been many crazy methods of losing weight. In the 1850 pills containing arsenic were available for the purpose! They solved the problem by killing the person!

In a publication called ‘The Ugly Girl’ it stated that ‘It is a woman’s business to be beautiful.’ This magazine advertised ‘The tapeworm diet.’ The fat woman simply swallowed a pill containing a tapeworm egg. Once the tapeworm hatched it grew inside the woman guzzling part of whatever she ate. This enabled her to successfully lose weight. However, nobody told the guzzling tapeworm when the desired weight was reached! Many health problems followed, including death!

Let’s go easy on ourselves in 2026. Let’s enjoy every good day we have and let’s do more of what makes us happy.

jeanfarrell@live.ie