Dressed For The Occasion

Dressed for the Occasion
The Story of Alvin Ehrlich
Melissa Dagley

Authors Note
The following story is inspired by real events, and takes place at
the Jewish Consumptives Relief Society (JCRS), which opened
in Denver, Colorado in the early 1900s. This sanitorium was
opened to treat Tuberculosis patients without discrimination. If
not treated early on, tuberculosis was fatal for many who had it.
At the time there was very little known about the causes or the
proper treatment.
Alvin Ehrlich transferred to JCRS in 1941 with his best friend
and former roommate, Wade Porter Jr. from a sanitorium in
Maryland. Upon arriving in Colorado, Alvin’s wife reportedly
filed for divorce, leaving Alvin on his own financially.

Melissa Dagley
7
April 27, 1942
“Dear Mr. Freedman:
...
Mr. Alvin Ehrlich is a patient at the San. My husband and
Mr. Ehrlich correspond quite regularly, since the latter left
Washington for Denver. Recently, in fact on April 25th
, he
received a letter from Alvin and I am quoting parts of it:
“I would like some information. I have held off on this until
I can do nothing else, and while I still hate to ask, there
is nothing left. I understand that the auxiliaries or some
other agency does provide a way for a patient to obtain a
certain amount of necessities a month from the store here. I
didn’t want to make any inquiries here as I did not want
my predicament to become any more public than necessary.
And I didn’t want to write to Washington (presumably the
Senior auxiliary here) until I found out the proper place
where I should write. So, if you or Selma will advise, I’ll
appreciate it to no end. I was getting a few dollars here
and there from a relative occasionally, but this has entirely
ceased, and I really need some help now. I want to assure
you I’m not a sohnorrer nor am I trying to be one now, as
I hate the thought of even being in that position. But now
that I am going to meals, it means the need of some few
things to wear around, which I don’t have. Whatever I had
was left with my wife and there has been no way to get
that (when Alvin went to the San, his wife proceeded with
a divorce). I am entitled to two-all-day passes a month to
go to Denver, yet I haven’t been out of the grounds since
December. It is just a case of absolute necessities that is
bothering me.”

Dressed for the Occasion - The Story of Alvin Ehrlich
8
Mrs. Millenson gave me to understand that there is a “relief
fund,” the proceeds of which are obtained through the
rehabilitation department at Spivak. This fund is available to
those patients which have no means of getting money anywhere.
Mrs. Millenson personally told me that Alvin really has no
means, that his relatives have ceased sending money. Also, Mrs.
Millenson told me that if you would kindly take this matter
into consideration, you might also be able to supply him with
the necessary clothes.
My husband tells me that Alvin must be really down and out,
otherwise he wouldn’t write the way he has, and that he isn’t
just the sort of man that wants to “sponge” from those are kind
to him in his illness.
Won’t you write me, Mr. Freedman, and let me know what
you can do. I shall write to Mr. Ehrlich and tell him that Mr.
Freedman of the Social Service will undoubtedly be in to see
him. Other than that, I will not mention that I’ve written you
part of his letter. I know he wouldn’t want me to do that, and
I don’t want him to know I’ve spoken to Mrs. Millenson. The
latter told me that the money given to patients, and clothing, is
kept confidential, and please rest assured that I shall not speak
of this to anyone.
With kindest regards.
I am sincerely yours,
Selma Steiner”

Melissa Dagley
9
May 1, 1942
“Dear Mrs. Steiner:
Thank you for your letter of April 27 regarding Mr. Alvin
Ehrlich.
Mr. Ehrlich approached us for a $20.00 loan recently to “help
him avoid an embarrassing situation.” We were unable to grant
this loan because we have no funds to be used in this way. He
has not applied to us for an allowance from our Social Service
Fund which is our “relief fund.” To patients who do not have
an income from any source, we grant a cash monthly allowance
of $2.00. We also supply them with used clothing that we may
have on hand.
Most of our ambulant patients who are need of a cash
allowance apply for employment in the JCRS Industries.
Patients begin by working for two hours a day and are paid
$5.00 per month. In time, their physical capacity permits them
to put in longer hours and they are paid more.
Mr. Ehrlich has not applied for this work but did apply for a
position which is beyond his strength. It was suggested that there
is an opening in the JCRS Industries and the doctor advises
that he is able to take it. He said that he will think about it.
We will let you know his decision.
Work in the Industries has the important objects of keeping the
patients busy and helping to determine their working capacity
as well as in providing them with funds.
We do not like to discuss personal matters concerning patients

Melissa Dagley
11
but in this case it appears to be necessary. Mr. Ehrlich is one
of the best dressed patients in the Sanatorium. He has given
patients the impression that he is a man of some means. He
owes $15.00 in the Sanatorium store, and we understand that
he also has obtained personal loans from patients.
If he will take employment in the JCRS Industries, he will have
$5.00 per month for incidental expenses, and if he requires any
clothing and will be willing to take what we have available,
we will be glad to assist his in this regard. The maximum relief
assistance we are able to make to patients who are unable to
work in the Industries is $2.00 per month, plus clothing as
needed. When patients who are on our relief list are able to
work in the Industries, they are taken off the list.
Please feel free to correspond with us further. As you mentioned,
we keep such matters entirely confidential.
Kindest regards.
Sincerely yours,
Israel Friedman
Director of Social Service and Publicity”
*The preceding letters were found in Alvin Ehrlich’s patient file, and have
not been altered.

12
September 1942
I awoke this morning to the early rays of sunlight streaming
through my window. I threw my arms to the side, and let out a
loud yawn as I stretched my arms wide. When I pulled my arms
back I accidently hit the lamp on the table beside my bed, and it
began to wobble around in circles, until I reached over to steady
it. This morning I am feeling better than I have in months, and I
actually want to eat breakfast. I really want to go out,
but my suits are all in rags.

14
I threw my blanket off and stepped onto the cold ground of my
room. I looked to the other side of the room and my roommate
was still asleep, who knows how he could be with this sun, so
I walked down the hall to my friend, Wade’s room. We came
to JCRS together a year ago, transferring from Glenndale
Sanitorium in Baltimore, where we were roommates.
When I reached his room, the door was closed, so I knocked
softly as I opened it. When I walked inside, Wade was stretched
out across his bed, his long legs dangling over the edge, and he
had a small paperback in his hands, his nose buried in the pages.
He didn’t even look up to greet me as I walked inside; he just let
out a low grunt, already accustomed to my morning routine. I
pulled a chair up next to his bed and sat slouched down in the
chair. I told him,
“I want to go out this morning for breakfast; I have two full
day passes that I can use, and I have not been outside of the
Sanitorium since December.”
Wade continued to read his book as if I was not there. I looked
down at him, trying to make eye contact, though his gaze was
fixed on the words of his book, then I sat up and asked him
quite clearly,

Melissa Dagley
15
“Do you think I could borrow some money to buy
a suit? I’ll pay you back just as soon as I can, and
you know you can trust me because we have been
friends for years.”
Wade looked up from his book, finally aware of the fact that we
were having a conversation. He reached to his side table and
opened the drawer to take out his checkbook.
“How much ya need?” He asked.
“Twenty five dollars should be sufficient,”
I replied confidently.
He wrote in the amount and held the check out to me, I reached
for it, but he kept a tight hold on it. I looked down at his hand,
and he looked to me, and said,
“I better get this money back! This is a loan, not a
gift, and I suggest you remember that.”
I nodded my head, and he loosened his grip on the check.
I put the money in my pocket, and I strolled back to my room
to get my coat and hat.

16
When I arrived downtown, I walked into the doors of the first
suit shop I saw, anxious to get out of my raggedy clothes and
find somewhere nice to eat breakfast. When I walked through
the door, the salesman didn’t even say hello because he saw the
way I was dressed. I walked over to the most expensive row of
suits and began to browse. I pulled out a few pairs of pants here
and there, and even though I couldn’t afford them I feigned
interest in them. I asked the man if he could help me find a size
thirty-four pant, and he asked me if I was planning on buying
something or just dirtying the suits up for everyone else. I let out
a loud chuckle, and said,
“That was a good one,” as if I thought it was hilarious that he was
insinuating that I couldn’t afford to buy a suit.
The man looked at me strangely and I said,
“I need a new suit for this big business meeting tomorrow,
unfortunately I seem to have nothing nice to wear anymore
because my wife has taken to using my clothes to make clothes
for herself with those new patterns Stanley Marcus came out
with, it’s the new trend you know.”
The man became more interested in helping me now that he thought
I had money, and he began pulling out suit coats and pants left and
right, trying to sell me the most expensive suits in the store.
I acted like I was interested in the expensive suits, but then I
told him that I didn’t really like the feel of the expensive suits. I
walked over to a much cheaper row of suits, pulled one out, and
as I ran my hands over the fabric I said,

Melissa Dagley
17
“This one is perfect, I like the way this looks, now find
my size in this and you will have a sale!”
The salesman stammered,
“But...but that’s only a mid-priced suit, surely you want
something more expensive... there’s a rack full of brand
new suits that just came in from France, they have everyluxury you could want, and these over here, they’re madefrom a different material, there’s even some real woolbrass buttons, large lapels, there’s even a double breastedsuit which is all the rage in the war free countries, youcould dress as you did before the war and all of the newrestrictions, don’t you want that? Please, come on now, noteveryone can be as wealthy as you, I need this commissionto be quite honest!
I stomped my foot down and said that I wanted
that suit and no other.
The salesman began combing through the row, and pulled out
the pants and coat, then he handed them to me to put on. I
walked back to a small dressing room and changed into the suit,
and when I walked out I felt like a million bucks.
The suit was light gray and was actually made with a small amount
of wool, which was surprising with the new regulations that had just
been placed on clothing because of the war; I liked the wool because
it meant that the suit would be warmer, even though it was still
made up mostly of artificial material, which doesn’t seem right to me,
I really don’t like the artificial materials that clothing manufactures
are forced to use now because they aren’t as warm and they tend to
shrink after you wash them.
The man was obviously confused as to why I would buy the
cheaper suit, when the store carried more expensive suits. I told
the man I would take the suit and handed him twenty dollars.

Melissa Dagley
19
The salesman was visibly upset that what he thought was going
to be a big sale was not, and he tore the money out of my hand,
and slammed the cash register drawer shut after he put it away. I
walked out of the door, a smile on my face, and looked around
for a diner.
I spotted something a couple blocks down, but I was still too
far away to see what it was. I continued walking, the cold wind
blowing into my face, and nearly blowing my hat into the
street; I was glad for the warmth of my new suit. When I finally
reached the restaurant I was walking to it was quite small, and
packed full of people, which I figured was a good sign, so I
crossed the street and walked inside. The writing on the window
advertised that they were having a special on pancakes, so I sat
down at one of the booths and trying to be clever, called out,
“I would like to try your pancakes and taste for myself why
they are so special.”
A spunky waitress walked over to my table and told me,
“Well you’re going to be waiting for awhile,
can’t you see we are busy!”
She walked away before I even had a chance to order something
to drink, and so I sat there, with no food, and nothing to do. I
sat and twiddled my thumbs for a few minutes, but then I saw
a woman sitting all alone on the other side of the small diner,
I walked over to her table and sat in the chair opposite her. I
poured on the charm and took my hat off as I introduced myself
to her. The woman blushed and said,

20
“I don’t usually go out alone, but it was such a nice day I
couldn’t help it.”
I grinned and told her,
“I understand and clearly I have done the very same thing.”
A small smile sneaked across her face and she asked me,
“Do you come here often?”
“Actually,” I said, “this is my first time, and to be quite frank, I
don’t know if I’ll come back because I’ve been here ten minutes
and nobody has even asked me if I want something to drink.”
The woman laughed and said. “This is not the kind of place
that you come to for fast service, and really, unless you are very
insistent, you may not get any service.”
I laughed and asked, “Would you like to go somewhere else and
actually eat breakfast?”
She smiled, “That would be lovely.”

Melissa Dagley
21
Not really knowing the area, I ended up leading her in circles,
until we finally decided to just buy some pastries at a small
bakery that we saw across the street and we sat on a bench
outside, watching the people walk by as we ate. She began to feel
cold after awhile, so I took off my coat and let her wear it.

I arrived back at JCRS just after dark without a penny to my
name and the happiest I had been in a long time.
A few days later, I was walking around outside at JCRS, trying
to get some fresh air, when I saw Maude, the woman from
Downtown. I walked over to her and she looked shocked to see
me. I asked her, “Are you here for treatment?” She nodded yes
and said that she had been for quite some time.
After finding out that Maude was staying at JCRS I decided
that I needed to start dressing nicer on a daily basis, after all,
she thought that I was wealthy, so I couldn’t let her catch me
in my old suits that were falling apart.
I went to my room and pulled out all of my old suits and
brought them across the hall to one of the younger patients I
knew and offered him three dollars if he would sell them all. The
young man accepted the offer and soon I had enough money to
buy a few new suits, which would help my wardrobe immensely.

Today, Wade asked me if I had the money I borrowed from
him, but quite honestly, I completely forgot about it, and
still had no money. In fact, I borrowed a hundred fifty dollars
from Maude’s aunt, so that I could buy some nicer suits, to
impress Maude. But, when I told Wade this he became very
angry and said that he was going to report me. I reached out
and grabbed his arm as he was walking away, but he was very
upset, and didn’t want to talk to me. I looked him in the eyes
and asked him not to tell.
October 1942

“Just give me a little more time!” I begged.
Wade was not enthused, and he pulled his arm away and kept
walking towards the Texas building. I walked over to the Texas
building as well, but not to stop Wade, I knew there was no
stopping him now. Instead I walked down to the office where I
worked, and asked my boss, Dr. Rest if I could get an advance
on my pay.
“Ineedtwentydollars,andIdon’thaveapennytomyname.”
Dr. Rest told me, “There is no way that I can give you a pay
advance; I don’t have the funds for that. You get five dollars a
month, what have you been doing with all of your money?”
“It is very important that I get the money, and if you
can’t help me I have no reason to explain why!” I
screamed at him.
In the end I was not able to get the money, and if Wade told
anybody about the money that I didn’t repay him then they did
not come to me about it, so I went to bed that night without a
worry in the world.
The next morning, I decided that I should get all of my affairs in
order, so I took out my notebook to write down all of the people
I owed money to. I began making a list, and reached ten people
before I grew depressed about the situation. The only money
I had was my five dollars a month for working, which was not
enough to pay back all of the money I owed and pay for the
things I needed.
24

26
November 1942
“You owe me a hundred fifty dollars Mr. Ehrlich! I
want my money now!” Mrs. Fair (Maude’s aunt) screamed
at me.
Obviously she was not the kind of person you borrowed
money from and did not pay back.
“I will get that money from you one way or
another!”
I really did not know what to tell her, because I did not have a
hundred fifty dollars, and I did not plan on having that much
money any time soon. I stood there silent while Mrs. Fair yelled
at me nonstop. I started to drown her out when she said that
she was going to make me sign my salary over to her until I paid
the money back, unless I gave her the money by the end of the
month. I knew that if I couldn’t get the money I would have no
choice but to give her my salary, but I didn’t like the prospect
any more because of it. I was deep in thought when I saw a
paper under my nose,
“Sign it!” She screamed. “I want my money!”
I saw no other choice, so I took the pen she was holding out
to me and I signed my name across the bottom of the letter,
declaring that I wanted to give my salary to Mrs. Fair, as untrue
as the statement was.
Of course I didn’t really want to sign my salary over to Mrs. Fair,
so I decided that I needed to come up with a plan.

Melissa Dagley
27
There was no way I could get a hundred fifty dollars by the
end of the month, unless I borrowed money from other people,
which would hardly help my current situation, so I decided that
I needed to come up with a way to get Mrs. Fair off of my back
about the money that I owed her, without having to actually pay
her back. Obviously, this was going to have to be a complicated
plan. I hoped it would work.
To begin putting my plan into action, I called up a bank in
Chicago that I had found a business card for awhile back, and I
asked the banker if he could send me a blank check, he said that
it wouldn’t be a problem, and I gave him my address. I didn’t
know how long it would take to get the check, but I hoped that
it would come soon, so that I could put all of this behind me.
For the time being, I decided that I should try to pay off some of
my other debts, I went through my collection of suits and pulled
out three of them to sell, I walked down the hall to the room of
a young boy, Mr. Student, and I told him that I would give him
three dollars if he would sell the suits for me. The boy readily
agreed, and I handed him the suits, and told him to try and get
at least fifteen dollars a piece for them.
A few days later I received the blank check in the mail. Time
to put my plan into action. I filled the check out to an Albert
Berstein, which is the name of the banker I spoke to, for a
hundred forty five dollars, and then I endorsed the check.

28
I put on my best suit, which I had bought just a couple weeks
earlier, I had lucked out and found a store that a had few suits
from before the War Production Board placed the restriction
on natural fibers, and I was able to get a dark gray, wool
suit with cuffs in the legs and flaps on the pockets, and it was
double breasted the way I like.
I walked to Maude’s room, and when I saw her I pulled out the
check and held it to her face, she looked at the check and asked
me where I got it from, so I told her that I was friends with
Albert Berstein and that he owed me a hundred forty five dollars,
so he gave me this check that was given to him by his brother
in law, and he endorsed it so that I could use it to pay my debt.
Maude’s face lit up,
“I knew that you would come through and pay my aunt back!
She didn’t believe me when I told her that you were an honest
man.”
She reached for the check, but I kept it out of her reach as I
continued to explain,
“The only problem is that Mr. Bernstein’s brother in law wired to
him to not cash the check, because it turns out, he doesn’t have
the funds to cover it.”
Maude’s smile faded, and she became angry, “So you came
here to give me a check that I cannot cash, and
pretend like you could pay my aunt back!”

Melissa Dagley
29
“Well, I thought that maybe you would see that I have every
intention of paying your aunt back, and there is no reason for
her to take my salary every month.”
Maude looked skeptical, and she told me that I better leave; I
was very worried at this point because I thought that my plan
would work, but from the looks of it, it was not going to.
Later that day, a Miss Naswich, who worked for JCRS came to
talk to me about what happened earlier. She said that Maude
called Mr. Bernstein to find out if my story was true and that
Mr. Bernstein said that he didn’t have a brother in law, and that
he didn’t know who I was. I was even more worried now, what
were they going to do me? Obviously I was going to have to give
my salary to Mrs. Fair, which meant that I would have no money
to spend.
I found out very soon what was going to happen, a few days
after Maude told Miss Naswich about what happened, Dr. Rest
walked up to me and said that he was going to have let me go
from my job. He said that he couldn’t confirm if the story about
what I did was true, because Maude was too sick, and Miss
Naswich had heard the story in confidence, so she couldn’t tell
him, but he was still going to let me go because of the large
amount of debt that I was in. He said that once I got my affairs
in order he could let me work again, but for right now he felt
like I might feel pressured to do something because of my debt,
like disposing of confidential information in medical records
for money. He was sad to let me go because I was a very good
worker, but he suspected that I would be able to get my job back
by the beginning of the year.

30
A few days after I was fired, Maude told me that someone from
JCRS had talked to her about my getting fired. She said that they
told her I got in trouble for spending more money than I had
any way of making in the near future, so she told them about the
insurance claim that I had mentioned to her previously, and that
I was expecting a large check and that was why I was spending so
much. Then she told me that they had not believed I was really
getting a check for an insurance claim. I nodded politely as she
recounted the story to me, then she asked,
“So, are you really going to get a check for an
insurance claim?”
I didn’t know what to say because it wasn’t true, but I
didn’t want to tell Maude that, so I told her,
“Well, I was due for a check, and I was telling you
the truth, but I seem to have run into a problem
because it turns out that I’m not going to be
receiving the check after all.”
Maude looked concerned,
“So, you really do owe more money than you can
pay back?”
“Yes,” I told her, “but don’t worry about me.”

31
Melissa Dagley
Maude didn’t want to accept that I really was having money
trouble, and she didn’t want me to get into any more trouble
so she took out her checkbook and wrote me a check for two
hundred dollars. This was the first time someone had written
me a check on their own accord and without me asking, so I
didn’t know what to do exactly, so I thanked her, put the check
in my wallet, and walked back to my room to ponder what I
should spend the money on.

32
January 1943

These days I am feeling much worse than I was; I can hardly
make it to the meals now, and I haven’t been Downtown since
I went in September. I got my job back in the medical office at
the end of December (mostly because they wanted me to do the
medical report), but I don’t know that I will be able to keep it
long, not the way that I am feeling. I’ve been lying in bed all day,
but so has my roommate, and his coughing has been nonstop,
which means I haven’t been able to get any sleep, I can’t even
think straight, and my head is spinning. I need to get out of this
room, so I slowly lift my arms and push the blanket off.
I haven’t gotten dressed in days, I can barely pull my
pants on, and I just forget about socks and shoes. I get
my shirt on, but I can’t seem to work the buttons, and
I can barely breathe. I stand up, and slowly shuffle out of
the door of my room. I barely make it to the hallway when
I collapse with a loud thud.
I don’t remember anything that happened after I collapsed, but
now I am lying in a bed, crammed into a tiny room, I must be in
bad shape if I’m in a private room now. I hear somebody coming
and I see a nurse walking into the room. I’ve certainly seen
better-looking women, but she’ll have to do. I can barely make
my voice work, but I manage to croak out a hello. The nurse is
startled; apparently I’ve been out for a couple of days. She leaves
and comes back a few seconds later with a plate of food and a
glass of water. I thank her, and ask her if she would like to join
me, but she just blushes, and walks back to the hallway.

33
The next day I decided that I would write a note to the nurse, so
I asked the nurse that was on duty if she could bring me a pen
and paper. I didn’t know what to say for sure, but I just focused
on keeping it flattering; I needed some money, after all, I did
lose my job, and just as I got it back I got worse and now I can’t
work, and haven’t been able to work for about a week. I sent the
note out with the nurse on duty and she promised me that she
would get it to the nurse from the day before.
In the few weeks that I was in the private room I developed a
friendly relationship with the nurse I met the first day, and I
decided that it was time to put my plan into action, so I sent
her one final note and asked her for two hundred dollars, I
told her that I had no money and I was devastated financially
now that I had been out of work for so long.
However, things didn’t go quite according to plan, because
instead of sending me a check or even some cash she gave the
letter to the secretary at the front desk and reported me. Not
only did Maude find out that I had been flirting with the
nurse, but they also told her about a nurse that I had been in
a relationship with when I first came to JCRS. Apparently the
other nurse was ill now and wanted the money she had loaned to
me back so she had written a letter to JCRS.
Melissa Dagley

34
Today, I have a big date planned with Maude to apologize for the
affair with my nurse, so I put on my gray, double-breasted suit that
I bought a few weeks earlier. I was surprised to be able to find a
double breasted suit with all of the restrictions that are in place
for clothing now because of the war, apparently having a
few extra buttons is going to keep the soldiers from
having uniforms.
I bought a zoot suit once just to spite them, they’re considered
contraband because they use so much extra fabric; the legs are
wide except for the dramatically narrower ends, and the jacket
is so oversized I get lost in it, but I like to wear it because then I
can show the government just what I think of their
war rationing, and their regulation L-85.
Anyway, I put on my suit, and I walked outside to the open
grassy area to meet Maude, only when I got there I saw a small
crowd of people, Maude included, and heard them all trying to
talk over one another.
I walked closer and saw that there was a police man, but I wasn’t
really worried, I mean, I wrote a bad check last week to Mrs.
Fair, but she would never cash it because that would look bad
on Maude, and why would she do that to her niece? However,
when the crowd of people spotted me the police officer walked
over, handcuffs in hand, and he cuffed me, and then told me
my rights. I didn’t understand; how could I be going to jail? I’ve
never been to jail before. I heard Maude telling Miss Naswich
that I had borrowed two hundred dollars from her as well, and
that I had given her a bad check. And Mr. Tipton was telling

them about a money order that he had asked me to buy, and
he claimed that I had never bought it, which in retrospect
was true.
I remember that day, I was wearing a lightweight tan suit,
because it was hot outside, and he approached me because
he wasn’t feeling well, he asked me if I would buy a
money order for him and send it to his insurance company.
I decided to keep the eleven dollars instead, and told him
that it must have gotten lost in the mail; I could tell he
didn’t believe me though, so I gave him back some of the
money, but I had already spent the rest of it, and didn’t
want to borrow money from someone else to pay him back.
The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the back of a squad
car, my hands hurting from the cuffs around them, and
making it uncomfortable to sit. I sat nervously awaiting my
arrival at the station, hoping that I wouldn’t have to stay
there long; hopefully someone will bail me out. I know I
don’t have any money.
A few hours later I was sitting in a dirty jail cell, my nice
suit getting ruined from the grime and now full of wrinkles.
I put my face up to the bars and yelled out of my cell to a
police officer that was standing nearby,
“When am I getting out of here? Didn’t
somebody pay the bail yet?”
Melissa Dagley
37

The police officer ignored my questions and just kept his head
down in the papers he was working on. I was bored out of my
mind, what are you supposed to do in a jail cell by yourself?
Couldn’t they have let me bring a book or something?
Only a few hours after I arrived at the jail I received a message
from Maude, but instead of offering to pay my bail like I had
hoped she wanted her watch back. She gave me her watch a few
weeks ago because she needed the stem repaired, so I told her
that I would bring it to the repair shop for her. I really did have
good intentions, but on the way to the jewelry repair shop I saw
a pawnshop, and in a force of habit I walked into the pawnshop
and pawned her watch for fifteen dollars. All I had left of her
watch now was a pawn ticket, so I told the officer to send it to
her in lieu of the watch. I had a feeling that Maude would not
be too pleased to see the pawn ticket, but what else could I do?
Now I had no hope of her bailing me out though, obviously she
didn’t want anything to do with me anymore if she was asking
for her watch back, and now that she knew I had pawned it she
would probably assume that I just wanted her for her money and
that I never cared for her, which wasn’t entirely true. I really did
like her, I was just a little preoccupied with money, and being
with her meant I wanted money even more so that I could buy
nice suits.
It wasn’t until a week later that someone from JCRS finally went to
the jail and paid my bail so that I could go back to my treatment.
38

Melissa Dagley
39
February 1943
My court date was coming up soon, and I didn’t want to go to
jail, so I called up a friend of mine who is a lawyer, whom I met
at Glenndale, and I told him what my situation was, and he told
me that he had the perfect solution for me. He said that if Mrs.
Fair was paid the money that I owed her that she would more
than likely drop the charges. I told him that I didn’t have any
money, but he told me not to worry about it. He said that he
personally would put twenty dollars towards the cause and that
he would call JCRS and convince them to help me out. He said
that he would also call the Ladies Auxiliary and see if they would
donate to the cause. I was excited at the prospect of having my
debt paid off and having the charges against me dropped. The
week in the jail was bad enough, what if I was sentenced for
years, and with this tuberculosis at that?
However, things didn’t work out the way I had hoped, just a few
days later, my friend called me back and told me that JCRS had
not been at all supportive of his idea, and he was unable to get
the Ladies Auxiliary to help. I was crushed, and I really didn’t
want to go to prison, so I came up with an idea of my own.
I went to my trunk and pulled out five of my suits, I didn’t
want to sell them, but it wouldn’t be the first time I sold suits
for money. I walked down the hall to see Mr. Student and
asked if he would sell some suits for me one last time. He said
that he would do what he could, and within a few days I had
seventy-five dollars.

I decided that it was time to bid farewell to Colorado.

42
I packed up my remaining suits and my few personal items, and
under the cover of night I snuck out of JCRS.
I wore my zoot suit to express the rebellion I was feeling
as I ran from the police and all of the people I owed
money to.
The suit was black, and I had a pocket watch with a long silver
chain that hung down against the darkness of my leg. The pants
came up high in the waist, so I had to wear my suspenders
instead of my belt. I picked up my fedora and pulled it down
over my head, then I took a cab to Union Station, where I
bought a train ticket to Baltimore; I still had some connections
there from when I was in Glenndale Sanitorium so I knew that
I would be able to find somewhere to stay. The station was still
busy even this late at night.
The trip to Baltimore seemed to take forever, it was a long
way, but when I finally arrived I was relieved to be away from
Colorado and hoped that the police wouldn’t come looking
for me. I saw a line of cabs on the other side of the station, so I
walked over there and got into the closest one. I told the driver
to take me to the Glenndale Sanitarium. I was a little worried
that someone from the sanitarium would recognize me and tell
the people at JCRS where I was, but I hoped that I would be
able to find a patient I knew without seeing any of the nurses.
I waited on the outside perimeter of the sanitorium until I saw
some patients walking out of the resident halls, and I saw one of
my old friends. I walked over to him, and his face lit up when he
saw me he reached out to shake my hand. I decided that he was

44
the one, so I told him that I had just been released from JCRS
and that I had to start over from nothing because I had long
since lost my job and my wife.
Then I asked him,
“Do you think I could borrow some money to get
back on my feet? I’ll pay you back just as soon as
I can, and you know you can trust me because we
have been friends for years.”
He took the bait and pulled out his checkbook, then he
asked me,
“How much ya need?”
“Two Hundred Dollars should be sufficient,”
I replied confidently.

Visual Sequencing
Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
Martin Mendelsburg
Colophon and Components
Colophon
Title: Dressed for the Occasion
Designer: © 2009 Melissa Dagley
Credits
Alvin Ehrlich
11336
Documents and Photography Courtesy of:
JCRS Collection, Beck Archives
Special Collections,
Penrose Library and
Center for Judaic Studies
University of Denver, 2008
Photography:
(In order of appearance.)
Flenn, Al. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1948.
Backstage Bridal. <http://backstagebridal.net/html/backstage_bridal_
tuxedoes.html.>.
Hansen, Marie. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1942.
Stackpole, Peter. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1943.
Scherman, David E. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1946.

Kessel, Dmitri. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1947.
Holmes, Martha. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1948.
Holmes, Martha. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1947.
Miller, Francis. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1949.
Miller, Francis. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1949.
Birns, Jack. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1949.
Larsen, Lisa. Life Magazine Photo Archive. 1954.
Bibliography
“1940’s Fashions including prices.” The People History. 12
March 2009. 17 February 2009
<http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1940sclothes.html>
“Men’s Fashions on the 1940s.” Men’s Vintage Fashions. 11
August 2004. 17 February 2009
<http://www.murrayhawaii.com/nolan/fashionhistory_1940mens.html>
Typefaces
Adobe Garamond Pro
Paper
Wausau Paper. Royal Linen, Natural 24 lb.

Dressed For The Occasion

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