Jane's Window: My Spirited Life in West Texas and Austin

05. On My Own

68 a FTeR My GRaDUaTiOn from UT, i moved to Dallas , because i felt it was a better fashion town than Houston or San antonio. My goal was to work at one of the large downtown department stores, so i applied to the advertising offices of the three largest stores: neiman-Marcus, Sanger’s, and Titche-Goettinger. Finally, i was hired by Sanger’s. it took me some time to be hired, because i faced the usual problem of any recent college graduate: all the stores wanted to hire new people, but they also preferred to hire new employees with experience. Problem was, most recent college graduates had none, unless they lied on their resumes. Sanger’s had a thousand employees in their downtown Dallas store. When they offered me a position in their advertising department, i took it. For the first time in my life i had a real job. i really liked writing ads and quickly began to realize the more practical value of my UT education. Because i was a college graduate, the store buyers were relieved to have me writing their ads. Many of them had only a high school education, if that. Most buyers had moved up the ladder after first working as sales clerks. They knew how to buy clothes, but not so much about how to write ad copy. at last! all those papers i had written at UT were paying off. also, my work was appreciated, which really felt good. However, the best thing about that first job was seeing the veterans i knew from Fort Stockton and UT coming back home after the war ended. 5 a On My Own 69 O N M y O W N Once they discovered where i was working, they all wanted just one thing: a new white shirt. Right after the war, there were few white shirts to be had, because during the war, most manufacturing had been converted to the war effort, so there was a limited supply of consumer goods, especially white broadcloth to make men’s shirts. Fortunately, the men’s department buyer was a lovely gentleman who became my friend. although all civilian men’s clothing was still in short supply, and white shirts were especially hard to get, he was kind enough to stash some away for my friends. Whenever a veteran i knew came in begging for a white shirt, my friendly buyer would say, “Just give me a little time, Jane, and i’ll find him one.” i know he bent some rules, but he came through for me again and again. if we had not become friends, those boys would not have gotten their white shirts. That early experience taught me some valuable lessons about business: i learned it is not always what you know, but who. it also helps to make friends with co-workers. in Dallas, i shared a room on Gaston avenue with Doris Keene from Sonora, Texas, not too far from Fort Stockton, an arrangement that ended abruptly when Doris quit her job and moved back home. after that, i moved into a house where i had my own room, but no kitchen privileges, so i had to eat out all the time. That was a lonely time for me, because my friends lived on the other side of Dallas and none of us owned a car. i rode the bus downtown to work each morning and back again every evening. There was no television yet, so i did a lot of reading. except at twenty-one, i had no wish to spend every night with a book. Luckily, my friend Patsy Kelley lived in Dallas, and on weekends, i often stayed with her family. Patsy’s mother was a counselor at Highland Park High School, one of the best schools in Texas. Patsy’s grandfather had been a rancher in Pecos County. after all these years, Patsy and i still stay in touch two or three times a week. in 1945, Dallas was hardly the vast metropolis it is today, but it had lots of character. Then, as now, Highland Park was the place to live. its residents had prestige and carried a certain attitude about themselves. More than sixty years have passed, but that old attitude prevails. Downtown Dallas was bustling and lively. We would go to neiman’s 70 C H A p T e R 5...