100 years ago in Spokane: Older women look younger because they’re wearing shorter skirts, officials say

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane’s liquor license clerks were confounded by a startling new problem: They could no longer tell a woman’s age by the length of her skirt.

Apparently, only girls used to wear “short” skirts. However, older women were now wearing skirts and dresses that, in the coy words of a reporter, “no longer cover a multitude of shins.”

In one recent case, a clerk was certain he was quizzing a girl, because of her short skirt. Then he discovered she had been married for 11 years.

A probation officer said this was an increasing problem, because “it is difficult to tell how old a girl is as so many of the old ones dress so young.” A prosecutor said “some of these girls that have on short skirts and other rigging are about 40 years old.”

Evidently, the clerks could not solve the problem by asking for ID. People did not carry ID. So the clerks were in a quandary because they could not give a liquor license permit to anyone under 21.

“It is necessary to take the girl’s word for her age,” lamented one clerk.

From the old-timer’s beat: Spokane’s annual Pioneer Picnic featured two notable longtime residents: Nellie Garry, 78, the daughter of Chief Garry and “Curly Jim,” 80, a tribal elder.

“Princess Nellie Garry,” as the article called her, opened the picnic with “a fervent prayer for the old-timers and for the peace and prosperity of the country.” It was delivered in her native language.