Then our next door neighbor – mother of two boys, one of whom went on to form the famed Beastie Boys, but no, we never played together – opened a little shop on West 10th Street called Gee the Kids Need Clothes. Most of the merchandise was second-hand, refurbished with cool patches that said things like “Keep On Truckin’” and “Peace” as well as swatches of calico and velvet. I am sure my first pair of real Levis came from that store, as about the only thing my mother didn’t make herself was socks, underwear, and the occasion red polo shirt. I remember the interior was painted a bright yellow, and there was probably a mural or at least stencils of some sort decorating the walls. It had that happy sunny kid-friendly feel, and how I loved going in to try on clothes.

Best of all was the official “Gee the Kids Need Clothes” T-shirt. It pictured an outline of a little boy from the back, in a Paddington style hat. The name of the shop arched around the child – I’m now convinced it was a boy – and the words Greenwich Village sat below his feet. I had two – royal blue with white writing and yellow with orange. My mother still has one put away in a box labeled “Chris’s Favorites”. I don’t remember how long the shop survived during the tumultuous seventies. It doesn’t seem like it was very long. I know the family moved out of their house and there was talk of a divorce. I remember my mother being sad the shop was closing.

There were no Gap kids and Old Navy’s back then, there were barely any chain stores in Greenwich Village. I was well into elementary school before the first McDonald’s opened near the West Fourth Street basketball courts.

But I can tell you of at least four drugstores with soda fountains whose owners sold you a bottle of Coke syrup when you had the stomach flu. People who owned townhouses hadn’t paid a million dollars for them. Most paid less than a hundred thousand. I don’t know how a family like mine could ever live in New York City now let alone the Village. And I know for a sure a shop like Gee the Kids Need Clothes could never open in the West Village. But I’m a mother myself now, and my sewing machine sits idle in the basement. I bought it second hand when I was in college with the best intentions, but the needle just moved too fast and I feared my fingers would end up attached to something other than my hand. I suppose a good amount of my mother’s hard work was based on our need at the time. And I’ll admit to you that I have no problem shopping at Gap Kids and Gymboree. But I also know when the stomach flu strikes I’d be hard pressed to find a bottle of Coke syrup in this town.