Dear Lorraine:

The raincoats/parkas you show on your page, bring back fond memories once again of 'grasshopper' raincoats I had and wore as a child and a teenager.

I progressively owned three of them as I grew into adulthood. When I was very young I used to sneak down to the basement and put on as well sleep in my older brother's raincoats (grasshoppers). The smooth rubber felt good to my skin and gave off a precious smell. It felt good to pull up the zipper and tie the string on the hood to give me a sense of protection.

When I became old enough, and my mom decided to buy me my own Grasshopper, it brought a magical sense of happiness to me. Both the outside cloth shell and the rubber inner lining were sort of olive green.

About the time I was in the sixth grade, my mom bought me a new raincoat. It was a grasshopper also, however it was navy blue on both the outside cloth shell and the inside rubber lining. At the risk of being a wise-guy, I guess it was a blue-grass hopper. Never mind.

During my last year in high school my mom bought me another raincoat of this kind. However instead of having a zipper, it had snaps. And instead of a navy blue rubber lining, it had light-blue (or baby blue) rubber on the inside. Frankly the snaps and the baby blue made me feel like it was a girl's raincoat. However as a high school and college student, it did give me many pleasant, sensational moments.

Jim