ST. NICHOLAS: THE DASHING HABERDASHER!!!

Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day.  Normally this is sort of a “mini-Christmas” in that children (young and old) find gifts from St. Nicholas in their stockings or shoes on this day, but that’s not what I want to talk about here.

Last night I was out for coffee with my friends Cynthia and Steve.  At one point during the conversation, as we were talking about two new stores that had opened in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, the word “haberdashery” jokingly came up.  Since we each had our own idea and interpretation of what that meant, I decided to make it my quest today to find out for certain.  Here goes . . .

According to the sources I found, haberdashers were originally peddlers or sellers who dealt in small merchandise like needles, thread, ribbon, and buttons (the word still refers to people who sell these items today).  Over time though, the word became – at least in American English –another term for a men’s clothing outfitter.  Haberdashers sold men’s hats, scarves, gloves, ties, suits, etc., so of course, I was in my element now!

OK, so I know most of you are wondering what all of this has to do with good ole St. Nick.  Well, we all know his reputation for caring for children and giving out small presents (haberdasheries perhaps?), but lesser known maybe, is the fact that he is the patron saint of almost 100 professions and countries.  Today I learned from that list that he is also the patron saint of haberdashers!  So there you have it.  St. Nicholas is the patron saint of men’s clothing outfitters. 

The fact that my friends and I were discussing haberdashers on St. Nicholas Day is just an added bonus!!!