SPEAKER
Posted by Robert Homann on Jan 11, 2017
Our scheduled speaker did not show today so Jay Jones filled in on short notice.
Jay told us about his father, J. Richard Jones, custom tailor. His Dad didn't finish high school. He apprenticed himself as a tailor and eventually graduated from the Custom Tailors' and Designers' School in New York City. He got into the business of making riding clothes when Ft. Riley, KS was the U.S. Army Cavalry School. He knew and made clothes for many of the old cavalry officers - George Patton, Jonathon "Skinny" Wainwright, "Jumpin' Joe Stillwell, etc. He traveled to horse shows around the U.S. He knew and made riding clothes for Ronald Reagan before and during his term in the White House. All Reagan's riding clothes in the movie "Stallion Road" were made by Jay's Dad. He sewed the riding habits for the 1951 U.S. Olympic equestrian team. The woolens for the clothes came from England and chamois skin from France were used inside the calves of riding breeches.
When Jay was a sophomore in college studying engineering he wasn't doing too well academically. He suggested to his Dad that he drop out of college and join him in the tailoring business. His Dad picked up his large cutting shears and threatened to cut off one of Jay's fingers if he quit. Jay ended his talk by expressing his profound admiration for his Dad and the shaping influence he had in Jay's life.