The Heinrich D. Neumann (my grandparents) family lived in Rosenwald, Barnaul Settlement in 1922, when famine and starvation was the plight of too many Mennonites living in Russia. This famine was compounded by the constant fear that what little they could produce might be seized at any moment by the authorities. This constant lack of the necessities of life extended  to every facet of everyday living.

     While some of their fellow neighbours had absolutely nothing to wear, according to David Neumann (my uncle), the Neumann children always had something that could pass as clothes. David considered himself as perhaps the most fortunate, not because he was a favourite child, but because he was the youngest. His mother had made a soft, warm suit of wool for him, a task that she likely spent days knitting.

     His older brothers, however, were less fortunate. His father, Heinrich Neumann, ‘manufactured’ cow-hide pants for them. He first tanned the hides, leaving the hair on, and then sewed pants from the hide. The tanning job was less than adequate, primarily because he did not have the essential tanning oils. This would leave the finished product stiff and unwieldy, and the hair served as a ‘great’ haven for lice.

     Due to the leather’s stiffness, the pants would actually stand on their own. They may even have simply jumped into their pants in the morning!