Being the host congregation for the District Assembly, we were privileged to hear several talks from the convention administrative staff wetting our appetite for the 1975 convention held at Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, Arkansas.
One short-statured brother from the southern part of the state kept exhorting the sisters: "Now, pay attention! There's going to be a dramatic announcement at the assembly that will just thrill you sisters!" As much hype as this was getting, the only speculation that I could conjure up was that sisters might be allowed to speak directly to the audience in the TMS.
After the meeting, the vertically-challenged speaker could not restrain himself in conversation with Brother P. and myself. "They're gonna let the sisters wear pantsuits!" he gushed.
On the drive home from the Kingdom Hall that night, I kept thinking how ludicrous this sounded. It seemed like such an inconsequential thing.
Sure enough one of the assembly talks mentioned pantsuits and post assembly, almost our entire sisterhood wore the polyester creations with the brassy buttons and slightly flared leg. My wife was one of the few exceptions. Of course, "pantsuit" means different things to different people. One sister came to the meeting in sweat pants and a t-shirt.
Of course, there was a readjustment and return to normal, acceptable attire. The sisterhood had obviously overreacted to a simple statement made at a district convention.
Does anyone remember this sequence of events?
TMS