A Piercing Discovery

Recently,  I was reminiscing with my mother about when my sister Renee and I had our ears pierced. The year was 1966.  Mom took us to Quadretti's Jewelers for the big event. The torturous two weeks that followed are etched in our memories forever.  (I have spoken with Renee and she confirms it.). Between us we have given birth to seven children.  This does not compare to the pain and suffering we endured following that fateful day when Renee decided we should get our ears pierced.  Mom had paid Dr. Roach $10.00 to pierce Toni's ears.  Thanks to Sister Natalie's strict rules at Lauralton Hall about wearing absolutely no jewelry to school, Toni's ears closed up.  Mom was not going to risk wasting that much money again.

This is where Louie Quadretti comes in.  No one is sure how the conversation started, but Mr. Quadretti told Mom he had a new product for piercing ears called Sleepers.  You simply attached the small gold rings to each ear lobe, and in two weeks your ears were pierced.  Magic!  If for some reason the ring did not go all the way through the lobe after two weeks, he would gently push it through the rest of the way.  And he would do it for free since we were the first to try it.
As I have aged,  I realize "free to the first to try it" is never a good idea.

Renee and I spent the next two weeks crying and commiserating.  You try sleeping with a gold rod slowly penetrating your earlobe.  We were too afraid to take them out because of fear of ripping our earlobes off.  (I think I was willing to try taking Renee's off, but she wisely wouldn't allow it.)

At the end of the two weeks,  we went back to Quadretti's and Louie was surprised to find that he had to push the sleepers through quite a bit on all four of our lobes.  I am sure our screams could be heard all the way to Derby.

Over the years, Renee and I have told others the story of the Sleepers.  I guess we felt like old soldiers feeling nostalgic over our battle scars.  It never occurred to us that it was odd that we had never heard of anyone else with this ear piercing experience.

Until last week.  Fast forward 51 years.  As I said at the beginning,  my mother and I were reminiscing and the story of the Sleepers came up.  She doesn't seem to remember the torture she was instrumental in putting us through.  I decided to google Sleepers to see if they were still used today.

Here is the first definition I found.

Sleeper earrings, also frequently called starter earrings,  are designed to be worn by people who have had their ears pierced for the first time.

Yes, you read it right... people who HAVE  HAD their ears pierced for the first time.

Obviously,  Louie Quadretti was either a poor reader or a sick sadist! No wonder he had to push the sleepers through after two weeks!  The article also says that sleeper earrings have unusually short posts and screws on the back.

When I told my mother about my discovery of the true meaning of Sleepers,  she found it funny.  In fact, the only one other than myself who is horrified by this is Renee.

Unfortunately,  the statute of limitations has long ago run out and Quadretti's Jewelers has been closed for many decades,  but Renee and I agree, the agony and torment lives on in our  minds (and ears).