There are those among us who are decidedly pro-Hartford, who rarely go a day without defensively uttering the phrase “Yes, there is plenty to do in Hartford!” We have been known to rattle off art opening dates and theatrical runs in a manner reminiscent of Rain Man.

But there’s a whole different breed of booster who, if provoked, will engage in verbal fisticuffs with anyone who dares to complain about Hartford’s lack of parking or its small-town attitude. Jody Morneault most definitely fits into this latter category (as witnessed by a near tirade on a suburb-loving store visitor.) And as passionate as she is about her beloved hometown, she’s equally zealous about fashion. Together with her dapper husband, Ron Morneault, these trendsetting owners of Tuesday’s offer more than 50 combined years of retail experience to their trendy, devoted customers.

Hartford Magazine: Tell me what it was like here in the early 1970s.
Ron Morneault: You’re going back 35 years, so culturally the so-called Baby Boomers of today were all in their late teens and early 20s. All we did was reflect the times. It was free-wheeling, it was a different era.
Jody Morneault: There were hippies everywhere. It was an attitude of a look. There was the turquoise jewelry, the hip-huggers, the flare pants …
But you were selling drug paraphernalia, not clothing, right?
Ron: Oh, we sold a lot of drug paraphernalia, but we also sold a lot of clothes. On any given Saturday, there’d be a line to get into my store.

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