Just reading a discussion on building cake, it took me back to my early days at 15, working in Henry Levi's ladies shoe store after school and weekends. Known simply as Henry's Shoe Store, Henry operated one of the two exclusive shoe stores for women in an oil refinery town of 45,000 people in Northern Oklahoma, from I believe, the 40's through the late 60's or early 70's.
Henry smoked 8 pipes a day at work, out of an in store rotation of 16. He could often be seen beguiling the young working girls of the downtown area while sipping a pipe, smiling broadly, and hand fitting a shoe to their foot which rested on his knee. He was mild of voice and attitude with the exceptions of: the fundamentals of sales, how the store would be run, local competition (Mr Gueishme SP? who also sold women's shoes two stores down), his investments, and The 6 Day War :mrgreen:
Among my other duties were making sure the back door was unlocked in case Mr. Gueishme was chasing Henry back from the diner after lunch, and gathering his pipes from around the store at the end of the day. He smoked exclusively pots although I am not sure of what maker. They were all black stained blasts, and I would be willing to bet they were Dunhills. I vaguely remember white dots. He had so much cake in them I often wondered if he packed them with a pencil. He smoked in a relaxed manner, never producing volumes of smoke. His tobacco was not scented as an aromatic, but was not of an objectionable odor. Maybe a Virginia. Looking back I have often wished I could set down and talk to him about his many years of pipe smoking.
I admired his work ethic and it probably contributed to much of mine today. Conservative in his lifestyle and politics, he was courteous, unassuming, and a great listener. Henry seemed to always be enjoying some big joke in his eyes as he slowly sipped a pipe. Something magical about that old silver haired pipe smoker, contributed to many a woman leaving the store with multiple boxes of shoes and matching handbags.
Henry Levy, World Citizen, Pipe Smoker, Salesman Extraordinaire.
Henry smoked 8 pipes a day at work, out of an in store rotation of 16. He could often be seen beguiling the young working girls of the downtown area while sipping a pipe, smiling broadly, and hand fitting a shoe to their foot which rested on his knee. He was mild of voice and attitude with the exceptions of: the fundamentals of sales, how the store would be run, local competition (Mr Gueishme SP? who also sold women's shoes two stores down), his investments, and The 6 Day War :mrgreen:
Among my other duties were making sure the back door was unlocked in case Mr. Gueishme was chasing Henry back from the diner after lunch, and gathering his pipes from around the store at the end of the day. He smoked exclusively pots although I am not sure of what maker. They were all black stained blasts, and I would be willing to bet they were Dunhills. I vaguely remember white dots. He had so much cake in them I often wondered if he packed them with a pencil. He smoked in a relaxed manner, never producing volumes of smoke. His tobacco was not scented as an aromatic, but was not of an objectionable odor. Maybe a Virginia. Looking back I have often wished I could set down and talk to him about his many years of pipe smoking.
I admired his work ethic and it probably contributed to much of mine today. Conservative in his lifestyle and politics, he was courteous, unassuming, and a great listener. Henry seemed to always be enjoying some big joke in his eyes as he slowly sipped a pipe. Something magical about that old silver haired pipe smoker, contributed to many a woman leaving the store with multiple boxes of shoes and matching handbags.
Henry Levy, World Citizen, Pipe Smoker, Salesman Extraordinaire.