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okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
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.

 

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,412
6,215
Your character sketch does honor to his memory. Thank you for sharing it.

 

maxx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 10, 2015
709
6
Good writing. A good character sketch. I had pleasant visuals to this.

 

bernie2

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 23, 2015
176
1
That was a great story...very well written. Makes me wish I could go back in time and have a good conversation with Henry!

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
Thanks guys. In my late 60's now, I guess I am getting sentimental, but it is interesting to look back and realize each of us will or has known treasures. I guess smoking a pipe does things like that to you.

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
Thanks guys. In my late 60's now, I guess I am getting sentimental, but it is interesting to look back and realize each of us will or has known treasures. I guess smoking a pipe does things like that to you.

 

menuhin

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2014
642
3
That took me right back to the pipe smoking era. A vivid portrayal, we need more of these detailed pieces to read and contemplate about the old days, thank you!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
For some reason I especially like the detail of his always smoking pot-shaped tobacco pipes. I don't know exactly what it says about Henry, but it seems significant and right, if a little mysterious.

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
Interesting observation, mso.

I love pots, but I also like a number of other shapes. All I know for sure was what Henry had at the shop, and they were all pots. I believe they were even pretty much the same lenghth too. There may have been some very dark brown ones, but all I remember was black and every one a blast. It was getting close to a lifetime ago :)
It may be that he being an older man, he had just found something that worked for him and saw no need to change it. It certainly was not because he was afraid to try new things. You should have seen some of the old "new shoes" I had to drag out of storage evry time we had a sale . "Just put 88 cents on all the dollar amounts, Danny", he would say, " peoplee love a sale!" :lol:

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,993
26,607
New York
Those were the days when you could smoke in your own shop and no one complained or if they did they were told nicely to 'feck off'. Its the busy bodies who have an inherent need to somehow stick their nose into your life somehow. Once upon a time they were the ones shunned by the main stream now they repress the majority! How times have changed my dear friends! 8O

 
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