More about the store. In the very beginning of our venture we had only one competitor who specialized
in high priced ladies shoes. The store was run by a couple and ,especially,the lady co-owner for some
reason liked me and, when I was near their place, I visited and we schmoozed. Her husband was a
ladies' man and I was told that he loved to fondle the female customers feet. The store is still there and
run mostly by their daughter. Somewhat later,near their store, on a corner,a children shoe store opened
and was a competitor. I do not recall if that was the reason why we quit carrying children shoes,but we
did so at some time. Another competitor opened in the next block from us.Not a nice guy and we were
told that he said he would put us out of business-however he only lasted a year.
Back to Alan's : Again my Dena reminded me that, in the beginning ,we mostly catered to the children.
We gave away live little turtles,toys,pencils and, the highpoint of the give-away was a boy's bicycle.
We got an article in the Shore newspaper with his picture and I still have it in one of my albums.

During my year as Business Association President something happened that could have had serious
consequences ! Someone ,not me, had the crazy idea of putting a wrecked automobile on the corner
of our block-which was empty- and sell chances to hit the wreck with a hammer for a price which eludes
me. There were a lot of people taking up this offer, I think it was a Sunday, and all went well until a boy
of about 15 hit a window and a piece of glass lodged near his brow. I had to rush him to Emergency
in my car,but, fortunately,it was superficial and of no consequence. It would have cost the Association
a fortune, had his parents sued.
I was the Secretary of this group for many years and thus knew most of the business owners on the
Street. One of them was our neighbor across from our house who had a fine ladies wear store on
2d street and the rumor was widely spread that he had buried gold coins in his backyard. He was
not well liked,but his wife "Greta"( the name of the store) was loved by everyone,she was a fine lady.
We ,much later, visited her in her home in Palm Springs,but she was ailing.
Your dear mother,the love of my life,never did like to sell shoes,however,she was very good at the
cash register although she did not visit the store very often. Once things were going well,she devoted
much of her time to Jewish Women organizations,primarily she worked for an outfit called "Ort" and
had many leading roles in it. She was very often occupied in ferrying members to and from meetings
although she did not like to drive very much. Of course most of her time then was devoted to you,
our wonderful daughter, and your schooling.

to be continued