MEMOIRS OF A 'SHOE DOG "

Yes, that is what they were called in the old days,although the dictionary does not contain such a word. However, there is no question that I was such a person for about forty four wonderful years My dear Father- in law was such a person even though, when I met him he was running a knitting machine- but I forgot what he was knitting so long ago. He evidently harbored a hidden desire for the shoe trade and had worked in a shoe store in his youth. I was a traveling salesman for ladies' underwear at the time of my marriage and shoes were just something I wore. "Morris" and my wonderful mother-in law "Rose" were visiting their doctor son in Los Angeles. One day he took them for a ride to Long Beach. I never found out why in particular, and they came to a beach area called " Belmont Shore". Traveling the main street ,lined with stores, they came upon a shoe store which had a sign " For Sale". It turns out the owner of this place had started this establishment just a year before with the idea of making enough money to join his relatives in a fine furniture store. Somehow, Morris was able to come to terms and purchased the place. After the accomplished fact he called my wife and myself to propose that we join him in this venture. Lately I had been very angry at my boss who had been a good friend of mine for many years. His uncle was the owner of the factory I traveled for and " Mike" had inherited the business ( he came from the same town in Germany as I and was about my age) when "Uncle Herman" passed away.All went well for awhile but then "Mike" felt I was making too much money and cut my territory. This was the time when the call came from California and it took my dear Belle and myself about 2 minutes to agree to this fine offer to go from underwear to shoes. Right here let it be known that, before the call, I had spent two years in the US Army in sunny Burbank,a suburb of Los Angeles and had fallen in love with the sunshine. There were no openings after my return from Okinawa ,Japan, a year later and I had to return to my old job reluctantly. Thus this offer was a gift from heaven. We sold our house quickly and I packed up my car and Belle and our one year old pride and joy,daughter Diane took the plane to Los Angeles,whereas I drove a day and a half to Long Beach in my trusty Plymouth. We rented an apartment,after being turned down by a lady who had such a place for rent-because we were Jewish ! That is the only incident of this kind that I can remember during all my life in our town. To be continued

Details

Shoe dog continued

The first habitat in California was in Long Beach near a traffic circle.A road I hated to take
because it was much traveled and the circle was not easy to navigate. We soon found a place in our
beloved Belmont Shore and within walking distance from the store. I cannot recall any neighbors there
specifically, but it was our abode for a few years.
Back to selling shoes ! The former owner had stocked it with well known brands, such as FLORSHEIM
for men, VITALITY for the ladies and RED GOOSE for the kids.Fortunately it did not take me long to
learn " the tricks of the trade" and my dear Mother-in law was both a super sales woman to learn from
and a good judge of brands we later changed to. A vivid memory of that time brigs forth our " X-ray
Machine" where the customers stuck their feet in this gadget to ascertain the proper size. Not soon
after my appearance however,this machine was banned by the authorities because the customers went
from store to store and exposed their feet to an overdose of X-rays which was dangerous. thus we had to
rely on a small metal platform which you held under the customers foot and adjusted a lever or pushed a slide
to ascertain the proper size.Of course personal knowledge was a big factor,as well as peeking inside the
shoes the customer wore and read the size. The important thing was to read the customer's mind and to
produce the right pair. It was not long before I caught on and I prided myself on the fact that, to my knowledge,
nobody got corns from my selections, although some of the ladies were" numbers" conscious and insisted
on squeezing their tootsies in too small a size.
My dear daughter reminded me of two instances I had forgotten. A young ,pretty, lady customer who had
an over sized bust and very small feet,bent down in front of me,sitting on my fitting stool,thus these huge
globes practically hung in my face.Another time a male customer came in with two left shoes in the box
and, unforgettably, two male customers came in together,tried on a raft of expensive pairs and then rushed out
of the store with costly Florsheim shoes on their feet and ran away.Fortunately an isolated incident.
As a whole we were blessed with a wonderful clientele in a great neighborhood and very soon I was able to
become a full partner. This led to the buy of our first house, again about 15 minuted driving time from the
store. It was located in a brand new,middle class neighborhood,called "Lakewood Plaza". While it was still
being built,we had a big rainstorm. The windows were not in yet,the wooden floors buckled and had to
be replaced. After that there was a big oil fire in a neighborhood,called Signal Hill, and black clouds of
oil ruined the outside of our houses and had to be repainted.

More to come

The Store - Alan's Shoes

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

ODDS AND ENDS TO CLOSE THE ALAN"S STORY

An important part of any success in the store is the help. When I arrived on the scene there were the in-laws and an older gentleman who very often disappeared in the stockroom in the back behind a separating wall and " took to the bottle", he did not last long . He was followed by a younger man who was an excellent shoe salesman and stayed with us for quite some time. When Dena arrived and converted from shoes to a boutique, there was a succession of young girls. Some good, some not so reliable and, of course, my role in selling diminished. There is one episode that stays in my memory: next to us there was a paint store. There were three stores in the block at that time with an open space at the opposite end from us. The paint store moved to the corner and for some time there was an empty space between us(later occupied by the post office). I do not recall whose idea it was,but we decided to use the empty store for a sale of ladies shoes. it was a cement floor and we displayed rows of boxes of shoes which were poor sellers on the bare floor and we got rid of a lot of stuff. When Dena and Dan decided to move to Santa Fe and open a boutique there, the time had come to quit and ,at 80 years of age,Alan's sold out. We had a big advertised Sale in the paper and, while prices were marked down somewhat,but still above cost,we were able to dispose of a lot of merchandise, (with people waiting around the block) and the balance went to the Forty Thieves who specialized in close-outs. Needless to state-if Dena would have stayed, I probably would still be there ! Certainly I enjoyed the forty-plus years in this profitable undertaking. It proved that I was at he right place at he right time and I feel that i have led a blessed life in something that started so grim !