OMG Shoes
The other day, I was walking down Mass. Ave. near Harvard Square and saw a large stuffed tiger in the window of a shoe shop.
I stopped in to ask the owner where he got it and said that I've been looking for a place that sells them. (I have been; I like tigers.) This man was one of those real, authentic *characters* that you meet sometimes.
The owner spoke in very thick and emphatic accent--probably Greek, possibly eastern European--but was obviously very fluent in English and understood how to use the language. While I was waiting for him to finish tending to his customer (and receiving $200 for the work), I saw pictures of him on the wall. In the pictures he was always standing in the shop, usually with smiles and shoes, some in black and white.
He said that he didn't know where it was purchased and launched into a brief history of the shop to explain. As best I could tell through his accent, the shop originally opened in 1908. In 1913, the building was subdivided into thirds and reduced the size of the shop to what it is today. In the 60s, Xerox moved in nearby or bought the building (not entirely sure which) and the rent skyrocketed, forcing the shop to move into the basement. When the building was remodeled recently, they managed to move back into the ground-level space.
When they moved back in, an old lady who had been a longtime customer stopped in with a congratulatory gift: the stuffed tiger. She said to the owner, in his words, "you are like the tiger. For years you had to live in the basement, and you fight and you fight, and now here you are." He hadn't seen the lady in years, but he said he still kept it in the window in case she came back someday. I thanked him for telling me the story and continued on my way.
Maybe I'll go back there someday to find out more about the shop's history.
I stopped in to ask the owner where he got it and said that I've been looking for a place that sells them. (I have been; I like tigers.) This man was one of those real, authentic *characters* that you meet sometimes.
The owner spoke in very thick and emphatic accent--probably Greek, possibly eastern European--but was obviously very fluent in English and understood how to use the language. While I was waiting for him to finish tending to his customer (and receiving $200 for the work), I saw pictures of him on the wall. In the pictures he was always standing in the shop, usually with smiles and shoes, some in black and white.
He said that he didn't know where it was purchased and launched into a brief history of the shop to explain. As best I could tell through his accent, the shop originally opened in 1908. In 1913, the building was subdivided into thirds and reduced the size of the shop to what it is today. In the 60s, Xerox moved in nearby or bought the building (not entirely sure which) and the rent skyrocketed, forcing the shop to move into the basement. When the building was remodeled recently, they managed to move back into the ground-level space.
When they moved back in, an old lady who had been a longtime customer stopped in with a congratulatory gift: the stuffed tiger. She said to the owner, in his words, "you are like the tiger. For years you had to live in the basement, and you fight and you fight, and now here you are." He hadn't seen the lady in years, but he said he still kept it in the window in case she came back someday. I thanked him for telling me the story and continued on my way.
Maybe I'll go back there someday to find out more about the shop's history.