Right Where We Live - 1. Chapter 1: Scandal Candles

Right Where

We Live

Christmas at Famous-Barr 1945

A Novella

By

AC Benus

Contents

Chapter 1: Scandal Candles

Chapter 2: Voin's View

Chapter 3: Betty on the Beat

Chapter 4: Stars of Silver and Gold – Part 1

Chapter 4: Stars of Silver and Gold – Part 2

Chapter 5: New Alliances and a Tour of the Store

Chapter 6: A Merry Little Christmas Now

Cover Art: Famous-Barr employee newsletter for December 14th, 1945.

Chapter 1: Scandal Candles

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Good For a Laugh!

A real shopper (you know the type . . . she elbows her way aggressively ahead of those waiting in line) was in a very crowded Candy and Nuts Department last week. She shouted to the young woman behind the counter, "Hey, Girlie! Do you wait on nuts too?!" The saintly clerk turned from her scale full of gumdrops, smiled and answered very politely, "Yes, madam. I'll be with you in just a moment."[1]

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Recalling the newest addition to the store's employee newsletter brought a smile to Betty's face. Every time she considered its quality, she was drawn naturally to conclude it was among her best work to date. It was humorous and charming, and a genuine 'human interest' piece of the type each and every one of the department store's nearly six thousand employees could relate to. Another twenty-five hundred would soon be added, for now that the war was finally over, the long-delayed expansion program for three 'outlying' stores, and doubling the size of the Spring Avenue Warehouse facility, was well underway. Ground had been broken on the mid-town shipping and storage center, and although only announced fourteen months ago, the seven-point-five million dollar project had already grown to eight-point-seven, and everyone thought Famous would spend a cool ten million before the glorious, up-to-the-minute stores were opened.

"How was your lunch, Miss Higginbotham?" the mousy hostess asked, fingering the light-green order slip to ring up the tally.

Betty touched her bobbed red-headed hairdo, and chuckled lightly to herself; her attention flickered between the Canteen employee and a stack of freshly unwrapped Store Chats sitting on the glass counter. "Fine as usual, Mabel." The display on the shelf within the cabinet caught her attention for a brief moment.

The hostess smiled and took Betty's dollar to make change.

"Well," explained Betty half-relieved and half-weary, "it's Friday, so the new edition better be out. Weekly deadlines are sometimes a bear, but the newsletter must get in the mail on time for our boys and girls overseas."

"Yes." The cash register made a cheerful sound. "You do a wonderful job, Miss Higginbotham, and I hope you hear it all the time."

Truth was, Betty did not hear it all the time. Her position as store sleuth and intrepid reporter rather 'got her in wrong' with certain folks.

Betty smiled. "As the byline of the magazine says: 'We strive to please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time.' And I've come to believe it's a take your pick catch-twenty-two; it's either one or the other."

Mabel handed Betty her change. "Well, I always look forward to getting my copy on Friday afternoons, and a lot of others do too. It's all down to you, Miss Higginbotham."

Betty was not shy with praise. The well-educated, well-born twenty-five-year-old woman had been reared to regard it as her due, but here it was not a deferential nod to Betty's class or social stature, but warm admiration for her talent. As she collected her change from the tin tip tray, her eyes again alighted on the little holiday display on the top shelf under the glass of the counter. "Thank you. And remember, Mabel, any unusual or 'newsworthy' things you observe or learn about here in the Canteen, you jot them down for me, aw-reet?" The redheaded reporter-slash-editor winked, delighted she tagged on one of the store's insiders' jokes.

"Oh, yes! I will!"

"Good." Betty grabbed a Store Chat from the top of the stack and headed for the door. "Bye, Mabel."

"Have a good afternoon, Miss Higginbotham!"

Out amongst the Second Floor bustle and flow, the Store Chat organizer threaded her way through the Menswear Department towards the southern bank of elevators. If not for her college intern, and a small army of intelligence-gathers on the various floors and in the support facilities, she would not be able to do this on a weekly basis. She smiled to herself, knowing 'Betty, Jr.' and a contingent of volunteers were upstairs right now, in a Thirteenth Floor conference room, stuffing envelops with newsletters to sail themselves all around the world to the men and women of the Famous Family in uniform. Their letters back to Betty were full of thanks and mirth to learn about the more gossipy goings-on of their extended work-world kith and kin.

Nearing the recessed door to the behind-the-scenes employee area, she smiled outright to remember it had been one week to the day since she saw two well-known young men of this department having a private moment admiring each other's suits. Everyone knew they were together and left them alone to enjoy their private council, but what happened two workdays later with these boys was truly funny and heartwarming too. Store Chat could not ignore the incident.

As she pressed the elevator call button, she glanced at the cover of the newsletter in her hand. Two large photographs showed some of the professional clowns employed for the season in Toyland entertaining children at their recent charity parties in the Ninth Floor Auditorium, but her mind immediately went to making a mental note about visiting Gary in the Art Department this afternoon to see how the 'Santa on the Globe' cover for next week was coming along. She'd been finding the spirit of Christmas this year a little difficult to capture. People were joyous the war was over, but still, there was a lot to be sad and worried about too.

The 'UP' light illumined over the elevator right in front of her. Soon it opened and she stepped into it, noting instantly how unusual it was to be peopled by only the elevator girl, and no customers. She knew the operator instantly.

"Hiya, Yvonne."

"Good afternoon, Miss Betty. What floor, please?"

"Thirteen, thank you."

The doors closed and the operator worked the semi-luna brass controls. A smooth hand motion glided them upwards with a nearly unnoticeable start. Betty was not too sure about the conservative uniforms the girls all wore: dress suits in dove gray, with skirt hems below the knee and waist-fitted jackets over white blouses. There was a flourish on the lapel however, for here frilly hankies had been folded like open books and pinned via nametags to the garment. Betty made a mental note to see what the operators in Gimbels and Macy's were wearing when she was back home on her next trip to Connecticut. She knew Stix and Scruggs girls were even more modestly uniformed, and Betty chucked it up to 'Saint Louis.' What one would not see at any of the stores mentioned – other than Famous – were elevator operators of color, but this store opened up the field to everyone as early as 1930, and now the entire Elevators' Operators Staff was black, and that included their "Captain," or their boss. Perhaps this slow-working liberality was due in part to the fact that Mr. David May, the savior of both Famous and William P. Barr & Company, was Jewish and had to buy a store in Old Saint Louis to even be served in one.

"Going back to work?"

"Yes, Yvonne. No rest for the wicked. Say, by the way, what do you think of your uniform?"

"This?" Yvonne chucked her lapel briefly. "I like it. I think it makes us look dignified."

Betty nodded; she could not argue with such an approach.

Yvonne continued in a softer tone, "Since our new elevators went into service in 1940, these duds have served us well. Why, do you like them?"

To the operator's newly-come concern, Betty reassured her, "I do. They are very trim and flattering, if perhaps a bit dowdy."

Yvonne chuckled. "Well, in any case, I'll admit the hem lengths of 1940 are a bit constricting nowadays."

"Okay. Let me think about a way to bring it up with the powers that be."

"Well, just don’t take it up with Captain Duffy. He thinks these 'new' outfits are on the risqué side to begin with. Talk to Mr. Warren, his replacement."

Betty was jolted back to duty. She knew she was forgetting something, and here it was: Duffy Smith, the longtime Elevator Captain of Famous-Barr was retiring come January 1st, and she'd have to get her associate to visit him. Information about his long career with the store, and what it's like to be the only man and father figure in his department, was needed for his retirement announcement and farewell in Store Chat.

"How is Mr. Warren Lee shaping up as your new boss?"

"He's a nice man, Miss Betty. We all like him well enough, but it just won't be the same without Duffy."

"Yes, I know generations of operators have only had one Captain – Mr. Smith – so we're in for an adjustment."

The elevator cab slowed down ever so slightly. Even while they were conversing, Yvonne's attention had been focused on her lighted control board, and now Betty noticed a small red dot was lit. The elevator continued to slow ever more gradually; they were stopping on the Fifth Floor.

"Sorry, Miss Betty. We have more passengers."

"No problem, Yvonne."

The Store Chat editor stepped to the rear of the elevator as the doors opened and two ladies with baby strollers boarded. They smiled and informed which floor they were going to, and as it was the Tenth Floor; Betty assumed they were going to browse furniture.

She opened the cover of her newsletter and saw Voin Reinhardt's picture. The handsome man in his thirties with dark, slicked-back hair, a trim moustache and wire-rim glasses was her main ally in the weekly battle to get Store Chat organized. With his popular Voin's View, he was a columnist penning op-ed and news insights on a regular basis; he was a well-respected, self-made Famousite of wit and charm, and people loved him. They might have loved him better than Betty, but she would think about that later.

Again, she made a mental note so the first thing she did back at her desk was ring up Voin, ask him to meet with Captain Smith tomorrow, and get his retirement piece written.

Voin was a funny one. He did not exactly like her, but they worked well together, and somehow the way he regarded her sometimes – with a hint of suspicious distance – brought to mind what her ritzy 'friends' back East would think of her job and associates.

Betty cracked a black smile, wordlessly sing-songing to herself: 'They would not approve. They would cry out: Jews, and Negroes, and Queers – Oh, My!'

Suddenly what she had seen in the glass displace case of her lunchtime eatery formed itself into a piece for her Betty on the Beat feature. She etched the words onto her memory, for she was used to recoding thoughts in this manner to write down later.

SCANDAL IN THE CANTEEN!

What's been going on in the Second Floor Restaurant simply must be told, for it has come to our personal attention how a Choir Boy and an Angel have been rubbing noses in plain sight for many a day now. (But still . . . aren’t they sweet little candles, and don't they make a fine couple . . . )[2]

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SUPRIZE!

Eileen Spencer got the surprise of her young life last week when her soldier hubby walked into the Jewelry Repair Department . . . home on furlough and on his way to a discharge. Needless to say, Eileen was thrilled beyond words.[3]

★  ★  ★

385^th Famousite Uniformed

We are sorry to say farewell to Charles "Charley" Mathis, who is leaving the Boys' Clothing Department to take up his duties in Uncle Sam's armed forces. Charley won't know which branch he is to be placed until he reports . . . which is sometime next week. Just eighteen, Charley is the personification of the typical All-American boy . . . anxious to be "in there" doing his part. He hopes that the Navy will want him, but he'll be happy to serve any place that he is put. He likes baseball . . . in fact, all sports, but his chief interest is chemistry, which he hopes to be able to study . . . when all of this is just a thing of the past. So long, Charley. And rest assured, your position will be waiting for you when you return![4]

★  ★  ★

Saint Charles Street Patter

Etta Murphy (Fourth Floor Receiving) reports an interesting and touching experience. She received a letter from a serviceman who had been given some of her blood plasma. He wrote to thank her for saving his life. Congratulations, Etta, you've done us all proud![5]

★  ★  ★

Gifts Sent Our Honor

Roll Boys And Girls

The picture above gives you Famous folks some idea of how our boys and girls in service were remembered by the Welfare Association and the store.

The packages that went to the boys contained glassed chicken, cheese, crackers, coffee, candy, razor blades, games, stationary and a fountain pen. The girls were sent a complete manicure set, nail varnish, talc, cologne, and stationary . . . just the things to delight a girl's heart away from home.

We have already received a great many "thank you" notes from our Famous Family members in uniform, so we can all rest assured they and their buddies really appreciate the remembrance.[6]

★  ★  ★

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The Prussian-blue, military-style cap of an Elevator Captain is a display of his rank and honor, or so it is when on the head. Now, in the Elevator Operators' Staff break room, deep in a back corner of the quiet behind-the-scenes sublevel of Famous-Barr Co., it was laying upside down on the table.

Duffy Smith sat there in his fully-buttoned but tie-free denim shirt and suspenders and cupped his mug of piping-hot 'joe.' His dark-blue uniform jacket rode the yolk of his chair, and his attention was focused on the young woman reading to him from across the table.

Patti Johnson, one of his 'girls,' one of his nearly fifty on-staff elevator operators, held a copy of this afternoon's employee newsletter in her hands, and likewise, her uniform jacket in dove gray was draped across the back of her chair.

Duffy's wire-rim glasses glinted briefly in Patti's eyes as she read and saw the older man crack an unguarded smile. Their Friday afternoon break times corresponded, and quite often – like today – they were the only ones in here. She too had a cup of coffee.

The cover of this week's Store Chat featured clowns entertaining underprivileged kids. Patti read:

"Famous Plays Santa To Over Five-Thousand Handicapped And Orphaned Kids. The true spirit of Christmas was manifested last Sunday here in the store when over 5,000 children from thirty-two institutions throughout the city and county were entertained at our annual event.

"The children were brought to the store in relays by bus, taxicab and ambulance and were quickly whisked up to the Ninth Floor Auditorium by a corps of over 700 volunteer Famousites who wanted to help make it a day to remember for all the youngsters.

"Five stage shows brought peals of unrestrained laughter, and wide-eyed wonder from the children. And as the groups of visitors left the exhibition hall for a tour of Santaland and Toyland, each and every child received the wrapped gift of a toy, a stocking filled with candy, and a Santa coloring book to take home with them.

"Store Chat salutes all who so freely gave of their time, and to the store for providing all the presents and necessary accommodations."[7]

"Aww, how wonderful," Duffy said after a moment's consideration. All the sights and high spirits of gratitude from the little ones seemed to slowly seep into him. "Really wonderful."

Patti scanned the rest of the page, and informed him: "Seems next year they want to do the Illinois counties too – six; seven thousand kids."

"Well, in such case they'll need more volunteers, and I'll have plenty of free time by then."

Patti smiled and fixed a wayward strand of her straight, shoulder-length hair. She knew Captain Duffy was referring to his quickly approaching retirement, but also knew 'the fuss' was what he wanted, and decided to play with it a bit.

"How do you know you'll have free time?"

Duffy blinked and watched Patti pin the strand with the others. He played along. "You think I'll be dead by then?"

Laughter burst from the young woman. "The way you talk! No. I don’t think you'll be dead by then, Duffy Smith. But, maybe all your hobbies will keep your hands busy. You know, stamp collecting and such." She rubbed it in.

"Can't a sixty-seven-year-old man get respect anymore? You think I collect stamps?!"

"Well, whatever you want to do, Duffy…" her tone grew as warm as the smile gilding her face "…you deserve the time to go after it. You've worked long and hard enough, and this company's pension plan will be there for you in turn."

Duffy suddenly needed to remove his glasses. Very slowly, with control and dignity, he placed them on the table close to the narrow brim of his cap, and extracted his handkerchief.

"No one can replace you, Captain. I hope you know that. That's how we all feel."

"All right, Patti. I'm just an old weepy fool, but better you see and not Mr. May."

Patti chuckled softly. As the boss of the elevator corps, Duffy was the president's personal attendant, so they saw each other several times a days, but she imagined the older gentlemen would never cry before the big man himself.

"Now, we still have a few more minutes. Why don’t you read a little more."

"Sure thing. What section should I go to next?" Before he could reply, Patti cried out, "Oh no! Looks like 'The Boys from Two' are at it again." She folded the page over and read:

"One of the funniest things we saw last week was when Lou Faulk (Paragon Shop) and Claude Heller (Cuboid Specialist) admired each other's new work clothes in a quiet moment near the elevators. Well, that was fine, but the funny part came later in the week, when we discovered each of them wearing the other's suit! The difference in height was more noticeable on Claude, who had to roll up his trousers. But we suppose Lou looked 'aw-reet' in his high-water pants! Oh well, boys will be boys."[8]

Both laughed. Duffy caught his breath and said, "It's cute and scandalous at the same time how Betty on the Beat names names in such an open way."

"Cindy, up in the City of Beauty Shop, told me Miss Betty goes around and makes sure anyone 'named' is ok with the piece."

"No kidding…? Must take a lot of work."

"Yes, but anyway, with those boys on the Second Floor, it's not a secret to anyone they are 'roommates,' mainly because they tell everyone."

"That's true."

Patti Johnson laughed outright. "Many a young woman has been shut down asking for a step-out with one of those fellas. But Claude and Lou are hardly alone – not in the store, not in the world."

"I like that Betty Higginbotham gal. The feeling around here is a lot closer now than it was back in the days of the Welfare Messenger. You ever see one of those, Patti?"

Mrs. Johnson shook her head.

Duffy glanced around behind him. "I probably have one or two around here. I'm from the old days, when we never sent anything of interest out to the trash barrel to be burnt. I'll look for one later." Duffy kept a small bookcase in the break room with information and store souvenirs. Above it on the wall was a tack board where he liked to pin up old photographs or other information he thought his girls might like to see.

He continued explaining about the old newsletters. "They were pretty dry, and folks used to talk about there being too much management 'push' on sales figures and such. Since Miss Higginbotham arrived, we get the dirt, as they say nowadays, and none of the pressure to sell more."

Patti applied a lopsided grin and set the employee newsletter down. "She's careful enough, and you know what you're saying. We are like a big, nosy family, wanting to get into everyone's business, but in the end it all pulls us together. We can't be bent outta shape if we know them; you know what I mean?"

"Yes, Patti, I do. And with that Claude and Lou, I'm glad times are changing for the better. What's that they say about a rising tide lifting all boats…? If it's better for them, then it's gonna be better for us too."

"Yeah. Times are changing, thank goodness."

Patti gulped some tepid coffee and took up the newsletter again. "What else would you like me to read?"

"Do the Famous Legion. Always nice hearing from our boys and girls in uniform."

She found the regular feature near the back of Store Chat. "Yes, it is…"

Patti started to read:

"Missive From The Land Of The Sunken Sun. Corporal Roland Kuehn is now in Yokohama, Japan, waiting for a boat to bring him home. He was Manager of the Third Floor Photo Reflex Studios, and official photographer for Store Chat before he entered the services in 1942. He wrote of an interesting encounter when he was walking down a shopping street and paused in front of a local photographer. An older gentleman came out and pulled the handsome young man into a seat before his camera. A week later, Kuehn was strolling that way again and found an enormous print of his face in the old man's shop window. Below it was a hand-lettered sign saying "Yes! We speak Engrish."[9]

Patti chuckled, and then continued reading.

"Dear Betty: Today I received a very nice packet of letters from many of the women working in my old department, which was Men's Hosiery and Underwear in the Basement. They were all words of cheer and get-well wishes.

"I haven’t received my 'Betty on the Beat' for the past few weeks now, but that may be because they've been moving me around to see specialists. I look forward to receiving the Store's newspaper and reading about all the swell goings-on. I miss you all.

"They operated on my arm again, which received shrapnel overseas, and I am now happy to say I am feeling much better and the doctors hope that in time I will regain use of that arm again. We will have to see, but anyway…."

Patti began to falter.

"…I am one of the…lucky ones…."

She set the newsletter down, overcome with emotion.

Duffy reached out and patted her hand in a fatherly way. "There, there. Looks like I messed up asking you to read them to me."

"Captain – "

"See, I am an old fool; my memory is bad."

Dreading the level of detail Duffy was capable of recalling, Patti asked, "And what did you forget?"

"I forgot that one year ago, he was home on furlough."

"It's true."

"Well, buck up, young lady. Today is Friday and tomorrow is Saturday and the end of the week, and then your escort will be here to take you back home like every Saturday."

Patti chuckled. "Yes, my man. I'm so lucky."

"I'm sure his father would be so proud of Reed."

"Yes, Duffy he was, and every day, I swear he looks more and more like his Pops. It makes me and his grandmom so happy."

"How is Olive? She's a grand woman, if I do say so myself."

"She's my family in Saint Louis, and she has made this time easier. Well, not easy, but – you know what I mean, Duffy."

"I can only imagine, but yes, I think I can." A calculating light appeared behind the sheen of Mr. Smith's glasses. He asked plainly, "Are you happy being an elevator operator? Tell me true now."

"Captain, I love my job, but you know I stated out in Basement Cosmetics as a 'maid' before my marriage."

"Well then, maybe that's where you should be."

"It don’t matter, Duffy. I would be in the storage room there, and now at least I get to see folks all day long."

"But…?"

"But, I'll never advance in this department."

"See. I thought so. You, young lady, are restless, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. We just better figure out what to do about it, that's all."

Patti liked the irony of it, so repeated the statement. "Yeah, that's all." She glanced at her watch and rose to her feet. "Well, here's your Store Chat."

She slid it across the table face down.

Duffy lifted it into his hands. "Let's see who the Famous Pin-Up is this week." He pretended to telescope the text near and away from his spectacles.

Patti slid behind his chair and read the information for him.

"Stimulating to both the eye and mind, Donna Bea, Copywriter in the Advertising Office, is the personification of brains and beauty combined. So, admire her boys, and make her an indispensable part of your Famous Pin-Up collection."[10]

The nearly full-sized picture was a tasteful headshot of a blue-eyed woman with a high black collar and large earrings. It was more romantic and dreamy than unseemly in any way.

Patti watched Duffy's eyes intently scanning the photo, and joked, "Well, I have to get back to work, so you and your picture can spend some time on your own."

She went to the door and tossed out one more barb. "Nice to see the old juices are still flowing."

As she closed the break room door behind her, she could make out Captain Smith exclaiming, "Oh, go on with ya!"

She laughed. She was going to miss him.