I found the perfect gift… something for someone who has everything.
It is a 14 karat Gold Necessaire de Toilette made by Cartier, date
not given but valued at 30,000 SF back in 1989. Now here’s the thing
of it… one of the items in this Necessaire de Toilette harkens back
to a name quite famous. Let me tell you about the man. You tell me
who he is… if you can… heh heh.
He arrived in the United States from Nova Scotia in 1903. He had a
total of seventy-five dollars to his name. And he had a bible. He
also had an irresponsible nature and a daydreaming mentality.
Previous to having arrived in the USA he had been fired from three
jobs.
Ultimately… in Boston… he secured a position as a ticket
collector for the elevated railway. Alas… he was summarily fired
when he decided one day… on a whim… to take the train for a
joyride and then crashed it.
He then took on a job as a stable hand and was kicked out for
neglecting the horses. Our friend had serious problems. Subsequent to
this he took a job as a messenger but–you guessed it–he kept on
losing the packages entrusted to his care. Ye gads man… this guy
was a disaster. So he did what any misfit in this world of ours with
a reasonable amount of common sense does… he went into business for
himself. He found a product… one of which you can see in the
Necessaire de Toilette… and started on his own in 1905.
He rented a room in Hartford, Connecticut and began peddling from
door to door. He labored late into the night. He sold during the
day. And to his amazement… as well surely to the amazement of those
who knew him… he found he ha a knack… and he became a success.
By 1910 he had a staff of 25 men peddling his wares. As is the way
with all products… technology began to infringe on his business
and the specter of losing all he had worked for loomed on the
horizon. He fought back. In the July of 1919 issue of House
Furnishing Review he took out an ad informing housewives of America
that there was a misconception that modern technology would ease
their burdens. To the contrary, he said. Ignore scientific
advancement and return to hard labor for this will keep you healthy
and ward off the ills of the indolent…
This versatility enabled our misfit to survive quite well till 1943
when he retired as president of his company with annual sales topping
10 million dollars. He had become part of the American scene. Who was
he… this guy who couldn’t hold a job to save his life. Let me know
what you think.
The Necessaire de Toilette had a comb, a shoehorn, two perfume
bottles, a powder box, two brushes, a mirror, a nailpolisher, and a
boot-hook.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… and you will see represented on our pages an
image of a Necessaire de Toilette in 14 karat gold that holds within
its collection an item akin to that which was sold by our hero.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark