The Missus and I were driving to Louisville a few weeks ago when I noticed a Tractor Trailer in the east bound lane sporting the Dollar General Store logo and the saying, "The Town's Most Unusual Store!" That might be true today but back in the fifties and sixties it wasn't. The most unusual store in Central City was Cohen's....a clothing and department store owned and operated by Dave and Elizabeth Cohen. They catered to mostly working folks by having lots of khakis and work boots in stock.
Their store was pretty indicative of stores in that era. They had shelving but inventory was pretty much stacked on and around it where nobody could find anything except the people that worked there. They had a showroom window complete with mannequins and signs offering bargains and even had a covered outdoor area where bargains could be placed on tables and weather didn't matter.
Mr. Cohen was quite a colorful character, as was his wife. They were lifelong citizens of Central City and made up about 10% of the total Jewish families that lived in our county (and about 35% of those in the city). Most of these good folks were in a retail business of one kind or another. The Cohen's store had been in business for many years.
Mr. Cohen was well known for his frugal ways. It was said that if he surrendered a nickel to you, his fingerprints were permanently "embedded" into the metal. He had a flourishing business and he knew how to protect it. A few people were able to obtain "credit" at his store but he had to know you extremely well. Most of the other downtown retailers extended credit more loosely. Remember, Visa and Mastercard where unheard of in those days (as was gasoline credit cards).
I remember one day when I was a bank teller at the old First National Bank (when it was at First & Broad streets), this hilarious event happened.
This was in the early sixties and the TVA power plant had just opened. A lot of construction workers were in town as well as some new people who transferred here to work at this new plant. In other words, there were several "new folks" around.
A young man meandered into Cohen's one afternoon around 3:30 and walked through the store to the back counter. Mr. Cohen spotted him and asked if he could help him. The fellow, who was obviously a construction worker complete with hard hat, work boots and the like told him he would like to "pay his bill." Mr. Cohen's eyes "perked up" and he said "Certainly! Now vhat (that's how he pronounced what) name is it in?"
The man told him his name. You need to know that Mr. Cohen was working at a desk behind a stack of shoe boxes and he was looking over these boxes as he spoke. The young man could see him from about the nose up but couldn't see what he was doing. "Are you sure about that name?" Mr. Cohen asked, "I'm having trouble finding it!" "That's my name," the fellow said, "I'm sure it's the name you charged it to."
"How do you spell it?" Mr. Cohen asked. "P-A-R-K-E-R" the young man told him. "Vhat was the first name, Mr. Parker?" "Jackson" he replied.
"And what did you say you purchased?" "A pair of Wolverine Work boots," he said. "Do you remember the date?" Dave asked. "Well, it was Wednesday, two weeks ago from yesterday, that'd have been the 8th" said the young man. What the young man couldn't see was that as he was giving this information, Mr. Cohen was making out a new ticket, convinced that his wife or some other clerk had failed to make out the original. A few minutes later, he proclaimed, "Aha, here it is...Jackson Parker, Wolverine work boots purchased on June 8th for $16.00 (a claim that wasn't disputed by Mr. Parker). That'll be $16.00 Mr. Parker.
Mr. Parker told Dave that it was 3:45 and the banks had all closed at 3:00 p.m. He asked Mr. Cohen if he could cash his paycheck and take out the amount for the shoes, as well as a new pair of Levi's he was going to purchase that afternoon. "How much is your paycheck and who is it on?" Mr. Cohen asked. "The check is for $196.50 and it's drawn on the payroll account of Cawood Construction Co.," the young man told him. "We've been up at TVA for nearly two years." "O.K." Mr. Parker, please endorse the check here on the back along with your phone number in case there's any problem." Mr. Parker signed the check, took his new Levi's and "paid" ticket and left.
The following Thursday (I remember the day because the banks and some stores closed at noon on Thursdays), Mr. Cohen came in just before noon and deposited his receipts for the previous day. He was going fishing that afternoon and was dressed casually, including a straw hat with one of those "sun visors" sewed into the brim. He was very cheerful, holding the door open for other customers, greeting everyone with a friendly "hello" and tipping his hat to all the ladies. He was talking to Mr. Jess Moore who was President of First National at the time in the lobby when "Cy" Ross, the bank's Executive Vice-President asked him to stop by his window before leaving. Mr. Cohen stepped up to the window when Mr. Ross slid the heavily stamped check on Cawood Construction and told him there's no such account. "VHAT?" Mr. Cohen yelled...."NO ACCOUNT!!! .... I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!!!" He then grabbed the brim of his straw hat and pulled it down around his neck, ripping open the top and his eyes protruding just above it. Needless to say, it ruined his afternoon.
As I said, Mr. Cohen was famous for being frugal. He always traded at Raley's Standard Oil filling station at the lower end of Broad Street.
Darrell Raley used to love to tell us that Mr. Cohen would bring his car down and tell Darrell or one of his helpers to Fill it up, Clean the Window Glass, Change the Oil and Filter and put new air in all of the tires. Darrell would simply make a notation of doing this on his ticket with the words "no charge" out beside the "air changing" portion. Mr. Cohen always felt he was getting a bargain on that.
I guess with the advent of the Mega Stores we shop at today, the stores like Cohen's are pretty rare. I know people like him really are.
Could you imagine going into a Wal-Mart and saying "just put that on my tab...I'll pay you in a couple of weeks." Now we flip down some plastic and if you pay them one day late, they charge you $30 in late fees. Sure would be nice to slow down and do things the "Old Vay," as Mr. Cohen would say!
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