Mae Smith

Mae Smith
by Thelly Reahm - Tidbits of Time

1953

There was rarely a day went by without a salesman knocking on our doors. Magazines. The Jewel Tea Man, Arrowhead Water, and Electrolux. We nearly always let them in to show their wares or listen to their pitch. It was how a lot of ex-service men made their living. And of course, we did not 'have it all' yet. I was a sucker for a down and out salesman.

This particular day, I called our neighbor, Mae Smith, across the street to sit in on the sales pitch of an Electrolux vacuum. I knew she wanted one. She was seventeen years older than me and had no children. She had been a professional dancer in her youth but had lost her leg in a car accident. She wore a prosthesis and it was barely noticeable.

"So, do you like this machine, Mrs. Gorden?" the salesman asked. He had just dumped a bucket of dirt on one of my throw rugs and the vacuum had sucked it up instantly.

"Well, who wouldn't? It picks up everything!" I was greatly impressed with it's suction power, but I had no carpets. Mae had rugs in her house. I was still just using a dust mop and I kept my hardwood floors waxed to a sheen.

"What do you think, Mrs. Smith?"

"Oh, Yes, I want one! Yes!" She was a pushover.

He got out his paper work and began to write.

"Now let's see, you must be 37. Is that right?

"Awaark!" she shrieked as she grasped her ample chest. "Yes, but what does my age have to do with a vacuum cleaner?"

"Your age?" he looked blank, then a light dawned.

"I meant your address. Mrs. Gorden is at 3336. You must be 3337, right?"

"Right!" she said, she giggled all the way home with the happy salesman carrying her new vacuum behind her.