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From the American Scene: Seventh Avenue: Boss and Worker
- Abstract
He started west from the Lower East Side and then reached a point beyond which he could not pass; this was Seventh Avenue and he settled there. Twenty or so years ago the firm name on his business stationery was simply Sam Katz, but today it is Ess and Kay. He likes the models and the office girls to address him as “Mr. Kay”—especially in the presence of out-of-town buyers.
He maintains an ornate office near the showroom, but there is nothing he hates more than the fact that he is compelled to spend so much of his time behind the desk. For no matter how long his cutter and markers have been with him, he cannot trust them. He carries a load of anxiety, wondering whether remnants are being sold under his eyes, suspicious of any employee who leaves at the end of a day with a bundle under his arm. No matter how busy he is with customers, there always comes a time during the day when he must walk nervously about the cutting-room floor, looking almost into the hands of his cutters, fearful lest he say too much, since their union is strong. Sometimes he will stand with the marker, watching him chalk the patterns on a long rectangular section of cloth. A sudden spasm of economy, and he will pick up an odd piece of chalk from the floor with a hurt look in his eyes.
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