Once there was a city here and now its gone, there are almost no traces of it anymore...Beverly Hills

...but a few of us knew it, because we lived in it and loved it..

In Beverly Hills , Carroll and Co,for over 70 years , the iconic men's clothing store that set the bar for classic menswear ( a store I shopped at since I was a teenager) as did my father and grandfather is closing its doors. It was founded in 1949 by former Warner  Brothers publicist Richard Carroll ( whom was a pal of my uncle, Elliott Gordon) whose clientele was the who's who of Hollywood. 

For years Beverly Hills has been going downhill  in so many ways and this puts the final nail in it's coffin.

I loved this city;  in the 1950's it was not a city really, but just a village, one might say. But now the classic stores, restaurants and bars are  long gone. The good life, lived so well is also gone; the city has become vulgar, if you must know. 

Beverly Hills is gone...hammered into the dust by time, progress, accident and especially greed.

Harry Warren and MGM musicals - they don't make them like this anymore

Eating ( or dining that is) and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man's enjoyment of his cigar - Mark Twain

One of the great pleasures and memories of my life is having a cigar with my grandfather. He took its upmost pleasure of it, sitting in his den and quietly smoking it  (it took about 45 minutes) smoking should be done alone or with someone you admire and in quiet and in reflective state of mind.
He always said and impressed on me, that a cigar ought not to be smoked solely with the mouth, but with the hand, the eyes and with the spirit.

As a teenager ( too young to smoke at that point) one of my highlights was to accompany my grandfather to his favorite cigar store and see a visiting member of the Ramon Allones ( his cigar of choice) factory from Cuba (before the embargo)  showing patrons how they rolled their cigars. What a craft!
One of the great memories and one of the great civilized things to do.  

"By the cigars they smoke and the composers they love, ye shall know the texture of men's souls' - John Galsworthy