Tuesday, June 10, 2014

"Is it real leather?"

A shopper at the Thrift Store came up to the checkout counter and laid an old purse in front of me.

"Is it real leather?" she asked.


I inspected the seams, turning them inside out, and the fibrous texture of the material's underside did feel as if it belonged to a once living creature, but the whole piece had been dyed orange, so it was hard for me to be sure.

"Maybe if I smell it..." I said, and held it up to my nose.
"Yep, that's leather."

The customer, looking doubtful, smelled it herself.

"OK, I'll take it."

1 comment:

Anne Lippin said...

Love this post! Much of my jewelry work at Steeple People revolves around smell, too. Gold doesn't stink like metal. Silver smells like silver, and brass smells like brass.