Mercantile Advice

I was up in Dahlonega this week. Mr. Nix, who owns the general store, had just gotten in a shipment of men’s boots. Problem was, the boots were all white.

“What am I gonna do, Doc?” he asked. “No men around here are going to buy white boots! That’s for ladies and New York dandies! And it’s too late to get them exchanged with my Chicago supplier before Christmas!”

“Well if it was me, Mr. Nix, I’d tell folks they’re special boots. They’re white for hunting in the snow, so they won’t leave any tracks. They were invented out in the steppes of Russia, for hunting Siberian sabre-tooth polar bears.”

“Siberian sabre-tooth polar bears!" exclaimed Mr. Nix. “There’s no such thing!”

“Not any more," I said. "They were hunted to extinction because the clever native hunters wore white boots that hid their tracks.”

Mr. Nix did as I suggested, and he sold every single pair.

* * * * *