Photo Pest: Green Card

Monday, October 24, 2022

Green Card

After lunch at the Wolseley, Chris departed for a travel book store and Thom and I spent the afternoon shopping in Knightsbridge.

Cynthia verified that she hosted me in this building nearly 50 years ago after I texted her the photo.

"Harvey Nix" (short for Nichols and a high-end department store made famous in America by Ab Fab) provided a reflective back-drop but little else.

Harrods glittered like the divine mercantile emporium it has become. A long-time employee said the biggest change he had seen in 30 years was the absolute dominance of branding.

There's really nothing quite like the luxe interior, although I've never been to Dubai.

This cotton-knit beach towel was about the only item I could afford in 1975. I treasured my green Harrod's shopping bag with drawstrings for years.

I might have bought these trainers if I were 40 years younger.

How many Harrod's employees does it take to fulfill a "green card" order? Our airline ticket didn't permit any checked luggage so Thom needed to ship home his skin care products, underwear and Hermes fragrance. The process required registering with customer service and then carrying a "green card" (in reality a computerized manifest listing the items to be purchased) from department to department. At Hermes, his last stop, the beautiful young saleswoman (center) accidentally cancelled all previous items. She gave us a couple of samples after we waited close to an hour while her harried manager, after consulting with his manager, entered everything into the system again by hand. And then, they videotaped Thom signing for it. Oy!