Pencil Louie was the neighbourhood bookmaker. A turf accountant. The guy you went to if you wanted to place a bet. On anything. Sporting events and horse racing mainly. His motivation for becoming one, other than what he perceived to be an easy way to make a living remains unclear but it was a profession he carried out with pride and integrity. That’s what his clients would tell you. They knew that a bet placed with Louie would always be honoured. Win or lose.
Pencil Louie was Louie Schwartzben. His name had been shortened to Schwartzben when his family arrived in Montreal from the Ukraine. That’s right – shortened to Schwartzben! While they never spoke of their original name, rumours had it that his family descended from the semi-legendary Viking leader Oleg, whose army had captured Kiev in the ninth century. After gaining control of the city, Oleg allegedly fathered dozens of children. Adding further credence to the rumour was the fact that Louie’s great great-great-grandfather had been named Oleg – and from all reports actually looked Scandinavian. Blond hair and blue eyes. However this was never confirmed.
Louie dropped out of school when he was 15 to help support his family and soon found work as an assistant to Label the neighbourhood milkman. It wasn’t exactly what he had envisioned as a future but it was a job. And his family needed the income. Label was a kind, compassionate man who loved being a milkman and became quite fond of his young helper. Louie would wake regularly at 4 each morning and meet Label at the stable where they would hitch Ferdeleh the horse to the wagon, drive to the city’s main dairy depot and load their regular order of milk, butter and cream cheese. They would then go door to door in their territory which was marked by St. Lawrence to the east, Park to the west, Van Horne to the North and Sherbrooke to the South. Not a particularly large area, but populous enough to allow Label to support his family and pay Louie. It was a living. Nothing more.
After several months, Label asked Louie to also oversee the credit ledgers. This was a time when not everyone was able to pay their bills let alone pay them on time. Many of Label’s clients were in arrears but this was not really an issue. He would regularly offer credit for as long as it was needed, though he knew that In many cases, the bill was never going to be paid. They knew that people needed food, and if they could help, they would. Despite this, records had to be maintained and for the first time, Label had someone he could trust.
Turns out, Louie enjoyed the work and had a head for figures. Who would have thought?
This arrangement went on for well over a year until Louie was approached by his uncle Chaim who needed an assistant and was prepared to increase Louie’s salary to five dollars. A day! An enormous sum in those days. While Louie was hesitant to leave Label, his family desperately needed the extra income. So with much regret, on both sides, he left Label and went to work for Chaim. He took the job even though Chaim had been somewhat unclear as to what his responsibilities would actually be.
