There's a Pawn-Shop on the Corner

There's a Pawn-Shop on the Corner
KENNETH E. HALL       AUGUST 4, 2018   HOUSTON

My family motto: "IN HOC TU OFEN"

♫ "There's a pawn shop on the corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I just had to get Five or Ten..."♪♪ was a song my mother used to sing to me when I was a kid living in Arlington, VA. I remember a couple of times driving through Rosslyn (an older section of Arlington) and seeing these seedy buildings with 3 gold balls hanging out in the front. There were, It seemed, quite a few buildings around Arlington with these strange orbs. I was curious.

My mother used to hate to go to that dimly-lit area, though I didn't understand why at the time. I do now. That section in the mid-1950's was a bit, er, sleazy, as I recall, and I only saw it through a little kid's eyes. How DIFFERENTLY things look when you are a kid!

The village of Rosslyn developed a bad reputation after the Civil War of having gambling houses and pawnshops, neither attracting a very savory crowd. With the development of nearby Arlington, Rosslyn's reputation improved greatly, even though it remained known for its pawn shops.

One day I mentioned those places with the gold balls and asked my grandfather what was the meaning of them. He told me: "Two-to-one you won't be back." That was no help. I found out later that apparently three gold balls are in homage to the Patron Saint of Pawn Shops.

Wait! WHAT??? PAWN SHOPS have a patron SAINT??? You've GOT to be kidding. One story I read claims that Saint Nicholas, of all people, apparently paid the dowries of three poor girls with three bags of gold thrown through a window. Sounds like something a Saint would do, and Saint Nicholas was a real person.

So, SANTA CLAUS is the Patron Saint of pawn shops. Go figure! I wonder who's been naughty and who's been nice?

Sounds far-fetched, I will admit, but in every legend is a grain of truth. The origin of the symbol may indeed be gold, but more likely the Medici family legend of Italy comes closer to the truth. The symbol was used in Lombardy as a banking "logo" - and three gold coins made up the trademark of Lombardy Bank. The gold ball ornament came later as pawn and trade shops used this banking symbol to attract attention.

I had never ever been in a pawn shop. They were places I tended to avoid. I lost track with my father for a number of years, and when we renewed contact, I found out that he was a successful Maryland businessman, alive and well and living in Havre de Grace, MD. He had two taxi companies in the area, a small advertising newspaper, and of all things, a PAWN SHOP!

He showed me his place of business, guitars on the wall and everything, and really I had no idea how such businesses were run. I do now, and they are not the sleazy places they, I guess, used to be - at least not today. I can't speak of those shadowy little places in Arlington. But I can say one thing in their favor: Santa Claus was on their side!

Ho-ho-ho!

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NOTE: Three of anything usually indicates a copious amount.

In Chinese, the character 品 means "goods" or "wares" and can be seen above every Chinese shop. It comes from boxes stacked - indicating a store.