On a recent History Saturday Charles Kassebaum brought several photos, including two of Mr. Berlin Caldwell, proprietor in the late 1930s and early 40s of a cigar store at 806 East 63rd Street (current site of Indy CD and Vinyl on Broad Ripple Avenue). One picture was a portrait of a well-dressed, dapper man and his regal-looking German shepherd. As we commented on the dog, the father of our favorite editor surprised us when he said, "I remember when my parents went with him to get that dog." I had never heard of Berlin Caldwell or his store, let alone this trip to get a dog.

Berlin (rhymes with curlin') and Verna Caldwell were good friends with Helen and Girstle Hague. Helen worked at Fletcher Trust Company, and Girstle was a letter carrier at the BR Post Office. They probably became acquainted at American Legion Post #312 when it met over Claffey's Grocery at 61st and College (now Der Glass Werks [in 2005]). Carl Bray, a manager for Bridges & Graves construction company, and his wife, Anna, were part of the small group who traveled together and played Bridge.

Sometime before 1939, when the Hague boys were young, Helen and Girstle Hague went with the Caldwells to Morristown, New Jersey, to get a Seeing Eye dog for Berlin. The Hague household held three generations, so John and Glen stayed with their grandmother, Nora Dawson, while their parents drove to New Jersey. Berlin received a German shepherd named Cleo, and they all stayed a few extra days while Berlin and Cleo received training. Verna Caldwell was grateful for the company, and gave the Hagues a Roseville pottery vase to thank them.

Berlin Caldwell ran a cigar store that carried candy, cigarettes, magazines, and Coca-Cola. He memorized where everything in the store was located. If a customer asked for a Baby Ruth, he could retrieve it and make change so expertly that one may never have noticed he was blind. Kids shopped there for candy, and were always awed by Mr. Caldwell's change-making ability. Berlin saved empty cigar boxes for Girstle who used them to store hardware.

Berlin and Verna had a son named William. After Berlin died, Verna moved to the Lincolnshire Apartments, south of the Vogue, where she lived the rest of her life.