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Louis Lichtman had a bakery at 86th and Amsterdam |
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You'd smell the rising bread at least a couple blocks away |
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For forty years a wedding cake of one kind or another |
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Would occupy the Lichtman's Bakery window every day |
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Then the world turned from pastry and from challah and from cookies |
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From the independent merchant to the supermarket mall |
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And the rents were rising faster than the loaves that they were earned on |
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So the "Going Out of Business" sign appeared on Lichtman's wall |
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The lights are out at Lichtman's now |
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The building's cold and empty, with a cake stand in the window |
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Your credit's fine, no money down |
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And the Upper West Side doesn't smell as sweetly as it used to |
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Back when Lichtman's Bakery graced our little town |
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The final day of business came and with it Lichtman's regulars |
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Paying their respects and taking in the sad details |
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Mrs. Kaplan bought a dozen cakes, another, thirty strudels |
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As the auctioneer prepared to start the sale |
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Some sixty other bakers bid on ovens and on boxes |
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There were mixers, there was shortening, there were bowls, and there were pans |
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And the years were sifting through the racks at Louis Lichtman's bakery |
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Like the flour and the sugar through his hands |
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The lights are out at Lichtman's now |
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The building's cold and empty, with a cake stand in the window |
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The Daily Special sign fell down |
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And the Upper West Side doesn't smell as sweetly as it used to |
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Back when Lichtman's Bakery graced our little town |
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The last of all the lots was sold, the frosting tubes and freezer |
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Mr. Lichtman clutched his rolling pin and went to stand outside |
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He didn't want to watch the auctioneer conclude his business |
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And he didn't want his friends to see him cry |
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A note left hanging on the wall |
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It said that Mrs. Rosenthal still owed him 7 dollars |
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That was a long, long time ago |
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And the ceiling fan once spinning round for one last time was slowing down |
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As forty years came turning to a close |
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The lights are out at Lichtman's now |
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The building's cold and empty, Mr. Lichtman moved to Jersey |
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The neighborhood has changed around |
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The Upper West Side doesn't smell as sweetly as it used to |
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Back when Lichtman's Bakery graced our little town |
