Word: customs
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...tops were cooler and less restrictive. In 1920 one of Argentina's polo stars, Lewis Lacey, opened a sports shop in Buenos Aires, where he sold the shirt embossed with the logo of a player astride a pony. Within a few years moneyed gentry began donning custom-made polo shirts as leisure wear on the French Riviera and at other international watering spots...
...Built in 1895 as the home of a wealthy heiress, the five-story limestone structure had been divided into three separate shops until Lauren managed to get a 49-year lease that covered the entire edifice. Estimated annual rent: $1 million. Now fitted with hand- carved mahogany woodwork and custom-forged brass trim, and dappled with expansive Oriental rugs and sprays of orchids, the store evokes the imagined atmosphere of a London men's club or a distinguished Edwardian hotel. The display space is cluttered with props, including English saddles, bulbous trophies, top hats and a rack of billiard cues...
...commutes over the long hauls in a nine- passenger Hawker Siddeley jet and covers shorter distances in chartered helicopters. Lauren can be seen gliding through Manhattan in a limousine with the initials RL on the door, but he prefers to pilot his chromeless 1979 Porsche Turbo Carrera, which is custom-finished entirely in black...
Today the pampered pigs travel first-class in their own custom trailer, equipped with fans over each pen and a system that changes the air inside every two minutes. Their 100-gal. on-board water supply is laced with sulfa powder and penicillin to ward off scours, the dread hog diarrhea. Each year the company holds a contest among employees to name the racers. Samples from this year's roster: Hamtastic, Leaping Loin, Chop Sooee, Boared Stiff, Charlie Choplin...
Still, a dog's life is subject to cultural differences. What is adorable in Pasadena might be pronounced delicious in Pyongyang. Whether a cat ends up in a lap or a wok is a matter of local custom. There are moments when Serpell seems to harbor a hidden vegetarian agenda. His descriptions of the insensitive technology of pig farming and "porcine stress syndrome" take the fun out of a ham sandwich. Yet In the Company of Animals is not intended to change our habits but to open our minds. Historians, psychologists, sociologists and Lady Beaverbrook may resent Serpell's romp...