Mr. Smith has no business in Port Truculence today, but travels instead to Lake City, where he meets with clients in the Pickle Building.
Designed in 1930 to house the world headquarters of the Lake City Pickle Company, the Pickle Building is supposed to look like a pickle -- to the extent that it is possible to represent a pickle in steel and stone. Due to the use of reddish sandstone for the facade, however, denizens of Lake City immediately noted upon completion that the Pickle Building looks more like a penis than a pickle. This so mortified the proprietor of Lake City Pickle -- a Mr. Prezbylowski -- that he jumped to his death from the fortieth floor.
To pay estate taxes, Mr. Prezbylowski's heirs sold the building to an insurance company. Lake City Pickle went bankrupt during the Great Depression; pickles were just as popular as before the Depression, but folks tended to make them at home.
The Pickle Factory in West Lake City now houses loft apartments.
The Pickle Building itself now houses law offices and investment companies.
Mr. Smith likes traveling to Lake City, as it reminds him of his youth. Also, the sandwiches are pretty good.
