--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She was cuckoo about dime stores, where…" description: "\"“She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought cosmetics and pins and combs. After we locked the expensive purchases in the station wagon we went ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png" --- # She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought… ![“She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought cosmetics and pins and combs. After we locked the expensive purchases in the station wagon we went into McCory's or Kresge's and were there by the hour, up and down the aisles with the multitude, mostly of women, and in the loud-played love music…” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png) > ““She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought cosmetics and pins and combs. After we locked the expensive purchases in the station wagon we went into McCory's or Kresge's and were there by the hour, up and down the aisles with the multitude, mostly of women, and in the loud-played love music. Some things Thea liked to buy cheaply, they maybe gave her the best sense of the innermost relations of pennies and nickels and explained the real depth of money. I don't know. But I didn't think myself too good to be wandering in the dime store with her. I went where and as she said and did whatever she wanted because I was threaded to her as if through the skin. So that any trifling object she took pleasure in could become important to me at once; anything at all, a comb or hairpin or piece of line, a compass inside a tin ring that she bought with great satisfaction, or a green billed baseball cap for the road, or the kitten she kept in the apartment - she would never be anywhere without an animal.”” [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes being deeply attached to a partner’s simple pleasures, feeling that even trivial items become meaningful through shared experience. **In simple terms:** Small things feel important when shared with a loved one. Key Takeaway Value everyday moments with loved ones. Themes attachment materialism intimacy memory consumer culture Mood nostalgic reflective affectionate Type literary observational personal When to use this quote - shopping trips - shared hobbies - daily routines - gift giving - collecting memorabilia Key Concepts psychology social bonding symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What everyday objects deepen your connection with others? - How does shared consumerism affect relationship intimacy? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper emotional needs by focusing on material objects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“As for Thea, sometimes she looked more barbarous than they did in spite of the civilized lipstick and conventional shape of the jodhpurs she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/as-for-thea-sometimes-she-looked-more-barbarous-than-they-did-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Here in the city she had gilded her nails. They shone. And she had put on a velvet dress, this soft red one, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/here-in-the-city-she-had-gilded-her-nails-they-shone-and-she-had-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [In the dime stores and bus stations, people talk of situations, read books, repeat quotations, draw conclusions on the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/in-the-dime-stores-and-bus-stations-people-talk-of-situations-read/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Companies whose marketing and sales departments are not using the Internet and social media for communication may have the same fate that the dime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-capodagli/companies-whose-marketing-and-sales-departments-are-not-using-the/) [Bill Capodagli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-capodagli/) > [When I was 9 or 10, I had a ten-cent business: I would walk your dog for a dime, go to the store for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/when-i-was-9-or-10-i-had-a-ten-cent-business-i-would-walk-your-dog/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [If I didn't believe in what I'm doing, I'd rather go to work in a dime store.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/if-i-didn-t-believe-in-what-i-m-doing-i-d-rather-go-to-work-in-a-dime/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [The whole business was like a child's toy that you could buy at the dime store, all built in this wonderful way that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-delbruck/the-whole-business-was-like-a-child-s-toy-that-you-could-buy-at-the/) [Max Delbruck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-delbruck/) ## More by Saul Bellow > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-i-m-out-of-my-mind-it-s-all-right-with-me-thought-moses-herzog/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have begun in old age to understand just how oddly we are all put together. We are so proud of our autonomy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-have-begun-in-old-age-to-understand-just-how-oddly-we-are-all-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“On Broadway it was still bright afternoon and the gassy air was almost motionless under the leaden spokes of sunlight, and sawdust footprints lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/on-broadway-it-was-still-bright-afternoon-and-the-gassy-air-was/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Myself is thus and so, and will continue thus and so. And why fight it? My balance comes from instability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/myself-is-thus-and-so-and-will-continue-thus-and-so-and-why-fight-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“A strange heart. I myself can't account for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-strange-heart-i-myself-can-t-account-for-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, Professor Cohen, how do I know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-late-philosopher-morris-r-cohen-of-ccny-was-asked-by-a-student-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Therefore we didn't talk of genuine things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/therefore-we-didn-t-talk-of-genuine-things/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Is our species crazy? Plenty of evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/is-our-species-crazy-plenty-of-evidence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“But now the emphasis has shifted to making it. People have surrendered their personal moral objectives to government or schools or psychologists. It’s a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-now-the-emphasis-has-shifted-to-making-it-people-have-surrendered/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There's a kind of emptiness at the center of life ... nothing to form your life on, or by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-s-a-kind-of-emptiness-at-the-center-of-life-nothing-to-form/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“I don't know how it all at once came to me to talk a lot, tell jokes, kick up, and suddenly have views. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-don-t-know-how-it-all-at-once-came-to-me-to-talk-a-lot-tell-jokes/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-times-when-the-most-practical-thing-is-to-lie-down/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/for-knowledge-of-death-makes-us-wish-to-extend-our-lives-at-the/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) [Explore all 464 Saul Bellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## More All-my-literary-ladies quotes > [“As for Thea, sometimes she looked more barbarous than they did in spite of the civilized lipstick and conventional shape of the jodhpurs she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/as-for-thea-sometimes-she-looked-more-barbarous-than-they-did-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Here in the city she had gilded her nails. They shone. And she had put on a velvet dress, this soft red one, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/here-in-the-city-she-had-gilded-her-nails-they-shone-and-she-had-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) Browse all 3 All-my-literary-ladies quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought cosmetics and pins and combs. After we locked the expensive purchases in the station wagon we went into McCory's or Kresge's and were there by the hour, up and down the aisles with the multitude, mostly of women, and in the loud-played love music. Some things Thea liked to buy cheaply, they maybe gave her the best sense of the innermost relations of pennies and nickels and explained the real depth of money. I don't know. But I didn't think myself too good to be wandering in the dime store with her. I went where and as she said and did whatever she wanted because I was threaded to her as if through the skin. So that any trifling object she took pleasure in could become important to me at once; anything at all, a comb or hairpin or piece of line, a compass inside a tin ring that she bought with great satisfaction, or a green billed baseball cap for the road, or the kitten she kept in the apartment - she would never be anywhere without an animal.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Saul Bellow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-she-bought-cosmetics-and-pins/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "All-my-literary-ladies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-she-bought-cosmetics-and-pins/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/saul-bellow-558_all-my-literary-ladi_she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-s_344439.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She was cuckoo about dime stores, where she bought cosmetics and pins and combs. After we locked the…” — Saul Bellow", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Saul Bellow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“She was cuckoo about dime stores,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-she-bought-cosmetics-and-pins/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/she-was-cuckoo-about-dime-stores-where-she-bought-cosmetics-and-pins/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```