This week we sent two orders to Asheville, NC. That seems like a relatively large number, considering Asheville is a southern town of just 90,000 souls. It made me a bit curious about orders we've sent to Asheville over the years, so I did a quick search of our order files.

Avid map readers sometimes scrutinize the topography of a town and start to speculation about its residents. I scrutinize the type of tallit they choose and start to speculate about the residents. 

I noticed several orders for the very colorful Bnei Ohr. It's a popular tallit, so that does not come as much of a surprise. What did seem surprising to me was that two Asheville customers ordered an Echt Turkish tallit. The Echt Turkish is a fabulous tallit, but it's expensive and is very thick and heavy, making it a choice for a select few.

When I was in high school and college one of my favorite authors was Thomas Wolfe. To this day, I recall his description of his father's suit of heavy material, which he wore even at work. The Echt Turkish fabric sort of reminds my of W.O. Wolfe, who probably would have chosen the Echt Turkish if he wore a tallit.