In all the years...

I have been relating the adventures of the Book Elves there is one topic I have never broached: What did the Book Elves do before they became Book Elves?

Though they refuse to discuss the issue, there are some intriguing clues. The tendency of a few of them to use long-distance trucker slang may or may not have relevance. Several of them sport tattoos whose origins and meanings are reminiscent of places with the tang of salt sea air and the throb of freighter engines, and the deep and sometimes arcane knowledge with which three of the Book Elves discuss explosives can be downright unsettling. And then there’s the book Elf everybody calls “Frodo”…

…but before the Book Elves became the subject of my irresponsible speculation on their past professions and trades, they finished our latest catalog-

“Catalog #372: Jack of All Trades: A Survey of 19th Century American Business Cards”