Warhol at the Grocery Store
photo credit Bob Adelman 1965
I was Andy’s assistant in the early 1960s when he was in his
thirties, just around the time his name became the buzz on everyone’s lips. Yeah,
I was his gofer. He was always sending me out on errands – that’s when I wasn’t
washing brushes or mixing paint or preparing canvases. Mostly, though, I ran his errands.
He liked soup, Andy did. His favourite was tomato and he’d eat
that while he watched television. One day he asked me – told me – to go out and
buy one of each of the different flavours of Campbell’s soups. I said, ‘Gonna
try a different soup tonight, Andy?’ but he just told me to get a move on. So I
went down to the local convenience store and picked out the soup cans. I’m telling
you, thirty-two cans of soup are heavy, man, and not in a good way.
You could have knocked me sideways when I saw what he did with
those cans. Who would ever have thought it? We parted company after that. I
liked working for him but it was time to move on.
Yeah, it was fun working for Andy, a lot of laughs. I’d have
done anything for him – well, almost anything.
I was never one of his pissers, though. I drew the line at that.
Tess hosts The Mag here. Thank you Tess.
