The man smiled, took out his snuff box and drew in a few nailfuls.

It was especially had for Cheever, whose family took a dim view of New Deal slackery, and whose own Yankee scruples were such that— four decades later, blessedly solvent—he'd try to return his first Social Security check.

a huge pewter measuring pot […] which, in the language of the hostess, reamed with excellent claret

He made a lot of enemies after reducing the working hours in his department.