How a poor immigrant from Russia with only a seventh-grade education turned a single jewelry store in Wichita Falls, Texas, into a billion-dollar multinational corporation is one of the most remarkable stories in American retailing. With almost prophetic intuition and wisdom, Morris Bernard Zale, better known as M.B., identified the driving forces of the country’s economic growth in the 1920s and confidently applied them to jewelry retailing. Until his time, jewelry stores were strictly “cash-and-carry” operations that dealt only with the wealthy elite. But by utilizing bold advertising techniques and by offering exceptional value and credit to customers, M.B. made jewelry accessible to the common man. Along the way to building what many have called an empire, he encountered fierce obstacles in every decade---the Great Depression, World War II, recessions, and difficult business issues---yet the company persevered through them all. Despite his enormous accomplishments in revolutionizing jewelry retailing, M.B. remained modest, never seeking acclaim for the company’s success. “It’s always been my personal feeling that I could never accomplish a damn thing by myself,” he explained. “I was always looking for people who wanted to operate with me, who could work with me. So what you term success was never one man’s success.” This book recounts his unique journey through the upheavals and inventions of the 20th century and highlights some of his timeless business philosophies. But perhaps more than anything he accomplished in the office, the legacy of M.B. and Edna Zale is defined by their philanthropic spirit. In their good fortune, they recognized their duty to give back to the community and to provide opportunities to those less fortunate. That legacy continued through his children with the M.B. & Edna Zale Foundation and the remarkable cooperation between the many family members who now manage it. Donald Zale worked for his father and Zale Corporation until it was sold in 1986. This loving and honest memoir recalls his father through the eyes of one who learned a tremendous amount as they----and the company----grew up together.