Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-12-14

ohoppius.
A woMAN's VIEWS ON AN AII-IlIPoRrANT SUB.
IE'T BEEAkINu AWAY FROM THE DOMESTIC
ROUTINE MARRIED AND NON MARRIED SHOP
PEEs- MRS. CASH AND HER BOYS Statesmen
AND sALEsLADIEs AFfABHITY AND FAR
AWAY sTAREs ALL GOOD SHOPPERS BORN,
NOT MADE.
Provided she has not too much of it to do,
the average woman erjoys above all things a
round of shopping. Breaking away from
! the routine of domestic or other accustomed
duties. she hes her forth these November
days. intent, If she be a matron, ON thoughts
| OF new underwear for husband and children,
II school dress for Eliza Jane, a best over
coat for Johnny, go-to-meeting clothes for all
the BARNS, and n Sunday hat, and perhaps
| a new shawl, II the money 'holds out, for
herself. Or, If she be still unwed, goes
revelling among ribbons and laces. feathers
and furbelows, silks and velvets, till her al
| lowance is spent, and really she must ask
| pa or brother for a small sum to buy what
muSlns and hannels she needs" Many and
varied are her experiences sure TO be AS she
makes tour of the stores.
Among other things she will have ample
| opportunities to decide with which she pre-
irrs to deal, statesmen or salesldtiieS whether
| she likes an aflable youth, all smiles and at
| tention, TO display the goods for her lnspec-
| uon, or whether II woman with n far-away
| look IN her eyes and much-endurinG eX-
| presslon, and plaintive voice, with halt nm
ear for the customer and the other ear and
a-half for the gossip going on around, has
her preference. She will also meet the clerk
with large seal ring (real bloodstone you
know. who always takes such pains TO dis
play 1t to advantage as he handles the various
materials as well as the girl with bangs
tNLe is many, who glares ut you when you
do not bay also, the clerical clerk, whose
dlgnlhed demeanor almost forces you to
purchase what you do not want, because 1t
Is 50 hard to withstand and the meek little
learner" whom you pity when her employ
er or perhaps another employee bustles up
and takes the sale right ont of her hands.
The boys whom Josiah Aliens wife sup
posed to lie the sons of Mrs. Cash have of
late years become quite noteworthy feature
III that tme-honored institution We call shop
ping. Poor little fellows their feet have
many steps to take, and their patience must
sometimes be akin to Jobs. yet they nearly
all seem Jealous i'll the work they have to do,
and not only satisfied. hut pleased with 1t.
No great gilt Of prophecy would be required
10 ioretell which OF these lads will be the
more successful III the years that lie ahead.
1t seems, however, like poor start i'll life
being leash boy and II is pity that SO
many parents are not sufficiently ar-sighted
to SEE this. Give your son "A trade, or put
him on IL farm. and he will then have II
chance To rise in life, if there is any rise in
him. But hard, indeed, must be his strug-
gle toward n more honorable and lucrative
position if his way thereto lies along the
path trequented 10y cash boys, salesmen, and
bookkeepers, hungry crowd of place-seek
ers. Tor the half of whom there Is no place
As Il general thing women love to shop III
pairs. even threes or iours ; very few as
thoroughly enjoy n shopping excursion taken
alone as they do one taken in company. The
grand tour Of inspection, which is always II
preliminary to important purchases /; the
delightful little luncheon, which invariably
tastes so much better than the one at home
(probahly because it smacks of Bohemian
ISM, mysterious state of existence dear TO
the heart of the most prosaic "home-body },
and at which the most important question of
what and where To buy is finally settled the
return to the favored establishments, the pur
chases, and finally, tine merry ride home
wards III crowded car (supposIng We are
not "carriage customers , with depleted
portemonnaie, but not less delightful con-
sciousness that somebody's store-wagon will
be before our door soon well laden with we'll
chosen articles all these are experiences We
iemihines enjoy as schoolgirls do II holiday.
So alluriug, indeed, are the delights which
shopping affords that some OF us therefore
thoughtlessly substitute sham for substance,
and, though lacking the wherewithal to buy,
yet being anxious to spend day among the
shops, turn over the contents OF counters,
insist upon an inspection Of the goods oil
shelves. price everything. and walk out.
Those who for mere self qualification become |
guilty Of such meanness and injustice TO the |
hard-worked, poorly paid saespeople are not |
of h4 ar
should such make complaint if the result of |
such proceedings is well-deserved snub |
now and then from some clerk or clerks |
whose patience If at last exhausted.
Good shoppers, like poets, are born, not |
made, and they always belong to one sex, |
the female. We all know how awkwHrdly |
man goes about the important business F.; |
from the buying of II half dozen buttons to |
the selection of dress or n new bonnet per |
commission from some lady relative, II is all
the same to he is sure to lose all the
common sense he ever had during the cere
mony to be first timorous, then nervous, a
good dead cross, and finally reckless the
natural result being that he buys the wrong
thing at last, pays twice what he should tor
it, and comes home to face fire OF raillery
with defiant air, an inward SENSE OF humil-
ity, and why didn't You 60 YOURSELF"
ready Tor prompt delivery at the first note of
from her to whose cause he con-
siders he has been II martyr. lie never goes
for the love OF it, unless it be into
glove stores, where he eau have appropriate
covering for his manly fingers deity adjust
ed thereto by gentle creatures of the gentlcr
sex. That kind of shopping he likes
About the dress of shoppers, some ladies
prefer to wear their ''best," while others
adopt ''second-best," n meat but not CANDY"
attire. Let her who wishes to study human
nature as it is go forth some day in the plain
est dress her wardrobe holds Zone yerging on
If possiblel, and mark the man
ner in which she will be treated inferior
goods invariably shown first impotence
coveItly displayed as she delays or declines
making Il selection an offer to send the
goods not made or else made half contempt
uously an air of ill-concealed surprise if
she tenders a note of a large denomination
in payment Il critical examination OF the
same before change Is protiered. Let her
go into the same establishment next day. OF
next week. clad in brave array she may not
buy Onc-tonth much. but she will he treat
ed with the Difference and polteness that
invariably use towards her who,
whatever her real character. dresses az lady
when she goes shopping N-D.s