The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-02-12
SHOPS AND SHOPPING IN MAX
leo.


Shops and shopping, of the upper
sort, In Mexico follow French or
European traditions more thanAmer
lean. FancifHl titles over the door
way are adopted instead of q firm
name: a dry-goods store "The Sur
prise" The SpriDg-Time," The
Explosion" a jewelers. the Pearl -
or Emerald" shoe store, The
azure Boot" and "The Foot of
venus" The windows are taste
1ully draped, and a large force of
clerks is seen shoulder to shoulder
within. These clerks are more dem
ocratlc IN their manners than Amer
leans would venture to be. They
shake hands with their patrons if
they haYe enjoyed a slight previous
acq ualntance, and enquire after the
health of Miss Lolita and Miss Sol
eoad. There are those of superior
social position among them, how
eVer-some who are met with at the
D~lls of the Guatemala Minister, for
instance. The explanation may
perhaps be found in the limited
cholce of occupations open, which
leaves to many who desire to work
no more important places.
Until Of late it has not been Ell
quette for ladies of standing to shop
except from their carriages-a
considerable part Of the shopping,as
Tor furniture and other household
goods, is still conducted by the men
OF the family-just as it was not ct
!quette for ladies to be seen walk
ing In the streets. The change in
both these respects is ascribed to the
horse-cars. The point of ceremony,
1t appears, was founded somewhat |
upon the difficulty Of getting about. |
The American touch appears in the
streets with increasing frequency.in |
signs Of dealers in arms, seWing-ma-I
chimes, and other of our useful in
ventlons, and of the insurance COM
panies, a novel idea, to which the |
Mex1canS seem to take with much |
readiness. The principal shopping
hours are from to 6 O'Clock |
IN the afternoon. From l
Till 3, or even 4, little is done. There
Is general stOppage of affairs for
Inner. 1t is but short time since
that interesting person, the CONNER
;lal traveller, has been known in the
country. Ehe profits of favorably
houses, in the absence of
Keen competition, have been very
arge,and methods of doing business
n some instances CORRESPONDENCE
DOSE. The Mexican merchant does
lot necessarily go into fine calcula-
ion of the. proportionate value of
ach detail OF foreign invoice, but
Jumps" the profit he thinks he
'ught to receive on the whole. Some
in co nsequence, can be
fought at less than their real value,
While others, in compensation, are
xhorbitantly advanced.
ills the smaller trade, hOWeVer.and
hat most removed from metropoli-
an influence that is.the gayest and
1ost entertaining as a spectacle.
low many picturesque market
Genes does one linger in! Each
opulation has its own market-day,
OF to Interfere with any other. The
tone flags to the plaza or the mar 6
which are plentiful and
Tell built, are hidden under a COM
LEGATION of fruits, grains, cocoa '
acks and mats, striped blankets {
nd re6oz0S.sprt wiling drown limbs,
bodices and kirtles, as :
with an excessively thick, richly
'lored rug. A grade above this is
lie .PGT'tG71, as at Puebla, a bazaar of
nall shops, in which goods, sales
9ople, and customers are all to be
ut upon she canvas with the most
vid hues. The leading mercerio
ry-goOds shop of the same impor-
mt citp of Puebla, called "The City
Mexico" has facade entirely in
azed tiles upon an unglazed
'ound ofred, with alegcrical figures
rger than life between the pilas-
rs as part of the pattern.-W. 81.
IsHoP, IN HarperS Magazine for
e6TuaTy.