Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-10-01
apanamakfr's.
pnIIApELrnIA, soptember 8, 1ssA.

Gloves and shoes you buy
without knowing what you are
paying your money for-al-
most every one of you. You
think you know good leather.
The maker of limitations knows
your weakness and plays on
it. He knows how slight your
leather knowledge is and hui
mors yourconceitby giving his
sham the look that you think
belongs to the real. The look
is all he cares for.
The merchant can stand be-
tween you and manufacturers
frauds if he chooses; for he
has experts in his service. He
becomes a sort of expert him
self. He receives complaints
from the disappointed wearers
of shams; and the makers of
shams expose one another in
competition before him.
But nine-out-of-ten of you
in the country encourage the
makers of shams of all
sorts by buying the shams
time after time long. after you
ought to know better. You
are young in shopping wisdom
till old in experience. A little
easy instruction ought to bring
the wisdom earlier.
1t is a very great work to
be such a merchant as we
have set out to be in a hun
dred different branches of mer-
chandise. We don't profess
to have reached our notion of
what is attainable. The store
is visibly better every year;
which implies that there is
plenty of room for improve
ment yet. Let us not be mis-
understood. We admit our
shortcomings. We aim at
perfection nevertheless. What
else can it mean when We
say Bring back aohateUey 10u
get here If yon'd rather haze
1'on'' money again ? 1t means
that there are defects in our
merchandising in spite of us.
1t means that we make them
good too late when we can't
make them good in time.
But gloves and shoes-We
were not DEPRESSING. In gloves
and shoes we have most diff
cult merchandise; hard to
judge, and hard to get good
without judging. Nothing we
deal in is more exposed to
fraud from the makers. How
we deal in gloves and shoes is
a crucial test of our mercan-
tile standard in general.
There are limitations of
everything good. limitations
of gloves and shoes of course
the shams are commoner
far than honest leather and
work-the shams are SO COM
mon, we venture to say, that
probably half of you who read
this wear nothing but shalns,
and wouldn't think of paying
enough for a single pair Of
gloves and shoes to get any
thing else. You'll buy three
times as many pairs in a yea
as you'd have to buy of good
ones; and you'll go shabby
nalf the year because YOU
won't buy five times as many.
How are you to find ont what
good things are good for if
'ou never use them? The
major part of the people never
10 lind out. 1t is almost need
ess to say SO. Everybody
,nows it. The delicate part
5 to hint that you, who are
eading this paper this minute,
re possibly one of the number
Who never will find out.
And gloves and shoes are
erhaps the very best illustra-
ons we have in the store of
ne folly Of buying poor stuff
hen goods to be got without
About every
ort of glove and about every
ort of shoe is made to look
Ike a proper glove and a
roper shoe; and you are
in almost every store
the world to one of two
Iunders: extravaganza or
lying a sham. You are not
} tempted here. We sell
BOD gloves and good shoes.
,e draw the line pretty high.
Ne could easily draw it
gher.l Sham gloves and
loes we leave to those who
e willing to trade on your
We prefer the.
over trust of the wiser half
you.
And what we say of gloves
d shoes we hope to say
of everything.
IoHN WANAMAKrp