Smyrna times., 1889-07-17

How the Custom First Came AbOut-hen
Who Make a Business of 1.-THE Way
Some of Them Do It-Windows to At
tract Men as Well as Women.
Window dressing is something of fine
art nowadays. The times cause it to be
So He who has the most attractive
window is making the most sales. Each
merchant attempts to outdisplay the
other, and in the great retail empOrIums
the position of window dresser is among
the best in the house. For the expert in
this sort of work is rarely to be met with.
He must be an artist, a mechanic, and
well versed in cOlOrs and stutfs.
Art window dressing in this country
never had beginning. 1t is simply a
growth, the outcome of a struggle for
novelty and to excel ones neighbOr and
competitor. A few years ago there were
in New York city but three or four large
dry goods houses. These had the name,
the fame and the trade Then there
were hundreds Of small stores and shops.
For the advancement of any one of these
the public eye must be attracted to it.
And it was very largely window display
that accomplished this, that built up
rivals to the old establishments, who had
attempted little of that sort of thing. At
first in these small shops it was some
clever and artistically inclined man from
behind the counter who spent a part of
his time in arranging the window.
As the business grew the window be-
came the more important, and in the
newer and larger stores Of the new con-
Germs entering with success into cOmpe-
tition with the old establishments, win
dows were built specifically for show
purposes, and window dressing became
q department of itself. Window dress
ers began to be sent for from London
and Paris, but the most Of them COM
menced behind the counter, and in all
their window work have kept pace in
their ideas with the growing demands
of their concerns. Some say that there
are only dozen first class window
dressers both in New York and Brook
lyn; others claim that there are not half
that number. Just what constitutes
good window dressing it is difficult to
find out, unless it is simply the power Of
attracting the public eye. Professional
jealousy seems to be largely in existence
about another mans possession of that
power.
Il can't explain how l dress a win
dow," said one of the best of the craft
the other day; ''my experience tells me
how to display goods and get certain
effects, and that is all there is of it.
81. - L.
a window dresser told me once you could
learn it all out Of book. But you can't
1t is a matter of long experience. BY
study and practice you gain ideas to be
followed out. OF course, you must know
how to put cOlOrs and stulfs together
All the really good men at it have been
in the business fifteen or twenty years,
abroad and here; q man must have it in
him at the start, and then he must begin
as boy. He should have been behind
the counter, and know just how to han
die and display goods. But there's no
rule about it. Every man in the bust
ness goes to work differently"
In most of the large stores the win
dow dresser is autocrat in his depart
ment, and has his own private room for
the keeping of his framework and mate
rials. In Brooklyn this is especially the
case. There the stores are newer, the
windows larger, and the display in gen
eral more elaborate. In the window
dressers room of a store which displays
picture designs as we'll as goods, there is
much to be seen. A carpenters bench
for he is his own arpenter-frame-
work Of wood, pasteboard and brass
everywhere, standards for the draping
of dress goods, drawers and cabinets full
of stuffs, mems clothing and wax heads.
In the making up of dummies" used
only the heads are bought, and a stock
Of those are accumulated
The bodies unclOthed are curious af-
fairs-a wooden frame 2x15 feet square
| and a couple of inches thick, slightly
| stuffed and covered with white cloth.
with two sticks to serve as lower limbs
and entirely without upper ones; a short
piece of wood upon which the waxen
head and neck is placed Upon this
framework is the figure, by iudicious
stutfing, built. 1--WE fit the man to the
clothes" remarked asdoer of it, mot the
clothes to the man" In making up a
woman's figure no actually made dresses
are used. A consultation with the head
of the dressmaking department deter
mines just what patterns shall be shown.
Dress lengths of these are cut out and
draped upon the forms. Thus even the
goods worn by the lay figures may be
sold directly from the window. and il
hnnnnr1G
just exactly what she had seen there.
There are two schools of window dress
ing. One believes its object merely the
displaying of the goods themselves, the
other the attracting of attention to the
concern. The latter class are those who
make use Of picture designs and wax
figures. "a dainty display Of goods"
they say, "a clever blending of colors,
will quickly catch q wOman's eve. But
the average man will never give it a mo-
ments look. Now our windows are to
attract everybody. Put in it a group,
figure, an odd design, and the men will
take immediate notice Of it. The goods
will be displayed all the same. Now, a
man going home from his business catches
a glimpse of our store front. As he sits
down to the tea table he says to his wife,
Have you seen that new group in IS
window? 1t is so and So
There are no doubt a good many mar
ried women about the city who haven't
seen that window. Some of these, we
calculate, will come to the store the next
morning. Had there been merely an ar
rangement of silks or ribbons, the man
would hardly have given it a glance and
never q second thought
''It is not good" say the experts, ''to
ticket-that is, price mark-goods in the
window. 1t is too common, they say.
The arrangement there is calculated to
be so very attractive that should any
thing strike the fancy of the passing wo-
man, she is bound to come in and ask
the salesman, "How much is that a
yardY'-New York Mail and Express.
Private Theatres.
1t is quite the rage to have theatres in
private houses in England. Among the
most conspicuous is that in Hubert Her.
komer's London house. Another is at
the country seatof Sir Percy Shelley, son
Of the poet. Sir Percy writes plays, paints
scenery, and composes the incidental
music Of the plays produced. William