Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-10
DRESSING THE WINDOWS.
ELABORATE DISPLAYS FOR CATCH
ING THE PUBLIC EYE.

Window dressing is something of n fine
art nowadays. The times cause it to be
SO. lie 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 stutTs.
All window dressing in this country
never had a beginning. 1t is simply a
growth, the outcome of q 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
1 SiONSi diih oil Iiotitiiiy tlSliIlCu Ildu lTOIu
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
n department Of itself. Window dress
ers began TO be sent for from London
and Paris, but the me Of them com
menced behind the counter, and in all
their window work have kept pace Ia
their ideas with the growing demands
Of their concerns. Some say that there
are only a dozen first class window
dresscrs both in New York and Brook
Ign; 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.
81 can't explain how | dress q 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.
There are no rules about it, although a
a window dresser tod me once you could
learn it all out of a 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 stu.fs together.
All the really good men at it have been
in the business fifteen or twenty years,
abroad and here; a man must have it in
him NJ the start, and then be must begin
as a boy. He should have been behind
the counter, and know just how TO nan
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
lresser's room Of a store which displays
picture designs rs well az goods, there is
much to bc seen. A carpenters bench
for he is his own carpenter-frame-
work Of wood, pasteboard and brass
~everYwhere, standards for the draping
OF dress goods, drawers and cabinets full
Of stuiIs, 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 2Xlt 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 a judicious
stufing, built. I'VE tit the man TO the
clothes" remarked asdoer of it, not 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
nlieS luoC ildt pdtIel us sLdil DC SHOWH.
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 it
often happens that a buyer will want
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 a woman's eye. But
the average man will never give it a mo-
ment's look. Now our windows are to
attract everybody. Put in it a group, a
figure, an odd design, and the men will
take immediate notice of it. The goods
will be displayed all the anne 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