The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-07-18
DRESSING THE WINDOWS.
ELABORATE DISPLAYS FOR CATCH
ING THE PUBLIC EYE.


How the Custom First Came About-Men
who Make business a 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 1t 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, mechanic, and
well versed in colors and stuffs.
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 tho 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
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 a dozen first class window
dressers 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 I 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.
There are no rules about it, although a
a window dresser told me once you could
learn it all out of book. But you can't
1t is 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 stsffs 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 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 nc
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 fol
the keeping of his framework and mate
rails. In Brooklyn this is especially tn,
case. There the stores are newer, the
windows larger, and the display in gen
eral more elaborate. In the window
dresser's room of store which display
picture designs as well as goods, there il
much to be seen. A carpenters bencl
for he is his own carpenter-frame
work Of wood, pasteboard and bras
everywhere, standards for the drapinl
of dress goods, drawers and cabinets full
of stuffs, mems clothing and wax heads
In the making up of dummies" use'
only the heads are bought, and stool
of those are accumulated.
The bodies unclothed are curious af
fairs-a wooden frame 2x1i feet squar
and a couple of inches thick, slight,
stuffed and covered with white cloth
with two sticks to serve as lower limb
and entirely without upper ones; shor
piece of wood upon which the waxel
head and neck is placed. Upon thi
framework is the figure, by judiciou
stuffing, built. 1--WE fit the man to tn
clothes" remarked asdoer Of it, mot tn
clothes to the man." In making up
woman's figure no actually made dresse
are used. A consultation with the hea
of the dressmaking department deter
mines just what patterns shall be shown
Dress lengths of these are cut out an
draped upon the forms. Thus even tn
goods worn by the lay figures may b
sold directly from the window, and
often happens that a buyer will wan
Just exactly what she had seen there.
There are two schools of window dress
ing. One believes its object merely tn
displaying of the goods themselves, tn
other the attracting of attention to tn
, concern. The latter class are those VIII
make use of picture designs and wa
figures ga dainty display of goods,
, they say, "a clever blending of colors
will quickly catch womans eye. Bu
the average man will never give it a me
ment's look. Now our windows are
attract everybody. Put in it a group,
figure, an odd design, and the men wi
take immediate notice of it. The good
will be displayed all the same. Now,
man going home from his business catche
a glimpse of our store front. As he sit
down to the tea table he says to his wifi,
Have you seen that new group in -
Window It is so and SO.
There are no doubt good many ma
ried women about the city who haven
seen that window. Some of these, W
calculate, will come to the store the nel
morning. Had there been merely an a
rangement of silks or ribbons, the ma
would hardly have given it glance an
never a second thought.
at is not good" say the experts, :"
ticket-that is, price mark-goods in Il
window. 1t is too common, they sa
The arrangement there is calculated
be 80 very attractive that should an
thing strike the fancy of the passing W
man, she is bound to come In and al
!, the salesman, "How much is that
n yard?"-New York Mail and Express.