Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-10-09
- 80 - NboW.

NAA6 OFNGNA OENOW wiz
The First Living Exhibit In Town IA
What HAS Followed It Since.
Within the past few years there have
been some notable changes in the man
ner of carrying on certain industries in
this city, and to great extent the
| show window has taken the place OF
the interior and secluded apartments OF
the shop. Perhaps the example was
set fifteen or twenty years ago, when a
well known painter of scenes in the
arctic regions exhibited one of his
pictures within a store in Broadway,
and, as an advertisement of it, caused
little lrishman rugged out in Eskimo
toggery to sit all day long incoming in
the store window, where he attracted
the gaze of the multitude.
Inaslnuch as the Irishman had not
command of a single word in the Eski-
mo language, he was forbidden to
speak to any stranger while on duty
under penalty of instantly being dis
charged This was probably the earli.
est use of man as an advertisement in
the show window in this town.
But now scattered throughout the
city there are hundreds of places in
winch Industries are actually piled in
the show windows, much to the delight
and possibly TO the instruction of the
crowds that gather TO observe what is
going on. The men who advertise In this
way can always count on the idle curl
osity of the passerby, although it is
not likely that they make much money
through their device, since mere curl
osity seldom pans out in cash, the idle
gazer being generally sadly impecuni
Gus.
There was time when tradesmen
used their show windows exclusively
for the display of such wares as they
had to sell The manufactured article
was there, but not the article in the
process of making Now the show win
dow IS the-workshop, and all along the
business streets of New York men may
be seen through plate glass heaving
great skeins of incipient molasses candy
over iron hooks and catching them on
their elbows with skill that would be
the despair of the handiest country
man that ever went to a village candy
bee.
I.aundrying is done under the public
eye with such care as makes q man
wonder how it is that his new collars
generally come back to him hopelessly
cnacAed and mangled beyond recogni
ton and the possibility of further wear
ing, Men sit in show windows all ovel
town Illustrating the way in which
cigars are made, but it is noticeable
that they never stick the small end o.
a cigar into their mouths just before
giving the final twist to it, as Is the
constant practice of men who twist be.
hind back windows where they suppose
they are unobserved.
So, also, hats are ironed, and the
ironing thereof excites unbounded en-
thusiasm in the breasts of the crowd
that gathers to see the process, and
even the public mending of boots and
shoes is a source of delight to the null
titude. Tailors sit in their show win
dows making and repairing clothes
toothsome griddle cakes become brown
under the eyes of all who pass; artifi-
cial teeth are made where all can see
the work done.
When the 1st day of January draws
near the show window explains how
skillful penmen write New Years cards,
and it is not long since, in an up town
street, seven Northwest-easterly sisters
stood in full view brushing their long
and wavy tresses as a sign and token of
the wonderful power of a certain hair
invigorator. Also, in a show window in
Broadway, a man might be seen, not
long ago, rowing away for dear life,
while another pulled for all he was
worth at n contrivance for making
Sumsons of the weakest of mortals.
Great is the show window New
York san.