The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1894-06-28
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Middle Age Apprentices.

Middle Age apprentices.
A reporter was walking through
'sshe Bay in lower Baxter street re.
Gently with Prof. A. v. w. Jackson, OF
Columbia college, when two pullers il
in rival clothing houses laid hands on
the professor and endeavored TO drag
him forcibly into their respective shops.
'.Step right In, sir" said one. 81 can
at you from head to heel with the best
and cheapest clothes in the market"
Don't you believe him." cried the
other. Come in here with me. Ours
is the most reliable clothing house in
New York"
The professor extricated himself gent
ly from their clutches, and then turn
ing to the reporter, said:
~ suppose these fellows are great
annoyance to most people who pass
this way; but to me they are extremely
interesting. They arc simply follow
ing,th methods practised by the Lon
don apprentices during ths middle
ages. This touting, or standing at the
door inviting passers-by to enter was
at one time universal practice with
all kinds of shops, especially in Lon
don. 1t was part Of the duty of APP
prentices to advertise in this way their
masters stock of goods. They would
stand in the street and intercept stran-
gers, crying: What 90 you lack? What
do you lack? and have no doubt were
fully as importunate as their modern
successors. am informed that among
the milliners of Division street the
same practice prevails. dare say it Is
confined exclusively to the Jews, al
though other shopkeepers doing bust
ness among them may be forced to
adopt the same method of soliciting
patronage Tho Jews are very tena.
cious of old customs, and touting is un-
| doubtedly one Of the trade traditions
that they have preserved"
Just north of the Bend in Baxter
street the professors attention was ar
rested by rude sign dangling from a
| barber pole which bore the inscriptions
! "a Shaye and a Glass of Beer for Five
| Cents"
"That may be called a relic of bar.
berism,' he said, with 81 laugh. "You
can appreciate my pun better when il
Is explained. A hundred years age
and over, great many barbers made a
practice of supplying drinks to their
customers, and they hung out signs
very similar to she one yonder. One Of
these inscriptions. said to have been
composed by Dean Swift for a barber
who at the same time kept q public
house, read:
"Isove not from pole to pole but step in here
| Where nought exeels the shaving but the beer
Il do not suppose that at first the
BARRIERS furnished beer gratis to their
customers, but competition probably
| induced them to do SO later on. SO the
proprietor Of this little Baxter street
barber shop is, perhaps unconsciously
reviving very old practice OF his
trade.
San inquiry into the origin Of mod
ern trade practices would prove an In
teresting study" continued the pro
| fessor. II dare say that many things
which are now regarded as ingenious
innovations would be found upon In
vestigation to be simply revivals OF old
ideas and schemes. For example, there
Is an umbrella shop In a side street up
town that has this ingenious placard
displayed in the window: Umbrella
Hospital. Then follows q price list
setting forth the analogy between a
human being and an umbrella. Some
of the items are: Restoring broken
| rib, IS cents;' Inserting new spine, IS
CENTS Restoring a shattered constitu-
ton, ST. Setting q dislocated neck, 25
cents "A new membranous attach
ment, $3.50 I have no doubt that this
umbrella member is regarded by his
neighbors as an original wit, but he is
nothing of the kind. His placard is
simply a reproduction of sign that
was formerly displayed in the window
| Of an umbrella shop in London. IN.
Y Sun.