Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-10-10
MEALS FOR CLERKS,
EMPLOYEES OF LARGE PARIS STORES
DINE IN THE BUILDING,

A Tremendous Business In Itself When
You Consider the Meals That Are Pre-
pared and served-Everything Is Done
In First Glass Style, but 1t Pays.
The refectories of the vast depart
ment stores or "bazaars" of Paris are
among the most curious sights Of the
French capital. AS soon as the Bon
Marche and the Louvre-dear to the
hearts Of all American women who
make the "grand tour" and prototypes
of the colossal establishments in New
York and adjacent cities-began to as
sumo great Importance their projectors
were confronted with the question,
"How shall we organize the meal
times of these thousands of men and
women?''
In France "lunch," as understood in
America, is unknown. Every person,
gentle and simple, makes of the early
morning repast simply breakfast"
and no more. A bowl of coffee and
large piece of crisp bread for the work
ingman and woman; the smoking choc-
olate in a Sevres cup and the brooches
which melt i'll the mouth for the mil
lionaire-those are the only distinctions.
For many generations the French have
recognized that it is unhealthy to take
hearty meal at 6, or s in the morn
ing. So they wait until II or 12, and
millions wait until o'clock before tast-
ing the first substantial meal of the day.
Dinner, a second meal of two or three
courses, and i'll no wise resembling the
light repast which Americans know as
supper comes at z, s or even 9, ac-
cording to the circumstances of the per-
son. Concierges, or house porters, gen.
orally dine at 3, winter and summer,
and sit over their meal an hour or two,
chatting and laughing. At that late
hour the whole family is united, and it's
little affairs are discussed and settled.
With the organization of the "bazaar''
came the need of keeping constant out
look over the hundreds of young men
and women in each department, and
economizing each moment of their time
between the opening hours and the let
ting down of the great iron shutters be-
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precisely. 1t was with view of this
watch over the employees rather than
because of any philanthropic tenden-
cies, that the owners and managers of
the largest "bazaars" decided to make
it obligatory for all employees to take
their meals at noon and night upon the
premises.
The bazaar proprietor said, "We
must do this, as we do everything else,
with an eye to the advertisement. And
so they decided to install their refecto-
ries very handsomely and to feed their
employees we'll. The idea has paid from
the start
At the Bon Marche spacious and very
handsome halls Oh the fourth story Of
the enormous edifice are devoted to the
restaurant for the employees. Twelve
thousand meals are served daily be-
tween 1 and 6 o'clock. Men and wom-
Ell eat i'll separate halls, and are served
with the same politeness and attention
that they would receive in restaurants
or at "lunch counters''-if lunch coun-
ters had ever been inflicted on the
French.
At the Louvre about the same num-
ber of meals are served, and the arrange
ments are wonderfully complete. The
kitchens, with their seductive array Of
copper saucepans, and the pantries, with
the thousands upon thousands of plates
and cups, all marked with the trade
mark of the house-a majestic lion
couchant, with his paws hanging over
the letter "L"-and the little army of
white capped and aproned cooks, wait
ers, bottle washers and potato peelers,
are well worth visit. Nor will the
visitor get his back chalked. All is con-
Quoted with dignity and refinement, as
in the house of a gentleman of fortune.
The caldrons in the kitchens are i'm
mense. The visitor may look into one
kettle which contains mashed potatoes
for 5000 men, and into another in
which soup for 1000 persons is simmer
ing. Then the bottle department is
something stupendous. Twelve thousand
half bottles of good wine, guaranteed
unadulterated, are served out daily. The
battalion of bottle washers is busy from
dawn to dusk, fetching up the rosy
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huge pitchers of wood three feet high,
and then bottling it. Both the Louvre
and the Bon Marche have wine cellars
of vast extent for customers as we'll as
employees.
At the Louvre there are three table
services of 700 each for the men. At the
Bon Marche larger number can be fed
at once. Each category of employees has
its special room. The heads of depart
ments dine together, and never mix
with the head clerks of each counter.
The under clerks eat their boiled beef
and roast chicken without being trou-
bled by the presence of their chiefs.
Then the humber ones, the packers, the
stablemen, the elevator men, the run
ners, the sweepers and lighters, have
their long table, and finally, the garcons,
or the men who wear the uniform of
the house and accompany the delivery
wagons and receive money for purchases,
have their particular room, and are al
lowed to come and go more irregularly
than the others because of the peculiar
nature of their service. The "ladies'
observe the same classification in their
eating rooms, and are allowed to gossip
us freely as they will. There are no
spies; they say what they please ON the
theory that they are not under the con-
troll of the establishment during the
fitna of tho rapacfc