The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-25
WHEN sill SHOPS.
THIEGs SHE DOES AND THING SIZE
SAYS IN THE STORES.

Gives Wrong Addresses-Huyp Thfngu sho
Dsssnr Need-scolas. sonetines-Docsnr
know what she ~vyanta-TFicks she Plays.
There IA no place in the world where little
phases OF mental alteration are moro conspic-
uous in woman thnn In q big dry goods store.
Shopping certainly has q curious effcct on tho
average woman. She gets bewilderod in the
labyrlnths Of the fnery that abe loves 90 well,
and does and says all manner OF queer things.
In the course of a chat n man who has worked
his way up from cash boy to assistant superin-
tendent of n big department store told q SUN
reporter about tho strange things that women
do while shopping.
"ReaIly, l believe II n body Of physicians were
set to watch Il store full OF women shoppers for
q day." he said, they would decide that at
least half Of them woro suffering from lunacy
of one form or another. Women do strange
things when shopping and, Of course. all the
very unusual actions reach my ears. Every
day hundreds OF women como In, make q pur
chase, and 20 off leaving their change and very
often their parcel, too. This 10 such a common
occurrence that we've had to establish a do
partment to take caro- Of the money and pack
ages left In this way-a department entirely
separate from tho lost and found counter. The
customer in such cases invariably returns and
Identifies her'goods, states the amount due her,
RECEIVERS both, and goes about her business as II
1t was q natural thing for q woman to buy an
article. pay for 1t, and then leave 1t and tho
change behind.
"The number OF women who give wrong ad-
dresses where goods are to be delivered Is as
tonishing, and that IL ono OF the most trouble
some bad habits that shoppers have. The ma
jority OF them give the wrong address Needless
ly. They have their minds on something else
and maybe they have moved and give their old
| address. Not long ago we sent q parcel to o
| .u.-..n .-l .~hap thu maid mat tho haliyArv
man at the door she said there was no such per
son thore. The lady Of tho house, an old wo-
| man, heard the talk in the hall and hobbled out
from tho drawing room to see what 1t was all
about. The package was addressed to her
niece, who had been married ten years and had
made hor home there previous to that. When
she made the purchase she gave her maiden
name and her old address, though abe had
never lived there since her marriage. There
isn't q store in New York where the saleswo-
men and statesmen are not particular in taking
addresses. 1t pays them to BIO, and they are re-
quired to first repeat the address, thea write
It, and ncxt to repeat 1t again to the customer.
with all that, women constantly give wrong
addresses. We can't require our customers to
write the addresses themselves, but 1t hap
pened just a few days ago that one OF the girls
asked q customer to do so. The goods were
sent and the driver brought them back saying
that it was the.wrong address. A few days
later the customer came in and gave that girl
the worst tongue flashing she probably ever got,
and told her that she was going straight to the
superintendent to report her for inefficiency
and carelessness. The girl waited until the
woman finished her TRADE, and, opening her
book, said very politely:
MADAM. don't you remember you wrote
the address for me YOURSELF Idon't know how
1 ever happened to ask you to do SO, but l did
and here it is
Tho woman just stood and looked at her own
writing and gasped. Did abe apologize to the
grill Not much. She turned on hor and said:
at was probably q very easy thing for you
to change that four to a three The girl did
There is q class Of shoppers who purchase
ppUrposeiy. Often a woman viii buy some.
thing d, and have AZ. !, It n sent t, e ;r; %; p; to tsr a nei ight or
cause her annoyance. thousands Of parcels
arc sent out from big stores In this way oniy to
I can make i more clear by telling:ot a specific
case. One Of our uptown customer, Q wealthy
woman, bought a pair of cheap rubbers here
one day and had them fitted, They were de
nvered that afternoon. and the noxt day she
entirely too large for her rather small foot. She
scored tho saleswoman severely for having
they were the proper size, sho raved like a mad
woman; The girl was patient, and after con-
BllerADle wnee1llnK perbUdN00 the customer
to try on the rubbers. They fitted to a 7, and
the woman left in a good humor., They do the
stD,s 5 dsRsr, in the u WsT, { cannot ana t exSIs,n made fae
there is no reason in such action.
One OF the commonest things that saleswo:
men have 10 contend.ngainst Is the returning OF
every case Of this kind the customer declares
ticle on the counter and many other details in
no little trouble In proving that the goods have
been purchased elsewhere.
"a great many women buy things Just to be
S Snydie efver They wi G5dSt them the slightest isRt; to l Ss PsiiS for Of
keeping them. / noticed this failing. In the sex
even when ! was 81 a t cash n boy, and y, nv I've sS a1wsys
I've come to the conclusion that the majority
OF women who do this do not wilfully intend
things and they can't resist the temptation q
doing likewise. At a recent salo Of mons fur,
stepped up to the counter and ordered a number
Of things, selecting. them with the greatest care.
ing dslirered parcels a number Of times, we
learned from the servants that not a man lived In
,as a0u Tbs or e &sm ilped pr .hsIs for lust q Pu aoSidn q
resist buying those things although she had
NO iptsptiSn q keeping them y :,o..not, ,nr 100
Women, crowded around the counter seven
half OF those shoes were sold. to persons who
could not wear them and had nobody in their
efforts to get waited on. The Shoes rum in small
R Was Sardsl tFO a % Sass 10 present pwSs; at Mip ahs; a saie tR %SS
wore loss than q four.
AS for purses, umbrellas, handkerchief
gloves, and goods purchased elsewhere they
leave them scattered broadcast on tho counters.
Such things are sent immediately to the lost
and found counter. and II a customer comes
back In u few minutes for her property and
finds that the girl who waited on her hasn't 1t,
she frequently accuses her of stealing Il, and
apparently well bred women do this, too. 1t
takes a strong character, o very womanly wo.
ceased to blame the average woman for hSr
idiosyncracies IN a big dry goods store. for /
phere that adde's her for the time"
IT'S no cinch being, q shop girl" said a floor
walker In Q store where they sell everything
from trained hess to a house and lot, "but
} really believe ia rather be a shop girl than a
chance, OF keeping their right minds. Women
certainly do queer things In stores. We Just
} day for weeks a pretty girl has been coming
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