The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-23
SHOPPING MOST PERILOUS.
DANGERS REFoRE UNHlRH r OMEN
IN FIFTH AVENUE

two hands are getting TO be thicker than black
berries. Some OF them are actually little: six
By sixteen ,is not mAgniacencs even when q
French woman keeps che shop. Others are
only comparatively small In contrast with the
big department stores.
These Firth avenue shops are In q class by
themselves. In make up and management
they differ from most Of the other stores. In
the first place, most Of them are installed In
buildings which were originally dwelling
houses and still retain their exclusiveness Of
appearance. Nobody thinks OF prowlinE into
and out OF the Fifth avenue shops. az people do
with the places having o purely commercial
air. The shopkeepers know this. n their
saleswomen know Il. aud Buttons, who opens
the door. knows IL!
Hence, after q woman has rome 10 the point
OF climbing-or descending. % the case may
be-the outside steps and entering the cur
tanned glass door she may be and 10 regarded
rs having serious. intentions. As SUCH. . shop
per with serious intentions. she receives . con-
tinental amount Of unctuous bowling and
naughty condescension subtly intermingled.
II she doesn't buy-well. IL Is oil she can do to
get her stiffenod body out into the sunshine.
where she can thaw out.
This, be It hastily remarked. 10 not the uni
vorsal rule in these shops. There are places
where aRenuine and courteous welcome awaits
all corners and the affair might be q social funo-
ton so far as any idea Of buying and selling is
allowed to intrude. Two or three OF the art
stores, for instance. seem to the ~impecunious
but true lover OF pictures to be maintained for
the qualification ofhimself and others like him.
This is true OF many other places; but It
would be Just a. well for the outsider to know
his ground before he ventures into the field.
The Fifth avenue shops run almost entirely
to q few varieties-to millinery. for instance.
At the busiest hours OF the day'thore are more
hats inside the shops along the avenue. count
ing only those for sale, than there are on the
heads OF the women outside the shops. Why.
there are more millinery shops between
Twenty-third street and Forty-second street
in Fifth avenue than there are saloons in the
same number OF blocks In Sixth avenue. At
least 1t seems 30 to . woman who has to stop
and look at the hats in the windows.
One OF the chief accomplishments Of some
foreign shopkeepers is their ability to make an
Improbable customer feel like 80 cents.
This ability Is to DO found here and there in
Fifth avenue. You go in oil pulled up with pride
over a determination to be real reckless and
spend $40 on awinter hat Atthe same time you
have q lingering trace OF shrewdness. and You
don't name outright the princely sum which
you stand ready to expend. You have bought
hats before and you're not going to invite the
saIeswoman to charge you $40 for q $12 hat
Just because she knows you have the price.
So you are very foxy about It, and you simply
ask to see some hats. Certainly. madamel
Will madame please BIO seatedr All. pardonl
Will madame allow her hat to be removed
Madame G~raoiously allows It. though she
willis q trife when the unctuous saleswoman
looks inside OF the old hat, and obviously re-
presses o sniff OF scorn at the name OF the
humble dealer she finds there. But madame
remembers that she paid only SO for that hat.
and she remembers the fat twenty in her purse
md spruces up. Meanwhile the saleswoman
approaches with an abomination Of fioridity in
the shape Of q hat. It is "only $40. and ex-
ceedingly becoming to madame" Madame
intimates that she, will have none, Of Il; Moro
o oS.S almost fre s0a amy old. iT price sfG above Dove "s sss5~s1d
madame feels herself smaller and smaller and
f sR%ISIIsT. ANA sad tS tho T0 ias l s9R f Sisek thinner and
Finally ma oLSned sG ann ON her @erstsS11uurra courage and
s1f% Erie: '9 som sS%Hsei a6o sln U.s. Out win plenty
The saieswoman raises her eyebrows hope
remember whether they, ever admitted any
thing 80 cheap .E.t into tpa their h.s stock acr AND finally Ny
abe sbeu th that pr ies. and sds she G goes o sP% and eets t 1W5
S@astiGns and eondssesadlnsiS tsiis @sds%s
Madame mad Snsy agrees with inward irony w
At this point ome up another tall and el0-
ssis sRant. 81 sRe way. I4 TSeS ave wear slT thsir 'f hair ana IA
the latest fashion ~, th9E are I'D, sdyd me- n, in t their
years a Also sess Their han hands in are S So wei kept One
n mafHeS As for their height. Il really 6 Of no use
s feet tail. The elegant saleswomen are from
8 feet 8 up. and ,unlese you are . good 9 feet
eys Of them. Il YOU can look Town on them
and rustic loudly enough, you may eyen 6uYa
Soo 9 For ans as f Ssior yoS said scI At ne Critical point point
arrives ANOTHER
asks OF your patron salesWoman.
well. they must 60 before 4 o'clockl". And
s s%onE th Your se S55 aS Sa fnS ySs q IL ds sSolIGttiR5H
and wonder whether you'll have time to cut
and s sSD l Sstorss S Sss comes s&n get b sSski an 9oq 9e hissit SSe
how many hats Mrs. millionaire bought at $40
apiece. how many at $50: and 80 on; ....
On the other hand there is the other kind of
p prop ieS9' DOWN low nt to tie H1e Grand boy. treats esf% y SoS
as IL you were Q lordiy customer. from the mo-
D msns y Z Se sSs' 1 isS d Ssa SsTe R Sa1SEsRty you q pi aHy q
Institution. Q, sort Of patron saint. These are
Know 'S you by name. Greemsnber your address,,
send the goods home without putting In a bill
peopiS With an OId-iasSioned fondnesS for
courtesy.
One can have q charge account at plenty OF
places. but there are not so man shops where
one ean have the proprietor say;
"Oh, Mrs. - came very near sending
for you to see some imported things got in
i iSi6o week SsTo We 81 sRoke OF you when the
That's only business shrewdness2 Gener-
ally, yes. But II 10 Q more agreeable form Of
business shre%dness than that which makes a
dealer treat his customer like q thief and q
robber, or as 2 policeman treats the tramp on
the park benches.
Bothe Fifth avenue shops-like all shops. for
that metter-are Of two kinds 80 far as meth
DDS Of dealing With customers &C, Only. their
extremes OF courtesy and OF enobbishness are
further apart. r. otheE methods they ARE a
depend on their regular customers to do that
fol, them. either by wearing their productions
are Ideyoted principally to. the apparelllnG, of
avenue shops are those Of taiiors. miliners and
costumers. with now aud then one for the sale
Of shoes OF. gloves or %corsets., These mako up
fully nine-tenths OF the number, and the great
majority OF the remainder are dedicated to the
dressing OF the second envelope OF humanity.
the houses in which we live.
n ,4..l H. - - 80 - II 81