The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-04
EONHNS WORLD.


is something to be wondered at, but the
extent to which they are got rid of would
probably cause their donors to wonder
still more. When the bride writes 10 you
on delicately tinted, daintily scented pa Der
that your gift TO her was gloriously gor-
geous and the thing of all things that she
most longed for, don't put yourself on the
back and compliment yourself on your
rare powers of selection and excellent
taste; don't even believe word that she
saws unless you have an affidavit that no
other piece of silver, jewelry, bric-a-brac,
or whatever it chances to be was ever made
like il anywhere in this world. For, TN
less this is the case, which has cost you
so much anxious thought, time and maybe
money may have been exchanged or sold
outright, along with "a dozen or more just
like it,
This business of exchanging and selling
duplicate wedding gifts, says the New
York Sun, is by no means new, 1t has been
going on for almost a quarter of cen
utry, but it is getting bigger and bigger
every day. The jeweer, who was The orig
inator of the duplicate wedding gift bust
ness, delights TO tell about it when he can
get his mind off of literature and art long
enough to come down 10 anything so COM
monplace as swapping wedding presents.
lone learns a great deal about human
nature in buying and exchanging wedding
gifts" ne said, In response to a question.
and | see and hear many amusing things.
How did 1 come to go in this business?
Well, away back in 1876 l was reading
one day an advertisement of a sale of
misfit carpets. 'Misfit carpets 1 said to
myself, 'misflt carpets. If misflt carpets
why not misfit wedding presents and i'm
mediately l advertised that l would buy
and exchange duplicate gifts From the
first the scheme took well with very fash
ionable and rich people, for, after i'll,
they are the ones who receive so many
duplicate gifts. 1t went booming along
fairly well, when one day a man, who is
now famous in London, came into my
store and said:
Haven't you got an idea for me to-
day? l want TO write story. You know
we newspaper chaps are always after
ideas
why, yes, said 1, you can make
readable article out of the duplicate we'd
ding gift business, and I showed him the
stock and gave him all the information
! could The next morning he came in
bright and early, bringing me a paper
containing his story. In the next three
weeks that article was copied in at least
two or three hundred papers, showing that
it had taken hold of the people all over
the country. l began to hear from it from
far and near receiving barrels of silver
from brides South, East, North, and West.
The man who wrote that article was Har-
~ Marks, to-day a member of Parliament
and an editor of a financial journal, none
other than the Harry Marks recently
brought before the public by his connec-
lion with the Hooley case.
But to get back to our subject. In buy
ing and exchanging wedding presents one
naturally hears very curious stories, and
romance revealed in one minute might
be drawn out into volume by a skillful
novelist. Brides. as a general thing, have
a great deal of sentiment about their we'd
ding gifts, even if they get great many
of one kind They rarely sell them out
right for cold cash, but prefer to exchange
them. The majority bring them to us soon
after the wedding, though not a few have
so much sentiment that they keep them
for years before they can make up their
minds to part with what has been graci-
ousy bestowed on them on the day of all
days in their lives. In the course of a day
1t is not uncommon to buy and exchange
barrels of silver. and jewelry is also ex-
changed. There are four diamond stars
right before your eyes that a bride ex-
changed for a ring and some silver simply
because she got enough diamond stars to
decorate herself from head TO foot. We
do almost no business in fiat ware, and
by that 1 mean forks and spoons, because
the family of the bride usually provides
this, and it is customary for friends to
give fancy pieces
When asked to give something of the
extent to which duplicate wedding gifts
are made, he continued:
"A short time ago l bought thirty dozen
after-dinner coffee spoons from a bride
who had kept back enough to supply her
needs, and only last week a newly mar
red woman from Detroit sold us eleven
fine cut glass bowls. 1 once bought three
solid silver tea sets from bride who had
received six, and 1 also bought ten solid
silver salad bowls from one person. As 1
said, most brides prefer to exchange their
gifts rather than sell them. Occasionally
we get hold of wedding presents. not al
ways duplicates, tina have cost their own
ers distinct sacrifice. One day received
a letter from lawyer, a well known man
down in William street, asking me TO call
al his office, as he wished to see me on bus
mess The next day 1 went down and
found him at his desk He turned imme-
Edward, you and James bring in that
large trunk from the next room.
The boys returned, staggering under
the weight of a tremendous trunk, and
taking key from his pocket the lawyer
opened it and began taking out piece after
piece of the most magnificent siverware.
Some time ago. he said, had
client for whom L had TO get a divorce
from her husband. She had no money to
pay me. but gave me some of her wedding
presents, and here they are. I've kept them
long time, thinking that she might some
want to sell them to YOU
A great many people have an idea that
only poor people and those in moderate
circumstances exchange or sell their dupli-
cate wedding presents, and indeed that
most of the silver sold to dealers comes
from people who have to sell to relieve
pressing wants. The great bulk OF silver
and the greatest nuunher IF dUOUcatp Gifts