Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-04
FROM ALL CLASSES
Where and How Pawnbrokers' Shops
Get Their Patrons,
THEY MEET some QUEER PEOPLE
This is the Season When Over
coats Are Taken Out.
LOANS ON GOOD SECURITIES

Z wouldn't call this real busy" said the
pawnhroiler to d Star reporter. These
people are al rcmovers-"
"Rsmovers:''
why. yes. OveTcoat snatchers. you see.
They're removing their blankets, after hav-
ing had 'em i'll since last spring It's not
very big kind Of trade for US. OF course,
though. IT counts up
Il was a chilly Saturday night, and the
'removers' We're coming in pretty consec-
UtiVely. 1t was the pawnbroker said.
one after the other they produced tickets
calling for observation-disclosures OyercOa Is,
some of them, upon which as high as 50
had been loaned; brumnasem oveTcuaJs.
many Of them, uFOn which a dollar bill
had been passed over the counter: the lat
ter as good as the former to keep out the
cold 1t was OverCOat redemption night,
sure enough. and the procession of men
who left that establishment shedding the
aroma Of moth balls would have taken quite
4 time 10 pass given point.
The first real chilly Saturday night
fetChes the most of the overcoat tickets
over the counter" said the pawubroker
When it began 10 grow nippy this after
noon l knew that the remOVers would be
along III dFoFes tonight. If you ever attend
pawnbrokeTs sa IS you'll observe that not
many "EercoatS are put up. Not one in
twenty goes unredeemed. The victim of the
paNLllS hdDit-lt IS i habit, by the way
ana Il say something along that line later
oi-lS actually compelled to get his over
coat out no matter how long he pays in
t5EesI on ms other Pawned stuff, or lets
tIis JchelS lapse altogether. When a raw
day like today happens along the Young
tsiiOW who's got an overcoat in snf. es
eratuy TO himself and says: Hal If I had
70 oAy an GEarcoat at the present stage OF
Iir gam" be up III the air; whereas |
can JlSl 60 down and get one for $50 or
s. % as the case may be-whateyer the
amount ne got on his coat when spring
N''-''3' ana lhey ali seem To float in at once.
Has Its Advantages.
1T really isn't such bad idea. the SHOW
Ing In of the oFereoat when balrny spring
permits OF its being shed; the 81. or the
~ Or the $40, comes III SO handiiy for the
young chap who has become addicted to
the pawning habit. and then he has the
comforting assurance that the moths wont
GET AT II. FaWnbrUkerS don't particularly
LdhhtF Tor clothing pledges. however: the
sthI takes up d lot of room, without fur
hiShlng any commensurate amount of
pFoat. We take the pledges as they come
tnp"Sh, parity as an accommodation to
t!e public For example, a man pledges
Win US diamond ring diamond pin
Walcn and chain, perhaps a pair of good
Gun buttons, Well, wouldn't it look some
what gTouchy and uuaCcOmrnodating on
our part II, after he has done business with
Us u" this extent, We were to decline to
TAKE his evening suit and mis- overcOat? We
nave plenty Of customers Of this sort and
50 4'+I5 - We Lttl compelled to
Their pledges Of clothing, were unable to
discriminate, and so We handle the cloth
ing ~ folks who have never nut anvrhine
else III with US. We are really not stuck
with much OF IT The amounts given on
clothing pledges are pretty small and a
man who'd permit US 10 hang on to an
OVerc"at worth, say, 80 upon which we'd
only loaned him. say, s., would be a good
deal OF "a mental muf; and. as matter Of
Iact, there are very few such men Such
ciothinS as IS unredeenled generally be-
longs to chaps who left the city and not
little of it.. by the way, has been put in
by men whO'Ve died since spoutin2 their
wearing apparel \ good deal of the I'M
redeemed clothing goes to the dealers of
secondhand clothing when the tickets ex-
plre The p!Gdging Of overcoats by the
way, got 10 be such nuisance a few years
ago-that Is TO say, so many men who
didn't need the money, buzz who wanted
their oEercoats cared for at d small inter-
est charge curing the warm months got
into the habit OF spouting their coats-that
the pdWnbrohers We're compelled to tack
on 10 the regular rate of interest an addi-
u@nal charge Of a quarter per overcoat for
tehln8 care OF the same. This didn't stop
the fellows who put their overcoats in in
order TO have them looked after but it
heipea out the pawnbrOkers' revenues quite
udlly, and made the overcoat business a bit
more worth while.
Fasnbrokers' Patrons
4 wouldn't exactly call Washington a.
hess. There are too many comfortably
liked people here; people in receipt Of regu-
lar ANri Incomes, who know just how they
stand financially all the year around. who
Fartly experience a sudden need for money
ana VINO therefore don't need Us. / find
tcat a great majority OF the paWnbrokers
resilient patrons IN Washington are folks
VINO have spent portions Of their lives in
great g.ute Ike New York or Chicago
where ne pstwning habit is worthy the
study ~ psychologists. in New York. par
tI'1IarlF. The pawn.ng habit is widespread.
'"iH4i rHeitdS al classes. 1t actually
-lNsS iu people who don't need the money
women r-res .atly-Who become SO used TO
dropping of at their faVorite loan shops
sa4 StufEng their purses that they find il
uiIil.ult TO pass them by when they have
any thing pawnable in their possession
L'e'E o'ay-to speak ia a large sen5e-goes
~ against the pdWushCpS IN New York.
Mrs - hOolihan. suffering for the need of
q "'l' ket OF mixed ale, bundles up her Sun
day skirt and drills around 10 her 9th ave-
uu- ya"H>hop with ii, the half dollar she
S"-s IN II Is as big To- her a. the Sifp or
$1''. oT Sl.u't that the comfortably clrcIlm-
siaHt"t woman uptown gets ON her Jewels
NIrH she decides that she must and shall
have sea.skin saUqu.. or an aurnr1pbiIa
M one or The other only to be procured
through the Iars@Ss Of the pawuDroker.
me 3 That the lou@shUremau gets ON his
OIL. good suit Is a. big TO him as the $500
WalGh the sporting man gets on his five
carat diamond ring / am simply trying to
,"C@.ft'' The universally Of the pawning
|
an ri-Nsl-HE habit, but il exists. all the
Si'Er- " ell the ma or number of our
~ ASH! .lEl,H customers are people who have
I,'r'. l.' IN" great cities. and who fell into
lAS hap.t NJ rc-"rt.nG 10 the pawushop for
ready money before coming TO Washinpton
\ ul u rarely or never see a boru-a ut-rsised
,NaSnIfSt.Hlsn in "a plwnshop There's a
bouquet Tor the native WaShingtonian
which all the rest Of the pawnbrokcrs here
y III SUbstantiate
Transient Business
This carries me along TO the statement
that 4 The Washington pawnbrokers were
90 depend upon home patronage they'd very
soon have 10 stick up their shutters The
great bulk OF the loan business done here
comes from The rransients. Just now. for
example. we're standing by for the racing
men Ine two race meetings that we have
mere every year are pretty profitable De-
Rods for the pawnbrOker. The racing men
nave the kind Of sur we ike 10 hand e.
AMI they put It in with all the cornpIa sauce
IN NE When The horses are fre.gllted ont
OF mere at the close Of the NEE tings we
generally have large share OF the racing
follow ers' shiny things. Nine times out of
tei. however. they send for their stun.
anu t.at why they're such profitable GUS
LouIEES- W Wouldn't " raj ha,-