The Redwood gazette., 1902-07-09

houses which send out silks
from a sample-cuttin depart
ment, however, ask for their
return, on pain of not sending
out to the delinquent the hou-
se's next catalogue. In most
cases, however, silk samples
are cut at the retail silk coun-
ters and sent up to the mailing
room, and when so cut. the
salesman below cuts his mark
into the samples in such a way
as not only to identify it, but
to spoil it for any crazy-quilt-
ing bee. In spite of the. large
piece of goods, cut especially
for the sample department. too,
there is scarcely a bolt of dress
making goods in downtown
house which has not been
shipped and hacked at it's end,
the samples being passed over
the counters.
On a piece of goods that re-
tails from So so to $6 yard,
these further inches cut from a
bolt that is only twenty-five
yards long represent an appre-
ciable proportion of loss. In
every such case this nicked
end must be subtracted from
the total cost of the original
bolt. A bolt of goods twenty
FIVE yards long will make about
three dresses, while from five
of these bolts the making of
one dress easily may be lost to
samples.
In one of the largest retail
houses in Chicago the time for
the sample craze sets in about
Sept. l for winter goods. At
such times 600 letters a day is
a fair average. In this house
the silks. laces and finer goods
generally are cut at their sew
eral retail counters and cut on
ly on order. For this purpose
sample blanks are sent down
to the statesmen, and if other
samples are asked from the
sample eating room they are
all "assembled" in pigeon-hole
boxes, from which they are
mailed just as soon at the list
is complete.
mo one in the business
knows just hoM hard it is to
meet some of these requests
said the manager of one Of the
large departments for sample
cutting. 1T would take an ex-
pert mind reader, working in
conjunction with the owner of
the mind, to find it out with
any certainty. In my expert
ence vast number of out-of-
town requests for samples are
prompted by the desire of
women in obscure places to
know Ejust what is being
worn.'
"A look at some of the sam
piles returned to us would indi-
cate that dozen sewing socie-
ties had passed them all in re-
view. There's nothing carried
in stock in this house that we
are nst asked to cut samples
from. Calls for carpet samples
are frequent and many times
large piece has to be cut from
the roll in order to give any
idea of the pattern. Some
times before bolt of goods of
any kind is sold two or three
cuttings are made into it for
samples, and then when half
dozed bolts and pieces of bolts
thHt drag are finally punched
and marked down more sam
pies must be cut off,
"Looking at this seeming
waste of cloth, it would seem
to be almost to heavy to be con-
sidered, but every year the ter
ritory of the mail-order busi-
ness is enlarging. until it has
become one of the great factors
in the trade of avery big retail
house. Considered AS an es-
tablished department that
must be kept up, the sample
cutting rooms are important
as advertising centres. Send
ing bunch of new goods pat
terms to the ordinary country
town, we might count that at
least half dozen families will
see it, and even if our retail
trade though mail orders is
not stimulated, we may count
that many country merchant
~f 10