The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-12-24
500 Fakirs SELLING
Christmas TOYS y

The Christmas novelty faker has spruns
up out of the ground and is now spread.
ing himself over the face of the United
States. He is streaming away to the
smaller cities and carrying with him the
scores of cheap novelties that are expect.
ed to profit MIN thousands of dollars II
the aggregate and w weeks after
Christmas be things Of the past for
gotten.
There are two or three establishments
where a faker is furnished with an entire
outfit of novelties and sent forth to sell
These takers are seldom seen by the pub
lie, except on special occasions, wher
their wares are appropriate, and afte,
they are sold out they vanish as mysteri,
ously as they came.
There will be no fewer than 500 Of these
men crying their wares about the streets
for ten days before Christmas and the day
after they will have vanished. In the ten
days or two weeks of their operations
they collect from the public In dimes and
quarters at least $500 each. According
to good authorities that Will be the lowest
estimate OF their earnings.
Many Make Large Profits.
SOFAS who are past masters of the art OF
separating the public from money will
have from $1,000 to si,5o0 to put away after
the season closes and all the incidental
expenses are paid.
The sum the faker has to pay varies
with the stock of goods he gets and with
the stand he is allowed to occupy. These
are important factors in the business, and
some OF them come high.
The wholesaler who furnishes the novel
ties asks a graduated commission on all
sales, and then tile stand has to be paid
for at a good round sum.
There is no schedule OF prices for
stands, as they are termed. A stand is
soley and simply the privilege of remain
ing in front of a certain place without
the fear of being driven sway. For this
security she faker pays various persons.
Sometimes it is the proprietor Of the store
or saloon in front of which he is sta
toned, and again the fee goes into the
pocket of an alderman or a policeman.
In these cases it is hard to show that this
is done, and the faker is the first to deny
any such transaction. But it is a well
understood fact that this is often the
practice.
Tricks TO Tempt the Public.
Once having his preliminaries all fixed,
the faker gets right down 70 the actual
work of his husiness.4itti Is his object from
that time on to display his wares in the
most tempting manner and get the most
for them that he al A favorite prac-
tice is to let some cheap little mechanical
toy run about under the feet of passing
Giio SA1Ci, WItSu some care
less person steps on it, to demand about
four times Its value for it. But, as a rule.
the only object is to sell.
The code of the cult demands that all
evidence ola flourishing trade must be
avoided, and the true faker seldom keeps
more chan two or three of his trirkets in
sign 9 fths public one time. As soon
as the stock on hand Is exhausted he
brings out some more from a. mysterious
box hidden away in a dark spot.
hers Sc tca a!ti CT: !. tat the aIi;s,f f,
k sprang up in New York city some
years ago, in the person of an east side
boy, who thought it a clever idea to ned
die things in public. He started with a
tray fulIo of cheap pocket knives, and took
MS stand on one of the main downtown
corners. There he built up such a trade
that he soon had a whole army of assist
ants, and a bank account that he would
not have dreamed of year before
outfitters Busy All Year.
In This way, it is said, the art of selling
small toys was Started. 1t is as good an
origin. for 1T as any other, and need not
be disputed seriously. One thing how
ever, is now certain. and that Is that the
business has become a well defined one
and has in 1t men who do nothing else
but outfit takers. To them goes the mix
Of the profit, as they are In the business
all the time, while the faker is content to
mak his Christmas profit and then re-
tire In comfo for a rest.
b strain of finding new stocks and