Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-25
BARRIERS Poles and Wooden Indians
Have Passed Away.
HUGE HATS, BOOTS AND SHOES
The Gilded Wooden Forearm Holding
Hammer Still Denotes the Gold
beaters' Calling.

premises, either at the entrance TO tnelT
stores, at the curb, mammoth boots or
shoes made of leather or rubber, usually
the former. Many of these were as tall as
a sixteen-year- boy, and were conspicu-
GUS sidewalk Communications from the
standpoint of the storeKeeper, and abonmi-
nations from that of the pedestrian. In
deed, not only have these big boots and
shoes entirely disappeared, but the familiar
hanging gilded or black-p painted wooden
boot over the entrances to cobbler shops
has greatly lessened In number as COM
pared with q generation ago.
''Then nearly all druggists had suspended
in front of their stores the gilded mortar
and pestle. There now but very few
of these symbols of the appthocary to be
seen in Washington. With the disappear
ance of the gunsmith has likewise gone the
big wooden guns we used TO see Wnen boys,
and we all recall how we would linger around
the windows of the gunsmiths and wish we
had one of the then new but now antiquated
muzZle-loaders standing so temptingly IN
side of the glass. Those were happy days
when rabbit and quail shooting was good
Just beyond Dupont circle, now built up
soldly with handsome homes.
1.-THE big stuffed-bears. standing erect,
usually with one paw graSping tree-ilmD
attached to the pedestal, that used to stand
out in front of furriers' establishments,
have largely disappeared, though there are
still few in the city. The old-style wooden
watch of gigantic size that used to hang
in front of the jewelers. stores has in most
instances given way to the street clock that
really goes. or to the big window clock
Other Symbols That Have Passed.
Nearly every barber formerly had the
regulation red white and blue striped
BARRIERS pole, either at the curb c at the
shops door city ordinance passed some
years ago relegated these symbols of the
tonsorial trade to the chopping block, Tor
~ ntl,a and
obliged to display small poles within GER
tain circumscribed foot-limit from the
house line Some of these poles were works
of art, from the BARRIERS standpoint, and
of such size that they formed distractions
on the pavement.
Another obstruction to the sidewalks
which has disappeared within the past dec
ade is the Individual showcase tor outside
display which some storekeepers used to
place nearly halfway to the curb THESE,
too, have been showed in by ordinance to
foot-limit from the store line: Old-tlmers
will recall the saw and anvil formerly
displayed on the front of hardware stores,
sometimes with an accompanying bellows.
"Many hatters displayed huge tin hats.
painted in all colorS. mostly in the Old
style, high-hat fashion. in front of their
stores These symbols have about entirely
disappeared. The cigar dealers street EN-,
blem has also about gone from sight, and
il is only in the older portions of the city
that 1t may now occasionally be seen. These
symbols Of the tobaccon-st's trade We're
once in front of every shop where tobacco
and cigars were sold, and ranged IN design
from the regulation wooden Indian to the
represtation of Uncle Sam offering pack
age of cigars to the passersby.
1.-THE big books illustrative OF the BOOK
binders calling are occasionally seen, and
once In awhile the mammoth ledger strikes
the eye hanging In front OF statlonerS or
book store. The big key of the locksmith is
also still displayed, but there are very re"
locksmiths. az compared with generation
ago With the advance Of the times the
locksmith, like the gunsmith, Is passing.
The horseshoe over the farriers door may
still be seen. and the umbrella maker ma, mas
not yet called in his outside umbrella. The
gilded ostrich, Or the curved plumes. In
front of feather dealers are yet displayed,
but the street business symbol, IKE the
wooden Indian is slowly but surely pass
ing In time the familiar golden balls Of
the pawnbroker may be alt that wi be left
to remind us of old days.
The Diminutive Boolblack.
even the little bootblack is now sell
dom seen, yet we used to have dozen
on a block, and the sight of men stand
ing with their backs to lamp posts, trees
and the fronts of buildings was as COM
mon as it is now rare The bootblacking
chair, the free polishing of shoes In
stores on the part of dealers who. otref
this as an additional inducement to buy
their particular make, and the motcrn
shoe shining 'parlor have all eontf1n-
uted to Danish the .dimihutfve pootpiacK,
once an Indispensable and familiar side
issue to life in cities. The little boot
black, with his strap and box always
had our sympathies, and, though he still
flourishes In the vicinity OF Inc railroad
stations in limited numbers as compared
with a decade ago, he, too has largely
disappeared before. the improved meth
DDS in the line In which be once had undis-
puted sway Now. when men want
shine they hunt the chairs or the newer
'parlorS.'
."rhe man with the gold-headed cane
now excites curiosity on the part of those
who may observe this once-stylish OBJ
ject In the hand of the man who has the
temerity to carry It, When good -inten-
toned but misguided friends now bestow
this once esteemed emblem of good Will
upon the donee he usually keeps 1t in
the house along with the family portraits
and heirlooms, but the old gentleman
who still clings to the stock still carries
his favorite gold headed cane with proud
indifference, and ignores the smiling
chances OF the beaus Of the present gem
Grafton.
The Unobstructed Sidewalks.
'"The man with the silk hat also causes
a second look when he wears it to bust
ness, yet it wasn't so many years ago
that the man without the silk, hat who
made any pretensions at all as to ap-
parel was the exception during all hours,
day and evening, business or pleasure.
They say the silk hat is again coming
into popularity, and, for my part, as one
of the old 'uns never considered gen.
tleman In frock coat fully and properly
CARRIED without the silk hat, ais I never
considered man a gentleman who wore
one with a sack coat. 1t was the sack
coated, silk-batted fisnd that tended to
put the time-honored silk tile out of
business. - I-.' 80. ---.-.'-
I'VE do not have goldbeaters in the
capital for this, trade is centralized in
New York, in the vicinity of South 5th
avenue and Houston street. A muscular
ly turned wooden forearm, holding the
goldbeaters hammer in an upright po-
sition, and all brightly gilded In gold
leaf, is the symbol of this trade now as
1T was centuries ago, and it Is likely to
remain such for all time to come, for
this is one Of the very few occupations
of man In which machinery has as yet
failed to replace the manipulations OF
the hand and the strength of the human
muscles. -.
I'm fine, the cleared and nnobstructed
sidewalks, except in the downtown
streets of New York. where they still
! allow the backing of, tracks, upon the
sidewalks up to the entrances of ship
ping houses, compelling pedestrians to
go around the horses in the street or
climb over the obstructing skids and ve-
hicles, are now among the many mod
ern improvements of the modern oity