Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-08-16
SHOPPING IN LONDON.
Methods Of the Big Stores In the
English Metropolis.
TRICKS OF THE MILLINERS
A Ruse That Was Met by a Clever
Counter Ruse-The Agtating Ex-
periences Of an American Woman
Who Was Looking For Bargains.

and the customer are separate entities. |
The firm displays its wares; the buyers
examine them and purchase or not as
they see fit.
In London 1t is different. The mo-
ment you enter the door of shop you
are accepted as part and parcel of its
interests. a member of the family, as
1t were. Then shopwalker pounces
upon you and insists on knowing what
you want. If you hesitate as to your
reply, he plants himself squarely in
front of you and waits. When, in
sheer desperation dor you had intend
ed a happy, aimless sort of looking
about, you say gloves" he grasps
your arm, firmly marches you to the
glove counter, seats you at 1t and de-
tails salesperson to wait upon you.
All this happened to me, and in an
exasperated frame of mind bought a
pair of gloves merely to keep peace in
the family, but the bland and gentle
manly glove seller had no notion of let
ting me off so easily. He took it for
granted that that first pair was simply
by way of preface, and he displayed
gloves of my size Of all styles and col
ors. The very foregoneness of his con-
clusion that l would buy them all irri
tated me, and, briefly announcing that
/ wanted no more gloves, / paid him
for the pair had bought Surprised
and grieved beyond expression he
beckoned the shopwalker, and together
they cross examined me as to why
refused to buy more gloves. Did the
colors not suit me? Were the prices
not reasonable? Disdaining to answer
these questions, | endeavored to stalk
haughtily away, but this was not al
lowed. More in sorrow than in anger,
they told me | must wait for my bill.
As the gloves were to be sent and l
had given the exact change | deemed
this unnecessary. but l soon found 1t
to be one of their memorable laws.
Bills, signed and countersigned, must
be waited for, no matter how trifling
the purchase.
The next thing l learned was that
the price asked is far from being the
real selling price of the article. ]
cringed at the thought of offering 5
l L
soon learned that it was expected of
customer and that the marked prices
were merely amounts from which to
begin the dickering.
And the ruses resorted to by these
wicked milliners. In Mayfair is one
of the most fashionable millinery shops
in the world. Over the door gilt let
tiers spell one of the most famous
Partisan names. To this shop l went
for a hat. Being very canny, l ex-
pressed great interest in several hats
which l knew l should not buy. At
last l carelessly inquired the price of
hat which had really charmed me
from the first. The price was guineas.
AS it bore four magnificent ostrich
plumes, this price was not exorbitant;
but, knowing the game, bargained.
First l asked IL they would call it
pounds instead of guineas. This meant
reduction in price of only shillings.
but the indignity q discovered) was
beyond all words. With a scathing
glance the saleslady informed me that
they never sold by pounds in that shop,
and l stored away the knowledge for
future use in swagger establishments.
Determined TO beat them at their
own game, then offered guineas
for the hat. This was met with APP
propriate expressions of Mortified sur
prise, and as a great concession ~
guineas was proposed l remained
firm in my six guinea offer, and, after
a feint of leaving the shop without
buying hat, it was reluctantly ac-
cepted.
Then followed what | considered a
ruse of extreme cleverness on my part
l had been told that if left new hat
to be sent home the millner would
change the trimming for others that
looked the same but were of inferior
quality. | had been advised, therefore,
on purchasing hat to carry it away
with me in order to prevent this. So
l remarked on paying for this hat that
as l wished to wear 1t that very after
noon l would take it with me, the
large bandbox being easily managed in
my hanson cab. The saleslady kindly
agreed to this plan and sent the hat
upstairs to be boxed.
After waiting fifteen minutes for the
hat to return to me l began to grow
suspicious, and when it did come /
deliberately united the box, removed
the tissue paper wrappings and ex-
amined the hat. Sure enough. the four
long, rich ostrich plumes had been re-
moved and replaced by four others Of
the same color, but of a distinctly
cheaper grade. l boldly declared this
fact, but the saleslady haughtily de-
MED it.
But" said l, look in the hat. See
the stitches, hastily put in to hold
these feathers. They were not there
when the hat left me-"
"Ah," she said, merely a few
stitches to fasten a bit of trimming
that was loosep'