Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-03-12
MAN AND THE MILLINERY.
A MALE CREATURE GOES TO
THE OPENINGS.
Saw The Time of His Life, But Felt
Like Lost Sheep Ladies In
The Several Stores
We're Very
Kind.

connection with the Mint Julep Asso-
citation and the sporting events of the
day, but today we got real devilish
and went 10 the millinery openings.
We viii be frank and admit that we
we're scared TO death, while we were
in the thick of the battle, but we really
feel a sense of exhilaration now, and
are almost stuck on ourself.
Just to think we today have been
in four establishments in Annapolis
where we are willing to bet our next
week S salary this week is already
spent-that no other man in Annapo-
lis has been or would dare to go. We
were shown hats and hats and then
more hats by kind-hearted ladies who
we could see were trying not TO laugh
at our masculine ignorance and were
1 real nice tous
The plunge was awful, and but after
baking three times and walking past
the first place until the cop looked
1 suspicious, we finally screwed cour-
age up TO the working point and
plunged in. The only time we really
felt at home after that or believed
we had any real reason for living,
was when we were allowed to open
the door and admit two ladies. This
l was at the third place we went, and
il was funny that the two ladies we
1 admitted had been seen by us in botn
| the previous establishments shops
rs they are called.
| Funny part of it was that they still
1 were empty handed. We thought mil
/ linery openings were places and oc-
/ casions where ladies, after investiga-
ting the family check book, went to
| buy. We guess, however, that that
was another mistake we made. In one
| place the proprietor was busy at the
1 time and as we stood like crane
| first ON one foot and then on the
other, pensively rumpling our old
last Fall felt hat between our fingers
and feeling generally miserable, a
young lady we know out of working
hours scared two years growth out
of us 10y asking what are you doing
here?" 1t was a fearful shock be-
cause we had been thinking that as
no one was paying any attention to
us we might have been mistaken for
one of these collapsable dress forms.
IL the kindhearted lady who runs the
| e Establishment had not come to our
rescue at once and told us all about
| Gainesborough and Burnt Leghorn and
4 things like that to get our mind off of
how foolish we were feeling, we would
have quit right then and there and
I sought prize fight to report.
+ We went to Mrs. Il. B. Gardiner S
on Main street first, because it was
near the Office and we felt that it was
| only short run to the safety of our
| own sanctum sanctorium in case we
| were forced to beat hasty retreat. The
1 parlors facing Francis street were dec
4 grated with potted plants and things
4 like that, and really looked like they
were going to have a reception. There
| were q whole bunch of ladies there,
| which made it look like a social func-
| tion and as they were all talking just
1 as fast as they could, discussing wear
| ables. principally for their heads, it
was just like pink tea.
We would have enjoyed it if we
| hadn't been the only man there and
/ felt so awfully foolish. There were
so many hats of all sorts and kinds
| hanging around on dinky little hat
racks and without any ladies under
| them, that for a time fear entered our
| soul that we had committed a social
error and were in the cloak room.
We were told that it was all right,
| the hats were for sale and then felt
silly as the dickens when our opinion
/ stS W Nnb DcdutE VI OuC vi tHCSc
creations was called for. There
l were so many of them that it is diff
| cult to begin a description. We
wanted to write about a bully one
| that reminded us of ice cream and
merangues, that made even a mouth
used to cigarettes water, but the lady
| began to tell us about it and we
knew that to spell the various kinds
of trimming names would put us in
| the mad house, so we gave up. An
other one took our eye though. We
| were told that it was French walking
hat, but it didn't move while we were
I there. II was of black and white and
was trimmed with black tips and
aigrettes with sweeping velvet bow
1 on something that the lady told us
was bandeau. 1t was a daisy, and
we are thinking of buying one for our
| mother.
Another one the lady showed us
would just fit the expression dainty
creation which girls are always use
ing. 1t was called a white Neapolitan
/ and was made in a mushroom shape
with tiny pink rosebuds around the
| crown. a long pink feather on the
bandeau coils around the back and
| falls low so that we bet it will look
peachy on some heads we know in
Annapolis. Two others that caught
our male eye first shot out of the box
| were what the goodhearted lady told
us are called dropping sailors. One
was colored just like Champagne. 1t
was trimmed with real pretty dande-
lions and brown velvet ribbon. The
other one made us wish our sister
some more expressive adjective than
"cute.'' That don't describe it. but
comes close. 1t was light blue. Mixed
in with bows of lilac and blue Persian
ribbon we're punches of violets stuck
in careless like here and there around
the crown.
When we went to Mrs. NJ. +. Holi-
dayoke q Co.'S a couple of doors up
the street, we didn't see any signs Of
an opening an thought mabye we were
in the wrong pew, bat the lady told
us she would show us where the mill
linery opening was going on and took
us upstairs. Gee, it was great up
there. It almost made US wish we
had brought some of the fellows with
| us. We were glad we hadn't when
/ they began telling US about hats and
we got to feeling foolish again. 1t re-
minded us of a reception at the White
House. There were potied palms and
trailing smjlax and great big pyra-
! mfds Of flowers. We were beginning