Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-19
WHAT SHOW WINDOW IS
Displays Have Become Eye of Soul of
Modern Stores.
EDUCATION FOR PUBLIC TASTE
story Told BY showing OF shops of
Deep Effect and Importance In
Deciding Success of Style
offerings.

the leisurely mistress OF a palatial home,
and half the foundation OF tastes, is unani-
mously laid on observations taken at a
glance into the show windows.
That is why the show window is so i'm
portant a part OF the stores OF Omaha. Up
and down Sixteenth street, Omaha's petit
coat lane" or in the opposite direction
along Farnam street, almost every inch
within easy range of eyesight for the
throngs along the thoroughfare broad eX-
panses OF plate glass expose to view the
wares of the shops.
The window" says one Of the best
known decorators In one Of the best known
department stores, lis the eye of the stores
soul"
He has been speaking Of the advance of
this special form Of art which reaches It's
zenith in the holiday season and he tur-
nishes some rather surprising facts and
figures in regard to it.
Absolutely no expense is spared to make
the snop window attractive ne continues.
THE professional decorator who has charge
Of the business tor one of these big estao-
lIshments has a salary which ranges from
$4,000 to $1,000 a year and a corps OF help
e~rs-sometimes ten, sometimes twenty men.
His artistic faculty is of a peculiar KIND,
trained eXpertly In this sole direction.
Just at pIGaGlll the "llluON N0NOlaNioho
are heater and more extensively simple
than ever before. We don't seek any longer
to allure the eye of the passerby with a
conglomeration of materials and furnishings
which represent large outiays; rather we
do it by a choice selection in which every
object will blend in the mosaic to form a
harmony of color and form.
This is because the general intelligence
is higher than ever before. Listen to the
remarks of the shoppers and you Will dis
cover this. W omen are more critical ana
they keep the window decorators busy
guessing what they will like and why.
Color is the important thing. At the
! Christmas season naturally we employ
masses of scarlet, for fashion has to bow
to tradition, and the red berries OF the
holly, the floating streamers of red, do
not offend the most fastidious taste. But,
generally speaking, it may be said that
the softer tlnts, the pastel shades and novel
combinations of colors which are produced
in fabrics by dyes and mixtures of dyes
absolutely unknown a few years ago are
necessary to meet the modern demands.
This is the reason the poinsettia is the
chosen Christmas flower of this winter.
Every year the head decorator Of this
establishment, and the same rule is fol-
lowed in other stores Of Importance. goes
abroad, perhaps on a vacation so termed,
but in reality on that unceasing search
for new ideas which makes America the
market for the whole world.
Take les petites boutiques OF Paris, for
example, the arcades of Brussels, where
only one sort of merchandise is sold, and
you get wonderful examples of window
are. but, on the other hand. the disap-
pointment OF American shoppers wuen they
first visit the department stores of Paris,
which have "A worldwide lion. is eX-
treme. There they do not see any such
artistic examples Of window decorating as
they are familiar with on Broadway and
Fifth avenue, and there is during the tour
list season a chorus OF wailing American
voices, You don't mean TO tell me this Is
the Bon MRrche,' or Galleries Lafayette, as
the case may be. Outside of these big
places are cheap stalls, preemptIng the side
walk space, heaped with bargains Of this
crudest variety.
"A 1000 window, which was one OF the
high marks reached he goes on, dis.
played u wedding breakfast table on which
besides real fruit and flowers, a complete
service Of solid silver and cut glass was
exhibited. The very latest wrinkles in re
gard to composition were studied, and the
careless arrangement which might have
passed five years ago, when the principa
motive was merely to show goods, was re
placed by an ensemble which drew a gasT
of admiration from nine out of every tel
women among those who know and thost
who want to know, OF whom there Is al
ever increasing number,
"A window decoration which Is Away;
sure to attract the feminine crowd is tn,
aa,,N a. nj ANhthft Of tnNnnrHn1 Auyn
and in order to make those show off vel
the richest stock OF the establishment il
d-lwn upon. once we used a background
Of royal purple and gold 70 bring out IN,
richness Of winter costumes, fur and poin
lace and the almost priceless velvets anC
satins. Another time we had gray velour
of the daintiest tint, hundreds of yards, il
order that the delicate summer films Nigh
be properly shown.
Perhaps 500, 600 Is not too large a sun
To name as the valuation Of an exhibit Q
this sort, and In order to make It effectivt
scores OF color schemes and groupings wert
xealousIy studied. The best criticism 10
the decorator is the silent crowd outside
I and that fact that during the weeks TN
costumes were last exhibited here Their
was never a moment of the shopping ds.
when IL was possible to get your nos
against the outside glass tells its owI
story. The entire stock OF a shop is place,
at a decorators disposal and he can draw
on Il as he wishes
AT the wedding breakfast spoken Of
noticeable lack was the once famous wa
figure. Not so very long ago a decorate
Z would not have thought It possible to ge
together an effective window without a
least one wax figure TO show off a cos
tune. to sit at a table and give the huma.
touch. The wax figure has followed N
wooden Indian OF the cigar store and dec
orators consider its use old-fashloned 4
the extreme
The lighting OF the window is a very i'm
/, portant feature TO be considered. and n
: goods exhibited now have, in aecordanc
with the latest Insurance regulations, to b
fireproofed. This Is done by a compare
lively new device by which the fluid
sprinkled over everything as it stands CON
plete, instead Of the older and more labor
Gus method Of fireproofing each artiel
separately before It Is put into the window,
we do not consider as yet the aeroplan
q possibility an q window decoration. Tn
shops that exhibit aeroplanes to the cur
Gus usually prefer TO place them in som
other part OF the establishment. They ar
unoouth and cumbersome, but We surel
believe that Il will not Be very long befor
the windows will be filled with an RttraC