The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1912-03-24
bea}iuS he Merchant
The Bic Muf' Plays the
Lea ding Part in the
Newest Methods of Loot
ing the City's Store 9

HE year 1912 will go down in history as the poll
tician says, the age of the suspended purse and
the big muf. There is but classify
these two articles together, and that is very good
one The nlu IS the OF the department
agemen, and the purse the confirmed sorrow of the
shopper The shopfter the nluff the article par
excellence for her purposes and the pickpoc1e hardly
could get along IN his business without the fashionable
suspended purse
1t is really III wind that blows nobody good
There may be food for thought a brief glance first
at the shopkeeper and then at the shoppeone with the
goods, the other having money For without the the
other must vanish Both necessary modern
The shopkeeper displays his goods to sell, to be
carried away in shrtwaiss mufs stockings with
out the usual sales slip attached He likes his
full OF customers who buy, but he breads the arnng
crowds which make shopiftng easy stealing coin
from children. In other words the department.
gives up in the presence of the big mu the
jacket and the srtwas the hands shoulders
OF the shrewd shopfter be she old young handsome
or homey This year the detective is wearing
his eyes trying through that he feels conain
goods paid for.
Every year number OF tricks introduced to the
merchants Of the big cities This year the mu trick has
beaten every shopkeeper whom it has been tried, for
in the hands OF wise woman It's possibilities are
unlnowable Everything from silk stockings pat
terms will nestle snugy IN big muf and once secreted
II is almost impossible for detection to occur The old
method OF stung skirts with patterns and corsets
has been abandoned for the express system the u
mu IS valuable only in crowds-that is the system works
best only when everybody is busy.
The trick aside from the of the mu the
When the first merchant advised by an irate
customer that her purse had been robbed and that
suspected OF the clerks who had waiting on her
working adjoining table he little dreamed of
the unlown world that opening up before him By
some system of wireless elegraphy the scheme spread
all over the country and every big merchant with
crowded asles his worrying how to stop
the abuse.
The game of the lost purse simple-so simple in fact
that anybody would falP for well dressed shoper
who wants to carry the stores money instead good.
away with her works while the crowds are dense She
seeks where being sold garments preferably
cloa suits and where the saespeople rushed She
spies garment likes it. and would try The sales
lady thoughtlessy asks take purse while the garment
is being tried And naturally enough she lays the
purse down At the proper time the who brought
the purse is ready depart without the garment of
and having her purse handed back her finds
that part OF her money gone Then wall reaches
the business Office goes up and straghtway the woudbe
customer seeks the detective superntend-
ent and accuses the saleswoman of theft.
And what the poor girl do? She took the woman's
purse and responsible for it But she had failed
the money in when she became its custodian
Then the store ettlesno other open because
Of dsagTeeabe publicity It is really wonder that the
scheme had been thought before it SO simple
and effective
Enter the shopifter with the big nuf, the kind
that costs some Alaskan months work capture the
animal from which the fur taken. She is tired and
ooad sit down by the where silk stockings worth
S. pair sale The magnet in the muf draws
pair two Of the stockings the place where the
wom2ns hands ought be- and then she is rested and
ready The ribbon is next visited and
several yards Of high priced ribbons follow stockings
For be it known the nuf nothing cheap
plebeian The storage department IS limited you know.
sAnd the fun goes on from morning to night
II might be inferred that all troubles of the shop
from it. There fellow, we'll dressed and decent
which he proposes to operate The box is securely
bound with cord had just come from the wrapping
department At counter where furs or other valuable
garments sale the stranger halts and the fur
vanises The bottom Of the shows three deep Sits
which construct cunning flap IN ten seconds the fur
has been slipped into the box the flap has been noothed
and the innocent fellow walks Of the store passing
the floor walker with the air of millionaire Alaska coal
bug AS he the delivery boys they feel like taking
off their hats for he the very who had any
forethought for the poor horsesl
The with the grip and the is the type of old
fashioned shopifter lie finds picking pretty bad
adays since nlu and the suit box came into use But
he foushed dr and waxcd rich The man with
the grip and approaches the upon which
garments Of considerable value displayed He stalls"
long enough 10 get his grip placed under the counter
directly beneath the article he He examines and
nayhap buys little thing order that the clerk may
make change. The grip has weak spring lock and
fails spread its warped jaws the right
When the alesmans back is turned the garment dsap
pears and the grip closes up with jerk is about time