The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-12-08


arrangement and the catalogues and lists of suit
able gifts classified according to ages have done
mucn toward making shopping for a
simple matter
IRIS, however, is a very recent institution In
the old days, woman went to the large shop,
without the slightest idea Of what she wanted to
buy and after ten minutes in the crowded, heat
ed aisles, surrounded by thousands of elaborate,
allur1ng, gayly colored possibilities with no ap-
parent order or arrangement, bewilderment and
not decision was her portion. Under such condi-
tons even the most conscientious Of them seized
the article nearest. She at the mercy of the
saleswoman because she did not know what she
mad better get or where she could get It,
But the woman's bewilderment was nothing to
the mans He didn't even make an attempt to
shop; he simply bought.
But all these things are different now. You get
a list of things which such-andsuch a store has
to offer for man, woman and child of any given
age with the floor on which it may be found indi-
Gated, and you have only to walk in calmly and
deliberately and purchase it. 1t is literally in
deg Of the peace and good will which you may
wish to dispense You do all your thinking be-
forehand and have an opportunity to remember
that Mrs. So-and-So's library is furnished in red,
and that Kaiser Sim vase would be more &C.
ceptable than lamp.
Then when you have made your selection you
may make your way to the store with a fairly
calm and tranquil mind. Of course, it is crowded
with density which makes progress almost i'm
possible blazing hot with multitudinous lights
and noisy with many clamoring voices, but all
that can have no effect on you. You are sci
entif1c shopper and know just what you going
to get and where you going to get 1t. Science
saves time, money and nerves.
There is another way in which Christmas has
become a science and that is In the methods
which the big shopkeeper employs to attract the
crowds of holiday shoppers. Go into of their
establishments and you cannot fail to it.
They aglow with light, bright with the colors
of unnumbered fabrics and you hear far and near
the clash Of music from many instruments. That
is simply to lure you in and once you are there
you see at first nothing but a spectacle of con-
fusion and conflict Of sounds that would make
Babel lose caste as a synonym. But If you start
to buy what you have come for you will find
remarkable state of order so far as the things
offered for sale concerned. 1t is not really
a store; it's exposition.
There isn't in the world who has
keener understanding of the human makeup than
the big shopkeeper He knows every string of
the instrument and plays diligently upon them
all. He lures people with advertisements which
are wonder stories. He halts the passing crowd
in the streets with windowful of Christmas wax
works, and once they have come inside, whether
with purpose out Of mere curiosity, the ma
chinery Is there to hold them fast
For weeks the designers decorators. scene
painters, dun1mymakers have been at work devils
ing and constructing some sort of living pictures
fraught with the spirit of the Christmas tale
There is the papier-mache church, still and beau
tfu with snow-covered trees about it, light shin
ing from the tall windows men, women and chill
dren mounting to the portal, and from away In
the inside sanctuary somewhere come the music
Of mighty organ and voices singing Christmas
carols.
It is expensive, but it impresses the people who
enter the store. 1t is the idea Of 1t all that the
hearts Of the shoppers be mellowed and the spirit
be moved to buy more and still more for the
holiday giving. That may little star
fetched you sit at home with crouch on
because something went wrong yesterday, or
man you thought was your friend went back on
you, but get into one of those stores, where you
can't hear yourself think of your troubles for the
noise and you VIII realize that 1t is really very
clever conception.