The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-09-20
The Question Has Been Raised as to
Why Women Look In Store Win
dows-For They Always
DO.
MEN ARE GUILTY ALSO
Both Species Of tho Human Race
Like to Gaze Upon Themselves
Through the "Plate Glass"
on Main.

a great many things to be said about
them. In the first place they are COM
monty thought of as advantageous
spots to display goods which mer-
chants have and want to get before
the public eye. Secondly there are
about 200 of them on Main street be-
tween Third and Eighth streets. Also
thirdly: They're not always what you
think they are?
Granted that the display windows
are the proper places to show off
goods and that there are at least zoo
of them within five block of Main
street territory, 1t remains to be
proved what else there is about them.
Here it is: They are the clear star IN
the cloudy sky, the one ray of hope IN
the darkest gloom, the bit of tnspfra'
ton that makes life worth living, and
incidentally, the best places in toxin
for women shoppers to look at them
selves, as they pass up or down the
street VIXEN they do their errands ana
talk to their friends on the corners.
OF course the women aren't the
only ones who make use of the fine
big windows this way, for many of the
men do the same thing. If you don't
believe 1t, watch 'em as they peep into
one of them and then straighten the
tie that hangs around their neck or
adjust ''lid' that covers or partly
covers their bumps Of knowledge. One
married man answered in the negative
when the question was put to him II ne
used the mirrors for looking glasses.
"Why no." he said, 81 put my hat on
when I start out and know it's sulll
there when l get down town so why
worry by gazing at myself in the WIN
dows. I'm not good lookin' and l am
married so l don't have to think about
how I look when / meet some wom-a
on the street"
There are members Of the fair Sex
who may deny the charge that they
use the shop windows for boulder mir
rrs but if they do, it's not because
they don't use them for that purpose,
but because they've done it SO long
that they aren't even conscious OF the
indulgence any more.
If down town window displays
wonderful looking frocks, smart hats
and gloves and real creations when 1t
comes to sealskin coats well, maybe
the women really do look at the arti-
Giles set before their eyes; who could
blame them? But all the time they're
casting sideways glances at them
selves and wondering "how they would
look in them" And think of the
times there's nothing in the windows
of interest to woman-hardware sup
plies, mems tailoring equipment, ad-
vertisements of tobacco, and pipiess
furnaces-and yet they cast their big
blue. brown, black, grey and yes green
optics in those dull windows and de-
rive a lot of satisfaction from dong
it. All they see when they do it is
their lovely selves, and always they
trip light-heatedly and gayly to the
next one with heads high IN the air.
1t is marvellous to think they never
stub their toes, with that all's well in
world attitude written on their con-
tented faces. What a blessing to man
kind, or perhaps womankind is better,
those shop windows are. They are
the means of making more KeC.,uk
women happy than all the candy and
flowers and "violets" in the state Of
Iowa.
There are three things true about
shop windows in Keokuk" the bob
hair little girl could recite from any
old school book in the class room.
1.-The first one is that they're proper
places to display goods, and the sec
ond thing is that there are over zoo
OF them in five Main street blocks. I
don't understand the third thing about
them, teacher" she might finish, but
she will Give her little time, Miss
Experience.