The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-01-16
I FURNISHINGS
BARGAINS ARE
COSTLY
Generally Turn Out to Be
Very Poor Home
Investments
~ ESTHER HUsE.

OF that bad passion OF theirs
that Of bargain hunting what
! changed lot they would Be.
Perhaps about the biggest way
that they set thoroughly and
despairingly stung is through
buying bargain furniture. the.
kind solH BY the cheap dealers
Of no certain repnte, BY the
many low grade mail order
houses which Haunt imposing
and enticing tcatalogs into the
hands OF bewildered and gullible
housewives. and by factorfes ID
the cities who are so ashamed
Of their own names that they
advertise via the want ad"
method. describing their goods in
terms which mean nothing to
the reputable dealer, but which
sound quite "highbroW' to the
average housewife. Another
method these same factories
take of getting rid Of their
undesirable products is by ad.
vertising, also In q want ad, the
complete furnishings OF a five
room fiat, used only q month,
now in storage, good ais new, to
be sold at cost"
The enormous business given
TO these obscure and disreputable
manufacturers, and mail order
houses most assuredly proves
the well-known saying by p. T.
Barnum that there IFS a sucker
born every minute. - The
suckers" In this case are the
thousands -of housewives, and
their husbands, including many,
many foolish newly-WedS,S who
put their savings into such
furnishings, only to find that
in an incredibly short time thew
have a home full of broken
down WORKOUT decrepit pieces.
which will have to be immedi.
ately replaced.
Losses Are Big.
When a woman thinks she
mas q bargain in a marked
down remnant of a piece of
gaudy silken material, she is
out only two or three dollars
II she keeps 1t for years and
finds no use for it. But when,
several hundred golden ducats
have been spent on Ebargain"
furniture, she usually begins
In this manner: silk mohair
living room set, 1926 value for
$3.50. Call at furniture factory
$50 and Sc street." and Mrs.
Jones, who already has saved
about $3.50 for some new furai.
ture, thinks that here is her
chance to obtain a, brand.new
set for her living room for only
ODe-th1rd as much ), as. she
thought she would have to pay.
So she takes SO more out OF
the food j. money and. rushes
over to the factory to grab the
set before some other hectic
barga1n-hunter can get it. The
word ''mohair" has captured
her fancy, for she knows that |
mohair is an extremely durable |
covering, and the word 'silk''
used in conjunction with the
mohair makes it sound all the
nore desirable for her own liv.
pg room. But alas, Mrs. Jones
pas never happened to hear
Nhat makes mohair so durable.
that it is made from goats
hair. and that silk mohair" is
= miSnomer applied to a. mum.
Der Of pile fabrics Of more or |
less cheap quality. After sew.
eral months Of use, the, silk
mohair" covering starts to ap-
pear shoddy. the springs under
the seat are broken and hang:
pg most to the floor, and when
per husband and five-year-old
Pobby are having make
eelleve wrestling match and &C.
dentally fall against one of
me chairs, an awful creaking
- heard, which means that
~everal nails inside are pulling
sway from their moorings IN
the shaky wooden framework.
Had Mrs. Jones waited until
she had saved little more money
and had gone to the most reput.
able. furniture dealer she knew
OF, buying only two chairs, Der.
haps. or a davenport without
chairs; she would have been sold.
genuine mohair, If sthat is what
she asked for. and she would
have obtaihed chairs withsprings
attached inside so that IL is prac.
tically Impossible FOR them 10
sag and the construction work
would have stood years Of hard
usage by her active and grow
Ing family. Whereas the "silk
n1ohair" that she bought from
me furniture factory soon became
Evttony and faded looking, the
4Saa mohair that she might have
bought would have retained its
silky, new appearance Tor an
incredibly long time. Later Oh
when she had saved more, she
could have filled out her living
room furnishings with other
pieces, and the furnitureS but
2Hkh0 had IN 1ooua khA ca4.s $50