The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-03-12
Chapter III
GRETA'S FIRST PICTURE

ONb N . rlfSS1 lClORE
CRETA left school at the age OF
NJ IA. She realized how hope
leSsly inadequate her tiny earnings
were. But though tall for her age,
she was still shy, awkward child,
and it needed all the courage she
could muster to walk into Stock
holm's biggest department store
and present her petition.
A clerk wrote her name and adj
dress in big book, and said If
there we're any opening she would
be notified by post, and couple of
mornings later-sure enough-the
pGStman brought a letter from
Bergstrom's saying she should re-
port Immediately. This stroke of
good luck came on her fifteenth
birthday, Sept. 8, 1920.
AT first her duties differed in no
way from those of all other be-
ginners. She had to run errands.
TO carry messages between show
room and workroom, to deliver or
ders, and to wait unon those SUI
perior beings, the sales ladies, while
they waited upon customers.
The atmosphere of the store was
warm and friendly. Greta was
quick to grasp that different GUS
toners needed different methods of
approach. She liked the task; it
dld not seem to her laborous. II
never had to think about it," she
says. Somehow the right way of
tackling a customer always seemed
to come OF itself"
Technical details ALWAYS es-
capped her. She could not tell the
difference between satin and crepe
de chine and the various "plaits"
were just Greek to her.
Still, there was always plenty of
variety in the big shop. Her re-
sponsibility grew so that she had
10 concentrate all the time on
craftsmanship. And what did she
think about? The theater, of
N/E often walked home to-
w gether," says Edith Huldpren
the cashier, who was Greta's best
girl friend at the time.
"Drottningatan is a very long
street; then you cross the bridge
walk past the Rikstag and the ROYAL
Palace, and dive into Solder. We
both lived in that quarter. Greta
told me from the very first that she
wanted to be an actress.
"Sbp didn't u,o,ot - An, .,
anything else ana the only time she
ever referred to her work at the
shop was when she told me about an
actress who had come in to choose
hats That happened now and
then, and it always made Greta very
excited. The theater was the only
thing that seemed to interest her.
She knew all the stars by name.
1 think she sometimes went to
the theater, sitting in the gallery.
but 1 gathered that very few of the
performances she saw came I'D to
her previous expectation. She ex-
pocted really too much"
Yet, though a stage career would
have fulfilled all her dreams, there
were no indications that it would
ever be within her reach. Every
thing pointed to her being settled at
BergStrom'S for life,
IT was the custom of the house to
u issue an illustrated catalog every
year. When the spring catalog
appeared in 1921, it contained five
hat illustrations, photographed on
pretty young model. The model was
Greta Gustafsson.
When the head saleswoman of the
millinery department was asked to
show the advertising manager five
hats suitable for illustration she
called the new apprentice over to
put them on. The advertising man.
ager was so pleased with the effect
that he thought it a pity &c sepa-
rate the hats from the face. So
the wearer was immortalized in his
illustrated guide to buyers
Greta felt delighted at this little
step in the world, especially as she
was given to understand that her
services would be more extensively
required on similar occasions in flu
ture. 1t was not long before her
qualifications were put to a further
test.
One day, the advertising manager
arrived in the shop with a big
clustering kindly individual whom
he introduced as Capt. Ragnar
Ring Word went around that this
was the great Ragnar Ring of an
important advertising film company.
II soon leaked out that Capt Ring
had been commissioned to make
him Of the store.
Real actors and actresses had
been engaged for the principal
parts, but there was much excite
ment among the shop personnel be-
cause Capt. Ring might choose one
or other Of them to play minor
roles in the picture.
HAPT. RING went through the
~ various departments, choosing
items here and there, arranging
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