Evening star., 1952-02-22
Sales
Continued From First Page.)

at Z this morning. he had peen
waiting since 10 am. yesterday
AS the crowd poured in behind
Mr.. Margoles, he made bee line
for the stores best bargain, a
$279, 17-inch television set which
was on sale for $40. Twelve
brother Phi Sigma Kappa fra
ternity members served as block
ing backs for Mr.. Margoles while
he made his purchase. He lives
at 3145 Adams Mill road NV.
Leon Offenhauser, 20, a Vir-
ginia !. insurance man. waited 26
hours in front of Georges radio
stores 816 r street NV, to lead
the line of bargain hunters there.
He bought a $199 electric range
for $5.95 and a 7-inch TV set for
I$3.89. xs.2....s.,ssgs
Mr.. Offenhauser, wearing two
suits of long underwear and three
Ipairsof socks, took up his vigil in
front of the store at $50 am.
yesterday. He got the bargain
fever last year, he said, when he
was 17th in line when Georges S
store opened and got a $348 tele-
vision set for $37.
First in line at the United
Typewriter Co. store, 813 Four
teenth street NV, where five re-
conditioned typewriters were on
sale for SO cents each, was IA
year-old Charles Mink of Ian
ham, Md. Behind him was his
big brother. Paul, 20, Univer-
Isity of Maryland student. They
took up their positions at $3.50
pm. yesterday afternoon. Paul's
wife. Mrs. Maureen Mink, also a
University of Maryland student,
relieved them at intervals.
Three teen-age House pages
were next in line. They were
Eugene Justice, 16, of Birming-
ham. Ala; Alvin Butler, 10, of
Waynesboro, N. c.. and Nelson
GRANGE, Is, of Lynchburg, Va.
They said they wanted the bar
gain typewriters to improve their
grades in the Capitol Page School.
Guards Placed Near Escalators.
At The Hecht Co., special guards
were stationed near the escalators
to caution the eager bargain
hunters to "slow down" and take
it easy, folks"
A spokesman for the store said
the crowds were greater than
those of last Washington's Birth
day and surpassed those seen on
any day in the Christmas shop
ping season.
The shopping habits of the surg
ing crowds puzzled store buyers.
Some people just rushed in and
started buying until they ran out
|of, funds. But, on the other hand.
some people didn't buy anything.
At one store. a puzzled buyer said
he was trying to understand what
prompted one couple to stand in
line all night. They came in with
the first surge of shoppers, spent
three hours looking over unusual
bargains which were being
snapped up from under their noses
and then left the store without
buying anything.
News of the bargain holiday was
carried on Associated Press wires
to other cities. Second in line at
Phillips radio store was Miss Bet
ty Smith, %, of Richmond, Va.
who stood all night waiting for
the store doors to open. She want
ed to buy bargain television set.
I'VE don't have sales like this
back home" she said.
Boiling Air Force Base airmen
adopted military strategy to cap
ture bargain television set. Four
sergeants appeared before radio
store yesterday. They took turns
holding the sixth spot in line.
AT 8 am, just before the store
doors opened, their commanding
officer, Maj. Ray l.. Urton, ap-
peared with his units funds. He
led the Sergeants in a dash to
the counter where they bought
16-inch TV set for $40.