Sentence:  Is nothing to be said in praise of the "Emporiums" and "Repositories" and "Divans," which formerly were mere insignificant tailors', toymen's, and tobacconists' shops? Is the transition from the barber's pole to the revolving bust of the perruquier, nothing? — the leap from the bare counter-traversed shop to the carpeted and mirrored saloon of trade, nothing? Are they not, one and all, practical <WSD>puffs</WSD>, intended to invest commerce with elegance, and to throw a halo round extravagance? 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A puffer, one who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at auction to bid up the price; an act or scam of that type.