Masters of Bargaining

1895

New York Old Clothes Buyers Who Are Clever, but Tricky.

There are tricks, of course, in all trades, but when it comes to a dicker heaven defend the wight who has to do with the two men who haggle over "old clo'" in a cellar in Hester street.

A man who has knocked about a bit and thinks he knows fully a thing or two toddled down those cellar stairs the other day with a suit of clothes in a neatly tied bundle under his arm.

"By the light of the solitary gas burner," as G. P. R. James would have had it, "he was enabled to discern" the two storekeepers waiting to begin operations on him. They came at him in a whirlwind of Polish dialect.

He meekly displayed the coat, the vest and trousers, a very praiseworthy collection, which he was willing to dispose of for $3.

"Well," said he to a reporter, "if you could only have seen those precious bluffers! They turned tail and walked into the rear room. One would have thought I had told them I was an escaped cholera patient.

"But I guess they were given the signals for a flying wedge play, for out they came a moment later and abused me like a pickpocket for ever having the nerve to ask $3 for such a mass of tatters and grease spots and old fashion as that.

"I was hurt as well as rattled. I had been fond of that suit and didn't relish hearing it abused. They found rips that I never dreamed of — I swear I think they made 'em — and before they got through I would have sold the whole outfit for a quarter rather than carry it through the streets.

"The men were bad enough, but when a frowsy woman came out and added her slack to the rumpus they were making I demurred. I told her in all kinds of figures of speech to get back to her dishwashing, and she got.

"One of the fellows thereupon offered me 80 cents for the coat and said he didn't want the trousers and vest. I hung off and started to go out, when the other chap said he'd give me $2.50 for the trousers and vest.

"That completed the bargain at an advance on the price I had asked, and I was elated. The first chap wrapped up the coat — almost as good as new — and put it away and handed me the 80 cents. I put it in my pocket and started to do up the trousers and vest man.

"The scoundrel laughed at me and said: 'I guess I don't want that pants and vests already, don't it? I change my mind. I don't want 'em.'

"Then I did raise a rumpus. The coat was gone, and I had only 80 cents, and the vest and trousers I knew I couldn't get a shaving for separately, and the woman came out and berated me for wanting the coat back.

"They wouldn't give it up, and I stormed, and finally they threatened to call a policeman and charge me with having tried to snatch a coat and vest.

"That was a pretty prospect, and I just had to weaken. I've lived on the east side all my life, but I think I'd better settle down and take a few lessons. I'm easy, and no mistake." — New York Recorder.

Girl Artist Captures Intruder in Cabin

1919

Finds Queer Young Man Attired in Her Pet Toggery.

PITTSBURGH, Pennysylvania — At the point of a revolver Miss Gertrude Zeigler, an artist and decorator residing in a rustic log cabin in the woods, near West View, marched a male intruder whom she discovered in her home, over a mile through the snow to the office of Herman P. Brandt, justice of the peace of Perrysville.

Miss Zeigler discovered the young man, Ralph Rutledge, 21 years old, of Mount Pleasant, Pa., busy preparing his breakfast.

Rutledge had eaten of the best while in the Zeigler home and when caught was attired in a ladies' golf sweater, silk hose and a pair of pink pumps belonging to Miss Zeigler.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

Boon For Housekeepers

1901

An ingenious inventor recently noticed that housekeepers frequently find it very difficult to keep their clotheslines in proper position, and, investigating further, he learned that all those who have occasion to use ropes or cords are often somewhat puzzled when they are called upon to tighten them or to maintain them in a strained position.

Consequently he set his brains to work and invented an instrument by means of which any rope or cord can be easily and securely tightened and held in position. The instrument consists of an iron rod, at one end of which are two other small, perpendicular rods, while at the other end is a wooden handle, similar to a crank, and which serves the same purpose. The slack portion of the cord is rolled around two perpendicular rods, and then by simply moving the crank the rope can be tightened to any extent desired. As soon as the crank begins to work the rope begins to wind itself around the rods, and when it is sufficiently tightened the free end can be securely fastened by means of a prop.

Sad Death — Emma Osborn, Leon, Iowa — Clothing Caught on Fire

Leon, Iowa area (no date given)

The school-house two miles east of Leon, where Miss Alice Dilsaver is teacher, was the scene, Friday morning last, of one of those startling accidents, so chilling and saddening to those who happen to be eye witnesses. Emma, the ten year old daughter of Mrs. Lydia Osborn, whose husband, Joel Osborn, it will be remembered by many, died very suddenly on the 29th of August last, went to school as usual, arriving at the school house at about half past eight o'clock. No other children were in the room when Emma got there and Miss Dilsaver was at her boarding place close by, not having yet [gone] to open school, though two or three [—] were playing near the house. Her clothes caught fire either by her standing against the stove or opening the stove door to stir the fire (Miss Dilsaver thinks the latter,) and the first any one knew of it was when she came out in the sight of those boys, she being badly frightened, the flames reaching upward and around her, presenting at once a pitiable and horrid spectacle. Orin Wilson, a scholar in the same school began to do all he could to subdue the flames, burning his hands considerably in the attempt, and though working like a hero, he made poor headway until Mr. High Manchester and his sister Lydia, came along the road, joined in the effort to save the child. They tore what clothing was not burned off of her and thus stopped the fire, but alas, too late. The fire had already done deadly work and it became at once apparent that the life of the unfortunate little one was doomed. However, she talked quite cheerfully when rescued from the flames. The Manchesters wrapped her up in a comforter and took her speedily to her mother and family whose feelings on beholding her condition may be imagined but not described.

Dr. Van Werden was called and he did all that could be done to relieve the awful agonies of the little sufferer but to no avail. She talked hopefully to Dr. who says she was quite heroic for one of her years. Her sufferings were terrible until midday, about which time the vital powers appeared to fail quite rapidly and from then onward it was apparent that the last ray of life would soon flicker; and that she was not conscious of pain. She had the closest attention of a goodly number of sympathising friends throughout the day, but with all they could do they were powerless to assuage one pang or to prolong her young life by even one breath. She rested quietly the last six hours and ceased to breathe at seven o'clock in the evening, ten and one-half hours after she was burned.

The funeral was set for Sunday last at Welcome school house, where a large concourse of people assembled to show their sympathy and to listen to a well timed and beautiful funeral service by Elder S. A. Garber, on the death of Emma and also that of her father from the text of Scripture: "What is your life." At the close of the services the people filed around in a solemn procession to look for the last time on the calm features of the loved and lost one, who in her serene calmness, accompanied by her own beautiful doll, which had been placed beside her by a tender hand, creating as it were a delusion; for it did not seem so much like death, only we all knew it was death.

Thus passed swiftly away as a meteor one of earth's beautiful and bright gems. Had little Emma stayed to witness the coming of the 6th day of another spring time, or the daisies bloom again, or another return of the song birds, the music of the rills, the awakening to life of the leaves and flowers, all the emblems of childhood, she would have reached the [*1 - tenth mile] stone on the precarious and uncertain road of this earth life.

Who would dispute a mother's trust that her child dwells [*2 - in a land] where the bright and beautiful [*3 - ones reside]?

X.

Notes:

[*1] A piece missing, and faded letters. But it looks like her birthday, not stated anywhere else, must have been the 6th day after the first day of spring. It looks like it must say "reached the tenth mile stone" but the article already says she was 10. Maybe they meant she was in her 10th year or virtually 10.

[*2] Letters between 'e' of 'dwells' and 'and' of 'land' are missing.

[*3] Letters between 'beautiful' and 'ide?' are missing.

The other brackets cover a small piece missing and filled in. The phrase "two or three — were playing near" has room for "kids," if that was a word they used.

There is an Emma C. Osborn to be found on the internet from the area. But she was 20 years old when she died.

Neatness More Desirable Than Beauty

1908

Writer Makes Good Argument In Favor of Neatness

We all long for beauty, but there is within the grasp of all women something even more desirable than beauty — namely, exquisite neatness.

The writer has descanted on the desirability of neatness more than once, but it is something that will bear to be talked about more than once, or twice, or even a dozen times. "Faith," says Pat, when reproved for lying, "Oi have such a respect for Truth, Oi wud not be dhragging her out on every occashun." The writer differs in this respect from Pat. She has such a respect for neatness that she would be dragging her out on every occasion.

A man who had traveled much and seen many women in many countries, said the other day, "I prefer neatness to beauty. Beauty does not last, while the woman of 80 can still be charmingly neat." By neatness he meant more than simple tidiness. It included style and care and taste and the indefinable art of putting on one's clothes properly.

It is a faculty, alas, that Canadian women do not possess to any extent, says a writer in the Montreal Herald. They doubtless inherit the lack of it from their English ancestors, who are noticeably untidy. The mass of Englishwoman do not seem to know the meaning of the word. Their skirts and belts always separate at the back. Their hair is never beautifully coiffed like the Frenchwoman's, their whole aspect is frowsy to an extreme. Of course, this does not apply to all Englishwomen. There are exceptions to every rule.

On the other hand, the Americans are neat, and hence smart, for it is impossible to be smart without perfect neatness. They have a trim, trig way of wearing their clothes that gives a style to the cheapest ready-made. If you cannot be beautiful you can at least be charmingly neat. And neatness has an attractiveness that mere beauty lacks.

With Heaps of Wool, They Spin It by Hand

They Spin by Hand

1896

The hum of the spinning wheel is still a familiar sound in Block Island, quaint and interesting resort in summer and a miniature world in winter, in which the habits and customs are those of one hundred and fifty years ago. The island is fifteen miles off the Rhode Island shore and almost directly south of stormy Point Judith.

The heads of thirty Block Island families set sail in fishing boats the other day and pushed up the Thames River to Oakdale, where they left heaps of wool to be carded into rolls for hand spinning. The rolls will be spun and knitted into stockings and mittens for the protection of the hardy islanders against the bleak winter winds of the Atlantic.

There are times during the winter when the wind sweeps across the treeless land at a velocity of eighty-four miles an hour, and women take their lives in their hands when they venture out of doors. The isolation of the island is almost complete.

John Schofield established the first woolen mill in Connecticut near Oakdale, where the carding was done by power cards. In 1798 the Block Islanders began to send wool to the mill to be carded into rolls, and generation after generation have kept up the practice. Formerly many bags of grain accompanied the wool, and grist and woolen mills were kept running day and night, while the fishermen and farmers enjoyed themselves in the quiet Connecticut village until the work was done. — New York Herald.

New Ideas In Lingerie and Fashion

1914

The chemise is coming into its own again. The latest expression of this garment is slashed very deep at each side and it has rounded instead of square corners, so as not to interfere with the garters. It is developed in nainsook and edged with lace, with shoulder straps variously of lace and of ribbon.

The cotton crepe petticoat has lately discovered a rival in the underskirt of pique. This is designed to be worn under tailored skirts. It may show either a simple scalloped edge or an elaborate design of hand embroidery.

Still another variety of petticoat is made of a new material resembling basket cloth. This is ornamented with a design of embroidered dots and finished with a buttonholed edge. — Philadelphia Inquirer.


Dictates of Fashion

The gown that is shirt waisted in the back has gone out of fashion.

Young girls are wearing white velvet hats, the edges bordered with a fluted ruffle of moire ribbon.

The use of chiffon taffeta is becoming more general; it forms the basis of stunning afternoon and evening frocks.

Clear, fresh, flowery colors are said to be about to follow the brilliant futurist effects. They are sweet pea shades.

The new soft taffetas are being shown in all colors. They have the appearance of soft satin in the way they drape.

Embroidery with colored dots is one of the features of novelty underclothes. The colors are not delicate, but strong.

Sashes and belts are a feature of children's dresses. Sashes are quite wide. Belts are of suede and colored and patent leather.

The tango nightgown is the newest, and resembles a chemise and Turkish trousers combined. It is said to be comfortable.

At the theater women are adorning their heads with wonderful Egyptian bandeaux, set with amber or jade and very flexible.

Lingerie is Dainty

1910

Undergarments Look Like the Work of Fairies

Attractive and Almost Endless Selection of Materials Now to Be Had Give a Most Gratifying Variety

Once upon a time a girl thought herself very well provided for when her mother gave her a bolt of longcloth and some spools of cotton and admonished her to be industrious, but times have changed, and girls have changed with them. Today longcloth undergarments are practically unknown and instead of the tatting and crocheted trimmings once fabricated so laboriously the modern woman goes to the shop for the daintiest laces. Her intimate little garments — nighties, chemises, drawers, skirts and underbodies — are all made of cottons or linens that look as if they have been spun by the fairies.

The one thing the dainty modern girl does in imitation of her grandmamma is to make her under-raiment by hand. If she is not skilled in the use of the needle, she buys lingerie by hand.

But, alas, even in the finest materials ready-made lingerie is of two sorts, the good and the bad. It may come from gay Paree or be made in the slums of the great American cities, but it is open to the same objection. The lovely restraint which is shown in the good things is balanced by a superfluity of ornament, a gushing abandon as you might say, that brings a blush to the modest cheek. Is it possible, you think, any woman would wear such horrid things! When garments in coarse lawn and cambric are trimmed in this way they seem so inappropriate, that only to look on them dulls the appetite for elaborate lingerie. "Let me be plain forever more," you growl, "and go forth with a nunlike petticoat, treated only to hems and tucks."

The best results in lingerie are correspondingly attractive, and the endless variety of materials now used for the purpose gives a gratifying variety. Fancy lawn skirts, flounced with dotted muslin or cross-barred muslin, and nightgowns, chemises and underbodies are all made of these dainty weaves. The expensive batistes and dimities, the crinkled crepes and handkerchief lawns once regarded as exclusively for outside wear, are now used for all kinds of undergarments.

With lawns, linen and cotton some new insertions that look like canvas are much used and several kinds of lace appear on a single petticoat. Tasteful monograms in hand embroidery are now de rigeur, and ribbons are run through a lawn insertion with slits of the exact width.

With the exception of the joining of the seams, which is done by machine, every garment constructed in perfect taste should be made by hand. A delicate touch of color sometimes appears in the figured dimities, but the general preference is for all white, with only the ribbons tinted.

The illustration comprises a very smart petticoat and corset cover of nainsook. The skirt is gored, and the two cuts show it may be made either with a deep or a narrow flounce. For a dressy costume the flounce could be of lawn, with lace instead of the cambric trimmings, shown herewith. The underbodice is hand embroidered, and can be made in a single piece, except the tail, for the tucks at the sides fit it into the figure.

Good undervests for summer are of lisle or Italian silk — the vests which are not ribbed. Three of a very excellent gauze-lisle can be had for a dollar, and one dollar and twenty five cents will buy a dainty silk vest with a lace edge and ribbon drawstrings. — Mary Dean.

Women's Dress Bolder Than Ever

1913

Look!

Woman's dress is to be bolder than ever!

In full view of things as they are seen, this would seem to be a rash statement. But it is no mere layman's conjecture from visible fashions. It is the dictum of a man dressmaker, a famous Parisian, whose name is a household word among the modish.

Moreover, this authority does not hesitate at the word "bolder." He goes it a shade better and uses "daring." And if anybody knows, he knows.

Daring is the word that expresses present fashions, which have caused more cricks in the masculine neck than any feminine styles that have prevailed since "the Grecian bend" caused grandfather to forget exactly what he went to the grocer's after. From extant pictures of this curve, it was just the style that grandmother might have worn and kept her mind on serious things. It was but a single curve. But there are many now.

Some apprehension should prevail as to just what "more daring than ever" really means, in connection with woman's fashions, coming and to come. As they are, when a pretty woman intervenes between the sun and a man's vision, the man — unless he is a hardened creature — has to shut his eyes. He can get along on a cloudy day with a few blushes, interlarded with thought. But if worse comes to worst — although this might disappoint the ladies — man must take to the woods or neglect his business. — Judge.

Women are Peacocks at Heart

1920

New York. — "Every woman in the world is a peacock at heart."

So says Dolores, termed the most beautiful creature God ever made by Florenz Ziegfeld in whose Midnight Frolic she appears, and the only actual human peacock in existence!

Women, according to Dolores, cannot resist the impulse to make themselves beautiful any more than can the peacock, although that kingly bird is the male of his species. And this impulse begins almost as soon as a girl is able to talk as a baby.

"I have noted the impulse in girl babies as young as 18 months." says Dolores. "Even at that age a girl baby will crow with delight over a pretty dress that particularly strikes her fancy. And when a girl is four years old the instinct is fully developed and she begins to take interest in ribbons, laces, and all sorts of things to enhance her childish beauty.

"With maturity comes the desire not only to make herself beautiful in her own eyes but the eyes of her boy friends as well. And with young womanhood comes the desire to hold whatever good looks she has, for at that age a woman instinctively realizes that beauty is a fleeting thing.

"Every woman knows that clothes — good clothes — enhance her beauty and for that reason she longs for and gets if possible the pretty things she thinks will show her charms to the greatest advantage.

"It is that instinct that has always made impossible and always will make impossible that foolish idea about standardizing women's dress."

She's Worth $1,000 a Pound

1909

She's Worth $1,000 a Lb.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Because she was jilted and lost twenty-five pounds weight in consequence, Miss Luella Lowstetter wants $25,000 damages — $1,000 for each pound lost. She is a school teacher of the fashionable suburb of Sheraden. Her suit is against Prof. Earl W. Reed, principal of the school. Miss Lowstetter asserts that Professor Reed jilted her in a most humiliating fashion after she had agreed to marry him and had got her trousseau ready. She and her attorney said in court today that she lost at least twenty five pounds owing to worry over her jilting, and that the wedding clothes would not fit her now.


Eskimo Is a Cannibal

ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland — Tragedy in the far North formed the burden of the news brought to port by the Hudson Bay Company's steamship Adventure, which arrived with the crew of the lost Dundee whaler Paradox. The crew told of an Eskimo, who driven to cannibalism by starvation, ate his child and after shooting several neighbors who attempted summary punishment, fled into the trackless wilderness of ice.


Tramp Heir to $25,000

William Close, who ran away from his Baltimore home when he was 16 years old, was found — a typical tramp — in a lodging house in Chicago Thursday night and informed that he had fallen heir to a fortune of $25,000 left him by his father. The next morning he started for Baltimore with Attorney J. D. Goldboro of that city, who has been searching for the prodigal for two years. Close, attired in a new suit of clothes, bathed and barbered, ascribed all his troubles to drink and declared he was determined to reform.

Boy, Aged 6, Falls 6 Stories Unhurt

1920

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Although he had fallen from the roof of a six-story tenement house and escaped injury, all that scared 6-year-old Tommy Burke was the appearance of a policeman whom excited women summoned after they saw Tommy strike several clothes lines.

Tommy and other boys played tag on his way down.

Out on the roof, Tommy ran too near the edge and fell off. He spun through space and landed in a deep pile of snow in the yard. Although he looked dazed for a few minutes, he brushed the snow from his clothes and looked for a place to get out of the yard.

Dr. Wheedon of the New York Hospital said Tommy was absolutely intact. Tommy commented, "Gee! Wait'll me mudder sees me suit!"

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 2.


To Dumb Forgetfulness a Prey

GREENFIELD, Ind. — Caleb Moncrief, farmer, has always denied that he is absent-minded, but he has a taxi bill as proof to the contrary. After completing his business here, Moncrief drove home, forgetting he had taken his wife to town with him. she followed in a taxi.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 1.

George Washington Meets Fast-Talking Modern Man

Anaconda, Montana, 1914--

Some Observations by the Wanderer

What would the immortal George Washington say if he came to Butte for a day?

The dapper young swell would greet him, of course, with a few remarks, and into his speech inject enough of the present day lingo to make the father of his country wonder what the world is coming to.

"Lo, old top; you look like the ready-cash gazabo come to pipe the gang. Now, for a starter, suppose you shoot your lamps at that across the pike -- isn't she a pippin?"

"Old top, lamps, pippin? I do not understand your language, sir."

"Now, what do you know about that? Wouldn't it crimp you? Forget it, bo, get wise, take my hunch and polish your peepers. I'll put you next to yourself. You sailed in to see dear old Butte, didn't you? Then take my wing and we'll trek over to the swellest cabaret you ever bumped into. Some doings over there, believe me."

"Believe you? Why, my good man, I cannot believe my ears, or" -- his gaze riveted on a wisp of modern femininity, garbed up to the minute -- "my eyes, either."

"Ah, what's the gag; hereto pipe the procesh, ain't you? You're handing me something but don't you do it, see? You need a gin ricky; or how would a flapdoodle kerplunk dingbat at the Dutchman's strike you? Your pipes hot? Come on over to the glassy mahogany and we'll look at Reuben. No? How'd a trolley down to the place where they give a correct imitation of the hesitation and the bunny hug hit you? Can you fall for the dance? Looking for a joy ride? Name your choice and I'll dig; let's paint the old burg a lurid carinine, eh? Get me?"

"How strange it all seems. Would that my sleep had not been disturbed by the Mexican silence at Washington."

"Come out of it, old scout; you haven't sized up this dump yet. There's peaches and cream all over town. Take my steer and don't let any good thing get by."

"Farewell, my country; again, farewell my countrymen. This is not my counter -- these are not my countrymen. By heck, where am I at?"
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The old-fashioned man who established a checken ranch that his heir might enjoy the fruits thereof has a son who is doing his best to keep tab on the chickens.
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The average man who comes to see the sights of the town usually obtains his first impressions in the big mirror behind the mahogany.
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A new suit of clothes, a shine, a shave, a hat with the bow behind and a $10 bill have made millionaires out of many hard-working men.
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The apple of mother's eye sometimes develops into a pippin; often is regarded as a winesap; sometimes as a wealthy, but more than ever, as the summer approaches, she swings into the early transparent species.
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Father used to black his boots with soot from the stove lid and mother, on Sundays put a little corn starch on her ruddy chin. Both used charcoal on their teeth and read the Bible and preferred each other's company on all occasions. This day brings forth sons and daughters who never open the family Bible, never both about father only when money is needed and never mention mother's name in society and prefer any other company to that of their parents.
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Sometimes it is a fact that the man who picks his teeth with his fork and wipes off his whiskers with his knife and uses his fingers to lift the flapjacks to his mouth and passes up the finger bowl can write a check for thousands and live in his own house.
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It has been written that he who hesitates loses. That's all at variance with fact today -- the one who can hesitation best wins the prettiest girl.
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The good fellow invites half a dozen up to the bar and throws up two of the biggest silver dollars he can find. He accompanies his wife to church and fishes around in his pocket for the smallest nickel to throw into the plate.
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The majority of residents of Anaconda are not aware of the fact that a railroad used to run from a point near Washoe park diagonally across lots to Sheep gulch, up to a great quarry from which many hundreds of carloads of building rock had been taken. Lime rock also was mined in that part of the gulch and there were lime kilns there, too. Only traces remain of that once important industry.
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A man who says he is a pioneer of Anaconda, having come here about 17 years ago, accompanied a real old-timer up Park avenue the other day. Passing the brick building across the alley west of the Montana hotel the old-timer said to his young old-time friend:

"That building was the first brick church in Anaconda, one of the very first churches built here, if not the first."

The 17-year old-timer looked up and down the sides of the brick house and then at the old-timer. "That right? That a church once?"

"Sure it was, built by the Rev. Mr. Stanley, a pioneer South Methodist minister."

"Well, I'll be -- I didn't know that."
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And John L. Sullivan visited Anaconda in the early '80s, in the heyday of his importance as a fistic expert. He drew an enormous crowd to the old skating rink down in First street, since named Commercial avenue.
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One sees a very large number of things in one day in Butte if one be inclined to observe things in passing. One can almost say that one sees some things that are not in sight, so much is there before one's eyes. So much may be seen now that could not be seen a month ago. Butte is a remarkable town in many remarkable respects. It grows, it keeps apace, as they say in suffragist meetings, it is in some respects ahead of itself, and it never looks back to see if the rest of the procession is coming.
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The observer notes a wonderful change in everything, including fashions, since last fall. Now they wear high hats and flat hats, whereas last fall they wore flat hats and high hats, only they were built on different lines last fall.
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The observing visitor also notes a radical change in man's apparel. Looking back 25 years ago the observer beholds a kindly old gentleman in the act of shooting a man wearing a thing called a coat that looks more like something that someone had thrown out of a window and which fell on something alive. Nowadays that thing is called a top coat and the man wears it without molestation -- for it is vogue.
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The whiskey is the same, the people are the same, the atmosphere is the same, the cigars are the same, the hotels are the same -- only some visitors imagine that because they are away form home they can stand more abuse than they can at home.

--The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, March 22, 1914, page 4.