December 27, 1925
“Ye well known last minute rush isn’t over for us poor shop girls,” confided a wan clerk Saturday, the day after Christmas.
“This post season shopping game in El Paso is no fun,” she continued. “It’s cut throat and I don’t mean tiddlelewinks.
“Dames come to exchange their marked down dollar fifty gifts for the best in stock. Sometimes it’s a matter of sizes, with mere man over estimating or underestimating his girl’s number tens.
"If stockings are too little, you can just bet a man gave them. And if they are big enough for two feet they came from the dearest girlfriend. Cat!
‘Some boldly ask prices, waiting in line half an hour to pipe the question. Then they coo, ‘I just wanted to know’ and watch you dive under the counter and through the stock list to find the duplicate to their present.
"If it was bargain stock, you know, girlie, brace yourself for a cold spell. There’s not even a thank you for the bad news, though mention of an ultra present brings smiles thick as crocodile hide.
“Sporting stock is another sport for post season workers. Unmixing gloves and handkerchiefs from the grab as grab-can counters and placing them on the shelves with labels to match is a neat prelude to the new year.”
Jewelry Clerk Speaks.
“Sure, folks come after Christmas to check up on present,” said a jewelry clerk.
“That fat woman is, I’ll bet. And that thin woman, probably.
“Married ones sometimes kick because the man spent so much! Would you believe it? The single ones never do.
“Clerks always spot them, those after Christmas snoopers, no matter how well they are disguised. Sometimes they ‘shop’ half an hour leading up to the big question. They look at beauty pins, at ash trays, at vanities, and at rings.
It’s Women Who Snoop
“Sometimes they judge for themselves, by flashing theirs along with the other ice. ‘Better’n this, not so good as that, twice as fine as the next,’ is printed over their faces for clerks to read.
“Often they ask for an appraisal, without suggestion of fees, frankly saying they want to check up on the fantastic claims of the diamond.
“’Could he have – I mean, is it worth $300?’ they ask. Sometimes the clerk is a good scout and lies like a gentleman. Sometimes he doesn’t have to, but sometimes he is plain grouchy.
“I personally want to hand ‘em a lemon when I can, those snoopers, but I remember the poor guy and don’t – unless it’s too obviously fake.
“Men are better about their gifts. It’s women who snoop.”
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