e-Bay can't top this
During a sleepless night I thought of the big department stores of yesterday. There was a wide single aisle down the center of a long room and on each side of the aisle were glass-enclosed shelves or counters holding displays of jewelry, gloves, purses, and various kinds of materials.
You leaned on the counter and pointed through the glass at what you wanted to examine and the clerk would bring it out.
If you made a purchase the clerk put the article in a long wire basket and your money in a screw-top container, she then pulled a chain and there it all went up in the air and some pulleys took it to the cashier's desk, which was up in a balcony.
The cashier checked the figures, put the article in a box or sack, made change in the money container, pulled a chain, and sent everything back to where you were waiting. Simply fascinating!
When we moved to Marion "The Grand" was the big store here and "Scheafflers" was the one in Hillsboro. I think it was the last to close in this area.
In Wichita the department stores were huge. So much fun to go there. They always had a department of expensive garments and furs. You could sit in a comfortable chair and a clerk would bring out garments for you to see. The clerks were smiling and cheerful, trying to please you. It made you feel so important and extravagant.
It was so wonderful to shop. I just want to cry. Can e-Bay top this?
— NORMA HANNAFORD
