Life, 1921-02-10 · page 39 of 42
Life — February 10, 1921 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical advice **mocking rude customer behavior** toward retail salesgirls (female shop assistants). The piece is written from "the other side of the counter"—presenting customer tactics as deliberate annoyances. The satirized behaviors include: arriving without intent to buy, disrupting seated clerks through loud throat-clearing, ransacking merchandise and leaving without restocking, dawdling silently to unnerve staff, arriving at closing time, and handing large bills to inconvenience the salesgirl during change-making. The satire targets inconsiderate shopping practices common in early 20th-century department stores. The phrase "drive any perfectly normal salesgirl insane" emphasizes the psychological toll of such treatment. This reflects period awareness of working women's difficult conditions—long hours, low pay, demanding customers—while employing humor to shame bad behavior. The joke assumes readers will recognize these tactics and feel embarrassed by the portrait of rudeness.
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6 BeLvans | Hot water Sure Relief FOR INDIGESTION Shopping Hints From the Other Side of the Counter ER take more than your carfare with you, as you do not intend to buy any- thing, anyway. Go only to the big department stores There is a much larger field of operation there. Stop at the first counter you come to. If the salesgirl is sitting down, attract her at tention by staring at her or clearing your throat loudly, After getting her attention, ask the price of everything in sight ever put anything back where you got it Rummage to your heart's content, then walk away, murmuring I'l come back later.” Of course you won't come back, but say it, anyway Another method is to stand and gaze at things without saying a word. This gets on the nerves, and, if done often enough, will drive any perfectly normal salesgirl insane. A better way is to start to buy something, and then because of some fancied mistake refuse to accept the article. Glower at the salesgirl as you do this, It will cheer her up. If possible, always arrive just before clos- ing time. The salesgirl then has her money K a K d k St In case you buy anything, be sure to hand her a bill of large denomination. She will then a Sse of the Children “Gossip” EASTMAN KODAK CO., Rocuester, N. Y., The Kodak City. =| Buying a Pet 1 When you ask your druggist for Lablache ying ° on che why is ithe seldom offers vou a substitute? “TH E last canary I bought ived re ' Because he knows there is no better face x0: montt Anoth died in 1 , powder, and that the class of women whouse two: months; gnotier Cred an is Rare satisfied-it's so time than that. Iam not getting valuc f 3 - Albemarle Park my money.” Asheville, N.C, “Suppose you try a tortoise, 1 he = suggested the gentlemanly dealer.“ They : robin heats are said to live only four hundred years.” ct service, concer samp a*€ — y . : Periect Climate BEN LEVY Co. ; GATHA: WI your littl ‘i Year vench Perfus * 3 rigs bepeae: studying a ? ie sanen oa { a ie . . Gn America-~ An English Inn comicbooks.com