THE C O U R I E R
11
5. Valentine
. . . Still Reigns
As hale anil hearty as ever Is old
St. Valentine's day.
Who has not in a moment of ennui
Klanced into the windows of the shops
and stores on a Valentine day and
sighed, thinking the time long passed
when these tokens were at the height
of popularity? Talk with the dealer a
few minutes and you will soon see that
even if you have ceased to take Inter
est in the day the young generation is
just as zealously concerned as you
ever were.
It seems that the valentine inventors
have nearly reached the limit of their
ingenuity. At any rate the display
windows and counters this year afford
ed no strikingly new. novel effects.
They were mostly the same old lace
and celluloid affairs, heads, hearts.
Mowers, birds and miniature repre
senations of noted paintings. When it
came to the finest of silk, satin and
lace in artful combinations, then you
paid as high as $G.uO for your valentine.
Some of the dealers had enough con
fidence in the community to stock up
pretty well on articles of this class and
the fact that there was any sale of
them at all indicates that the senti
ment of the day Is still thriving.
It is not frequently that a youth has
the heart to deposit six dollars in a
valentine, though so far as the money
Is concerned It is not so hard to find
plenty of men who can Hash iroodly
sums. The ordinary run of young
man of the mellow age is quite willing
to spend from fifty cents to $1.50 for
one of these tokens. It is of this trade
that the stores are principally busied
though the. school children flock like
birds around the tables on which are
stored the valentines which bring all
sums from one cent to twenty-five and
keep their pennies and nickels flying.
As for the older folks, they have
gone beyond the period when hishly
sentimental valentines enchain their
attentions and win away their money.
They are either married or about to,
or else are confirmed celibates. That
being the case they buy only to send
to expecting children or little friends
whom they know will be more than
delighted to be remembered. Yes, and
they do think considerably of the
comics. Surely among their acquaint
ances there are some whose foibles can
be exploited and made subject of jibe
by means of comic valentines and In
vestments in these amount to a good
deal. Far cheaper than the fancy
article, the amount of money put into
them is fairly equal to that bestowed
upon the costly valentines. t)ne man
estimated the Lincoln trade In valen
tines altogether last week as nothing
short of $3,000, and others, though they
could not say with any assurance of
definiteness, thought that It was much
more than this.
There is no house In Lincoln which
makes a specialty of jobbing in valen
tines during their season though two
or three of the largest dealers attend
to a little wholesale business on the
side for the accommodation of the
more remote shops and stores. The
rule Is that agents of the valentine
houses journey out to the various
towns several months ahead of the
valentine season, taking orders. Within
a couple of weeks of the fateful day
the dealers begin to put their pur
chases on display. The people take a
slow, gradually increasing Interest In
them, straggling buyers coming to the
front at first, until, within four days of
the Fourteenth, it comes time to hire
extra clerks in the larger establish
ments and a rush ensues until the final
day.
Those who have thought, upon look
ing into the windows of the stores the
day after, scanning the apparently
undiminished stock of valentines, that
but few were sold are not reckoning
with the host. The valentines on dis
play after the last day of the season
are but a small percentage of the
stock with which the dealers started
out. Suppose all their stock were
placed In view on the start! Wltfi all
the lingering over they would undergo
be'ore they could be sold the season
would not be half out before they
would be thumb stained and wholly
unmarketable. For that reason only a
comparatively few are kept in slht
The rest are behind the scenes tightly
Incased in boxes. When the rush com
mences it takes much of the time of
one man to unpack them and getting
them out to the front to take up the
gaps in the ranks. That Is why It
seems to the casual observer that so
few sales of valentines are made.
Way off In the far east, valentines
in the shape of appropriate Jewelry
was a fad this year and has been a
practice pretty faithfully followed In
seasons past. It has not yet found
favor In Lincoln. The sale of friend
ship hearts Is about the same all the
year round and there was not the
slightest leap of trade In this or kin
dred Jewelry during the valentine sea
son this year to apprise anybody from
a precious metal standpoint that this
was an era of tender sentiment. For
all kinds of gift jewelry, the jewelers
say, this Is the dullest time of year
and that anyhow there are only three
or four days In the fall and winter and
spring season when people make it an
especial point to promenade into their
stores for gift articles.
As an average, the valentine days
did not show a slump In the trade com
pared with the previous season. Some
dealers claim they had less trade and
lay the blame to bad retail conditions
generally, saying that the responsibil
ity lies In the sparse crop of corn
harvested and In the prevalence of
smallpox which has kept many people
from the city who misht otherwise
have been here. Others say that their
business has been larger and the class
of it better than ever before. Truly
the windows were as well filled as ever
with the choicest of valentine art. the
comics were as colorful and scandalous
as ever and the postmen as wearily
laden.
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T ttT ,r
Because of unwillingness to wear
glasses women suffer more from their
eyes than do men.
RETURNS TO
HER NATIVE LAND
Electa Glfford. the famous
American caniatrice, who took the
old world by storm, has returned
to her native land and Is repeating
her successes abroad. Sh' has a
voice of wonderful power and
sweetness.
Mrs. Hannah M. McPherson. widow
of a veteran of the war of 18111, died In
Baltimore last week, and over her
casket was thrown a piece of the Hag
that waved over Fort McIIenry during
the bombardment, and the same one
that inspired Francis Scott Key to
write "The Star-Spangled Banner."
m
THE PROGRESSIVE STORE 4ft
Advance Showing
New Spring Wash Fabrics
M
Foulards Customers tell us we have the prettiest showing
of Foulard Silks in the city. Here's the reason. Our Foulards
are bought in dress patterns, one of a style only. We are thus
enabled to show you four patterns to one shown by any other
Lincoln house. Every pattern bought here is exclusive with
you, a great advantage in itself, the quality is the same, the price
is the same.
New Printed "Warp Waist Silks Handsome new styles,
$1.00, $1.25, and $1.50 yard.
New Black Dress Silks Peau de Soies, Peau de Levant,
Moires, Water Proof Habuti, Taffeta, Crepe de Chine, etc., are
among the varieties we are showing, $2.00, $1.75, $1.50, $1.25,
$1.00, and 75c yard.
New Velvet Cords Very popular for Waists, all leading
shades. SI. 10 vard.
New Shantung Silk A new domestic silk having all the Vv
qualities of a Pongee; a great wash silk, 75c and $1.00 yard.
'SriP-SJv
BSl
T Silks, Wool Waistings, etc.
New Spring and Summer Silks
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New "Wool Waistings Fancy Spring Waistings in all
wool, with silk cord and stripes in colors, old rose, cream, cadet
blue, reseda, black, tan, and navy, with delicate colored stripes,
75c yard.
Satin Stripe French Challies A handsome showing of
new designs, also plain colors, 75c yard.
Satin Stripe Challie Ir half wool, good colors and de
signs, a splendid variety, 39c yai.
New "Wool Goods Among our popular new weaves are
the hair line stripe, Aeolines, Etamines, and Picardy weaves;
they are transparent, hard woven, all wool, non-crushable, and
dust proof, 75c, $1.00, $1.25, to $2.00 yard.
New Black Mohair They are talking Black Mohair for
spring skirts, as they are dust proof, rich and dressy, 50c, 65c,
75c, $1.00, $1.25, $1.50, and $1.75 yard.
Five Thousand Pieces Summer Wash Goods-all Prices5c to S2.50 Yard
We claim to sell more Wash Goods in a season than all the other Lincoln stores combined. Our stock is always the largest stvles and nualities th ht
assortments the largest, in the west. The dainty, the thin, the delicate, the sheer of every class of goods will bemployed hfa TsSn Your '
early selection in these lines would be advisable, as the stock is now new and complete. Cola and wet weather may in erlre
but remember the heat never fails us. ' '
Out of Town Folks, Send for Samples
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