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Show SHOP TALK BY AMY ARMSTRONG HH U"W" don't you write about ice cream soda?" asked a thirsty Hfl ill Wend of ours the other way. "That is the only cool thing H JLs m tne snoPs these hot almost-dog-days." It wasn't such H a bad idea at that, we decided, since all of the local stores have foun- H tains and professors of the dispensing business. We ruminated on H'j the subject for a while, chewing the cud of mediation, slept on it over H night and in the morning hied ourselves to the pleasant occupation of H perfecting ourselves and developed into a connoisseur in the matter H J of soft drinks. A connoisseur has to taste them all, you know, for H i purposes of comparison and with the cooperation' of a head or two of fl I this department, writing "Shop Talk" for Goodwin's Weekly wasn't H ' such a bad business after all even in midsummer, we concluded. f We betook ourselves in one instance to Friend and Fellow Citi- M zen Tom Brown, who is a good looking young man and refused to tell J in detail how long he has been in the business of mixing the drinks M I that cool, but when a soda fountain consisted of a single "gooseneck" M out of which must flow all of the different flavors, and kinds of wa- w, ter, and into which all of the gas to make carbonated water had to be M hand pumped. He knows all of the traditions of the fountain business m and one can unconsciously ( ?) consume at least ten drinks while list- H ening to his stories on "Time is, time was, but time will never be m ' again." For the business, he says, is still, in spite of its age, in the i age, in the embryo stage and constantly developing. 1 ; One comes to learn considerable of the philosophy of life serving up the various ladies' choices, say the men K behind the lemon and orange decorat- W I ed goblets and looking glasses. "Why f do they always make fountains with t such great big mirrors?" we asked. H, "To attract the ladies, of course," was 1 the ready answer. It gives tnem such w a ilne chance to survey themselves at Hj leisure, and incidentally Increases Hj their thirst to at least one ice cream H' soda and perhaps a phosphate." H' "It gets to be a matter of pride with H us," says Mr. Brown," to tell just about H what our regular customers will ask H U for. If you give women just a little H' ) courtesy, a little good service and H ! value received for the money they are H about to expend, they are quickly re- H f sponsive and inclined to grow into B I regular patrons. Sometimes they are H flnlky (to the rescue Mr. "Webster or H ftflr. Copy Header,' on the spelling of H that word), and they are ever and al- H ways Inclined to get full value for H their money and just a little bit more H if possible. H "I'll tell you a secret about this H town. Either the men must be stingy B or the women are ultra-economical, H for time and again I have seen a wo- H ( man, not of the poorer class, figure H down to the nickle for carfare home H and order just to the price of what B -was left in her purse. Or when two of H them come in to have lunch together, H one will order a cup of tea. Present- P . ly she will ask as you go by, 'May M , I have some hot water, this tea is too M ( - strong.' Then on your next trip but M I one she will casually remark in her H 'J sweetest tones, l wonder if I might M I have another cup to put this in?' As m I If asking a rhetorical question, but M I most pointedly in your direction. Of H I, course! there is nothing to do but give B the woman another empty cup, as even H: j he who would refuse a cup of cold wa- ter can scarcely have the heart to refuse re-fuse and empty cup, and pretty presently pres-ently out of the corner of one's eye one will see the friend sipping a cup of tea with great relish. Only one has been ordered and if more than one were charged on the bill there would be everything to pay. This never happened in Salt Lake, but has been known to transpire in other climes. Before we get into the more solid matter of who drinks what and why, here is a poser to occupy a minute or two and make you forget the soaring mercury. Suppose ten women, having nothing to do for the afternoon, decide de-cide to make gossip headquarters of some comfortable corner of their favorite fa-vorite department store, where they can have plenty of service and some nice cool drinks or some ice cream mixtures. They separate and five sit at one table, five at another. They each treat all around their own table, having agreed previously on a five-cent five-cent limit for each drink. Ten more come in to watch and talk about the latest in lingerie or the price of meatB and have to be divided, according to the accommodations into two groups of four and six respectively. These likewise treat each all the way, likewise like-wise with a five-cent limit. When the party is over, the first group has spent $2.50, the second $2.G0. Which revives to the memory of man the ancient soliloquy. "How old is Ann." Think it over, and you will shortly hit the nearest soft drink emporium for a thirst quencher. We get a 10 per cent commission lor every person heard mumbling over the facts while purchasing' pur-chasing' and consuming a beverage. To be' more serious, however, it really is remarkable how these places of refreshment have developed in the department stores in recent years. It is an obvious fact, to bo sure, that t . . . some part of a large shop should be set aside for such a purpose because a woman shopping, or buying either, for that matter, necessarily becomes thirsty and hungry. But today it is the aim of those in charge of the fountains foun-tains and lunch counters not only to provide the necessities, but to have on hand everything which comfort or individual taste may be like to demand. de-mand. The very newest drink originated by the friend previously mentioned, is a buttermilk highball, which in spite of its high-sounding name is guaranteed guaran-teed to be perfectly harmless and altogether al-together refreshing and delicious. It is a mixture of buttermilk, cream, seltzer, selt-zer, in just the proper proportions. This matter of proper proportion, is by the way, a most important one. The true artist behind the marble counter "feels" the proper amounts, he never measures. He knows just how much a dash contains by instinct and correct combinations are entirely matters of sentiment and temperament tempera-ment with him. When a man approaches a fountain the dispenser reaches for coco cola, root beer, ginger ale, buttermilk or starts to mix a mint cola, almost knowing which one, too, before a word is uttered. That is unless the man wears a red tie and a sport shirt, in which case the clerk after giving the O. O., mixes a chocolate nut sundae. Women like frappes of all flavors, so one mixer tells me, and these are made with the pure cream in first class places so that they are nourishing as well as soul satisfying. Perhaps the most refreshing drink is a limeade or a lime freeze or frozen claret or orange. The most popular, that is the most frequently called for recently, according to a certain expert, is the fruit mint julep, the drink which carries its own advertisement, invig orating but not inebriating (or is there , such a participle?). There are drinks from 5 cents up and the most expensive expen-sive sundae is 25 cents, a work of art, a thing of beauty and a joy forever. When, however, drinks have been discussed, but an inconsiderably small n part of the department store fountain has been mentioned. Here may be had for the asking, and for evidence of the wherewithal to pay, sandwiches hot or cold, salads, even soups and beans with all kinds of deserts besides be-sides frozen ones including pies which appeal strongly to the men. It makes us cool just to talk about all of these ices but Milady had better bet-ter do only a part of her shopping and then stop for a bite of refreshment, refresh-ment, otherwise she may become discouraged dis-couraged and decide that she cannot afford to eat and buy the necessities which she has on her shopping list. We say this advisedly and not as a scarehead because of a considerable shock received during the week. We thought it was a tradition founded found-ed on fact and unalterable as the laws of the Medes and Persians that stiff white collars for men were two for 25 cents. Imagine our surprise then, having occasion to purchase some, and having saved exactly 25 cents out of the fray with which to make the purchase, upon handing it out to the man with absolute nonchalance non-chalance and perfect confidence, to have him remark quite casually, "You knew these were 15 cents straight now didn't you." No. Most decidedly we had not known it, and five cents. It will, buy a. milk chocolate or a cooling cool-ing phosphate. Really this seems but a small thing when you look at it alone, but when you consider that on one of the essentials es-sentials of wearing apparel the price has hQxi raised two and one-half cents, you begin to realize that living liv-ing expenses are certainly not what thoy use to foe and that they are not decreasing, either. If prices are up on everything in this same proportion, goodness knows where we will end unless un-less kind Fate provides that we shall all be millionaires. A few more questions were asked after th's discovery was made and the information was volunteered that patterns pat-terns were the next thing on thfc list for a rise in price. Imagine. Dress patterns, upon which women have always al-ways relied to make possible inexpensive inexpen-sive home dressmaking and which no one ever thought could possibly cost anything but 10 and 15 cents. Also .hose for which we used to pay $1.25 and il.l'0 are now up to $1.75 and $2.00 the pair, and are not one whit better. It being useless, of course, to "kick against the prices," it only remains for us to endure with the best possible pos-sible grace. But like the Irish man who was advised, "Well, l?at, you'll just have to grin and bear it." "I'll bear it, "says Pat, "if I have to, but I'll be durned if I'll grin." |