SHOPKEEPERS.

WHY is it that the occupation of shopkeeping always seems to be held in such low esteem P The term "only a shopkeeper" is often used as one of reproach, and those who contemn the British nation imagine they are hurling the grossest of insults against us when they describe us as "a nation of shopkeepers." The manner in which the phrase is used always suggests that shopkeepers are men of little souls and big pockets who have no sense of heroism, physical or moral, and are always ready to sell anything, including their principles, for a profit. Seen through the eyes of the caricaturist—who is an excellent interpreter of public opinion—the man of the counter is a suave, smiling, bowing creature with oiled hair and no brains who is always trying to make people buy what they do not want. The butcher, the baker—to put them in their time-honoured order I—the grocer, the draper, the milkman, the ironmonger—one and all are food for sneers and jeers on the part of novelists, dramatists, and other followers of the writing profession.

It may be admitted that there is some truth in most generalizations, yet I find it difficult to discover any in this one. It would be more fair perhaps to generalize in respect of the different branches of shopkeeping. For instance, we might say that butchers are breezy, bakers reticent, grocers quick and attentive, drapers profuse and subservient, milkmen debonair, greengrocers and fishmongers indifferent, iron- mongers and dealers in hardware cynical. It would be interesting to follow these generalizations out and try to discover what it is about the selling of milk, let us say, which makes the milkman such a jaunty creature. Who ever hears of a depressed milkman P In the early hours of the morning the milkoarts come rattling down the streets, accompanied by a chorus of cheerful" Milk.O's 1" and the jingling of cans and bottles. Among themselves, as they gather at the corner of the road for a little gossip, they may utter discontent, but it never appears in their manner to their customers. Even if a housewife begs the favour of some extra milk from a milkman other than her own, she is not met with the glance of annoy. ante with which the greengrocer hands over a pound of onions ! Instead the cheerful milkman smilingly grants the request, and does it with the air of one delighted to oblige in a domestic difficulty. I know a milkman who gets up at five o'clock every morning all the year round, and has to trudge the same roads in the same order twice a day. Yet, whatever the weather, he always appears with a smile, rubs his hands if you express sympathy, and says gaily that he is used to it and nothing hurts him. Ile finds bitterly cold mornings "a bit fresh" and drizzling wet days "rather nasty," but neither the excessive " freshness " nor the " nastiness " ever depresses

him. I repeat, why is the milkman so inspired and inspiring ? Hygienists would say it is the early rising and the fresh air. Philosophers might ascribe it to philosophy. Perhaps it is a mixture of both.

But if early rising has this beneficent effect on milkmen, it seems to have a contrary influence on greengrocers. Whatever may be argued as to other shopkeepers, I think no one will claim that the greengrocer at any point fits in with the generalization of shopkeepers given above. "A suave, smiling,

bowing" greengrocer is surely unknown. True, I know one who hums as he serves a customer, but it is humming born not of happiness but indifference. Whatever you ask for, he hums. Whatever comment you make, still he hums! But it is impossible to conceive of a humming draper, for example. The latter, I fear, is inclined to hide his personality. The greengrocer may be said to flaunt his, and it is remarkable, I repeat, how brusque that personality so often is. Nature has a reputation for influencing in a gracious, kindly way all those who have to work with her. Greengrocers, it might be con- ceived, having to deal with the fruits of Nature, and brought into contact daily with the friendly onion and potato, the useful cabbage and other proofs of Nature's provision for her children, not to mention the gorgeous display of the plums and pineapples, oranges and grapes, and all the kaleidoscopic array of sweet fruits, would have reflected some of this graciousness in their ways. People who have dealings with them know differently. They always seem anxious to be rid of you, and whatever you buy seems to annoy them. I admit they are always willing to send things home—which is not the ease with most shopkeepers. But though they realize that potatoes and marrows, cabbages and parsnips, require the assistance of a van to get them to their destination, yet at the same time they appear to resent the necessity which they recognize. Their attitude seems to be: " What on earth you want potatoes for I cannot imagine, but if you will have them

m I suppose I must send them."

Yet another phase of shopkeeping is met with in the grocer, to whom the adjectives of " smart " and " dapper " are instinctively applied. Again it would be interesting to try to investigate the connexion between, auger,. spices, and dried currants, and the essential quality that goes to make the " dapper " personality. True, spices and coffee and dried fruits are delightful things, and the aroma of a grocer's shop makes for pleasantness and graciousness. Life, one might imagine, would go with almost an. Eastern dignity in the scented atmosphere of cinnamon and cloves, tea and almond. But repose is not an attribute of the grocer. He is distin- guished, as we have noted, by quickness, alertness, and the indefinable quality which makes a person " dapper." Further, if pleasantness of commodity made for pleasantness of presence, the greengrocer should be the essence of geniality, but, as I have pointed out, this is not the case. I might go on to dilate upon the mysterious connexion, as exemplified in ironmongers, between copper nails and cynicism, kettles and misanthropy. A kettle, one would have thought, would be the last thing to suggest suspicion of mankind', yet for some reason the dealer in iron and tin ware seems to have little faith in human nature.

There are other absorbing ramifications on the subject of shopkeeping and shopkeepers which suggest themselves. For example, when does a shopkeeper attain the dignity of a merchant? The man who sells butter is a provision " mem chana,"while the dealer in vegetables is a potato "salesman." I can imagine the latter rejecting with scorn the slight preten- tiousness contained in the word" merchant " as applied to him. He would retort : " I sell potatoes, and I don't care who knows it !" But his rejection of the title does not help the solution of the mystery. The shop where you buy paraffin and candles is "an oil and colour warehouse," and the fishmonger " deals in fish." Why these distinctions, and why are so few shopkeepers as straightforward—though not necessarily as brusque—as the greengrocer ? It is a fascinating subject.

But though, as. I have said, it is interesting to notice the generalizations among shopkeepers, and though they may be on the whole fair to each trade, the variations are numberless. The development and influence of personality are as great among shopkeepers as among the trades and the professions. Take my own neighbourhood as an example. It is fairly typical of the middle-class suburbs of any large city. To the observant shopper who goes marketing daily the personality of the salesman adds greatly to the interest of life, and also to its comfort or discomfort. A pleasant shopkeeper is a valuable asset in the daily round of duties. If the grocer hands you a tin of cocoa with a sympathetic smile which suggests that the beverage is a comforting and agreeable thing, you feel much more at ease with the world than when the greengrocer flings a bunch of carrots into your basket with a contemptuous look and tosses your coppers scornfully into a jar that makes their meagre copper-ness resonnd to the passing world ! There is one particular grocer whose dapperness and exceeding willing- ness to oblige have passed to exaggeration and come perilously close to the traditional servility of the shopwalker of the draper. His "Thank you! Thank you very much! Thank you very much!" are repeated so often that in a man less gifted they would be monotonous. With great skill, however, be manages to vary the formula, so that with one item ordered you feel you have been obliging, with two items you have con- ferred a favour, and with a list of six you go away as replete with self-satisfaction as a public benefactor. He is particularly expert at appreciation of your thoughtfulness if, after apparently concluding an order, you suddenly remember one thing more. His "Thank you very much!" is full of feeling and gratitude to you for kindly remembering P I have never experimented upon him with an order for more than six

articles. I wonder sometimes what emotion he reserves for a list of, say, a dozen items. Another shop which has a.

character quite of its own is that of an " oil and colour ware- houseman," to give the proprietor his official title. This gentleman literally sits at the receipt of custom. Perched on a stool before a high desk in a corner between the window and counter, he blinks benignly on the world over his spectacles, only descending to attend to a customer when the demand is beyond the powers of his assistants.

He breathes heavily at you over the counter, for benignity— or something else—has caused an embonpoint which must be

difficult to manipulate in the narrow space in which he has to

move. If you look sociable, he is ready to pass the time of day, to discuss passing events, and to crack a joke: When be' laughs he wheezes and his whole rotund body shakes,. Ife is

very patriotic—in peace as in war—and the slightest reflection on the durability of a British-made article rouses him to

argument. Fla will hand over a tin of blacking with a

chuckle, and sell you a fonrpenny-halfpenny rush-bag with a. genial smile and a joking " A nice hold-all for a lady !" accom- panied by a bow that is as graceful as he can make it in the circumstances. Added to these characteristics, he is the only shopkeeper to my knowledge who has ever been known to admit that trade was good! As the farmer with the weather; so the tradesman with business—it is never satisfactory, never just what he wishes it to be. My "oil and colour warehouse-

man " has unhesitatingly stated over the counter that " trade is good," and that be had "nothing to, complain of." This fact seems to me worthy of record.

Take again the. proprietor of the fancy shop, hie wife and their retinue. Affability pervades the whole establishment,

and is no less present at the purchase of a skein of silk than of a silver-mounted inkstand. Any one of those in attendance takes the greatest personal interest in your under- taking. The proprietor's wife is perhaps the meetalistingnished in this particular. The matching of embroidery materials is but the basis of an absorbing conversation. in regard to the special pattern chosen by you ; the great taste displayed in the

colour scheme ; other colour schemes. and their respective value; the difficulty of matching shades;; the obstacles to

obtaining dyes; thence to the war; if in war time, or if in happier days, the conversation may branch off to the influence of embroidery on the nerves, the use of. such. work at holiday seasons, and so-on to holiday resorts, which subject is endless. For twopennyworth of silk you leave the shop feeling you have made a real friend.

If space permitted, it would be easy to mention other examples.. It would be interesting also to. repudiate with facts the suggestion contained in the generalization that shopkeepers will sell anything, including their principles, for a profit. But, after all, such calumnies are disbelieved by the observant, and shopkeepers and their friends can afford to disregard the opinions of the unobservant and the