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² Ewen, Stuart, Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture (New York, 1976).Google Scholar

³ My understanding of these trends has been shaped in large part by Nelson, Daniel, Managers and Workers: Origins of the New Factory System in the United States (Madison, Wisconsin, 1975)Google Scholar; Chandler, Alfred D. Jr, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (Cambridge, Mass., 1977)Google Scholar; and Braverman, Harry, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (New York, 1974).Google Scholar

⁴ “Training in Sales by Suggestion Builds Efficiency,” Dry Goods Economist, 69 (July 31, 1915), 31.

⁵ Resseguie, “Alexander Turney Stewart,” 314.

⁶ “Train the Salespeople,” Dry Goods Economist, 65 (December 3, 1910), 45.

⁷ Pasdermadjian, Hrant, The Department Store: Its Origins, Evolution, and Economics (London, 1954), 21.Google Scholar

⁸ “Retail Store Manners,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (January 8, 1910), 43–44.

⁹ The Survey, 29 (March 15, 1913), 842.

¹⁰ Dry Goods Economist, 64 (March 19, 1910), 48; see also, “Some Essentials in Salesmanship,” Dry Goods Economist, 73 (September 27, 1919), 137; William Filene's Sons Company, Salesmanship Standards (Boston, 1924), 5.Google Scholar

¹¹ “Saleswomen's Appearance,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (November 20, 1909), 44.

¹² Dorr, Rheta Childe, What Eight Million Women Want (Boston, 1910), 115–116.Google Scholar

¹³ Banning, Kendall, “Catching the Male Trade,” System, 15 (May 1909), 485Google Scholar; “Ninety-Four Housewives Tell Why They Buy,” System, 28 (November 1915), 481–489; “Why Women Buy,” System, 28 (December 1915), 585–591; Douglas, Archer Wall, “Why Don't More Women Trade With Me?”, System, 32 (December 1917), 906–908Google Scholar; Leigh, Zelie, “Shopping Round,” Atlantic Monthly, 138 (August 1926), 200Google Scholar; Hower, “Urban Retailing,” 93–94; Hower, , History of Macy's of New York, 1858–1919: Chapters in the Evolution of the Department Store (Cambridge, Mass., 1943), 114, 193CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Pasdermadjian, The Department Store, 21; Twyman, Robert W., History of Marshall Field & Co., 1852–1906 (Philadelphia, 1954), 18–19, 69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁴ “A Creed,” Dry Goods Economist, 68 (January 3⁁ 1914), 69; Stoddard, G. W., “Giving a Store Home Surroundings,” System, 15 (June 1909), 666.Google Scholar

¹⁵ “Help the Customer Buy” Dry Goods Economist, 66 (December 9, 1911), 43; Sherer, Orie W., “Can Salesmanship Be Taught?”, Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 22 (February 1940), 34.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Smith-Rosenberg, Carroll, “The Female World of Love and Ritual. Relations between Women in Nineteenth-Century America,” Signs, 1 (Autumn 1975), 1–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smith, Judith E., “Remaking Their Lives: Italian and Jewish Immigrant, Family, Work, and Community in Providence, Rhode Island, 1900–1940,” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Brown University, 1980)Google Scholar.

¹⁷ By the first decade of the twentieth century, managers had already had an impressive demonstration of the functioning of these networks in the campaigns of the Women's Trade Union League and the National Consumers' League. Observing the working lives of saleswomen first-hand, an increasingly socially conscious American womanhood had become outraged at the contrast between the “real, inner truth” of the department store and the veneer of luxury it presented, and was demanding a broad range of changes in the lives of saleswomen and other working women. Pressed by campaigns for trade unions, protective legislation, and voluntary reforms, store managers could hardly have been unaware of the potential of female networks. For a brief discussion of these organizations, see Flexner, Eleanor, Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States (New York, 1970), 207–209, 240–247.Google Scholar

¹⁸ “To Be Good Salesmen,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (February 26, 1910), 37.

¹⁹ Wilson, Sidney S., “How Retailer Keeps Trade at Home,” Dry Goods Economist, 67 (March 1, 1913), 47.Google Scholar

²⁰ “Foster a House-Spirit,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (July 16, 1910), 28.

²¹ “Breeds Disloyalty,” Dry Goods Economist, 67 (March 22, 1913), 31; see also “Employee Rating System Maintains White House Personnel's Reputation,” Dry Goods Economist, 79 (May 23, 1925), 13; The Echo, 45 (May 3, 1929).

²² Cronin, Agnes S., “Ready-Made Responses for Salespeople,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 15 (August 1933), 68–70Google Scholar; Robinson, O. Preston, “Customer Types in the Teaching of Salesmanship,” Journal of Retailing, 13 (December 1937), 125–127.Google Scholar

²³ Eggers, Miriam L., “Should We Train People to Sell or Help the Customer Buy?,” Joint Management Proceedings of the National Retail Dry Goods Association — 1940 (New York, 1940), 95–99.Google Scholar

²⁴ “Where the Schools Fail,” Dry Goods Economist, 67 (May 10, 1913), 27.

²⁵ “Where the Schools Fail” 28.

²⁶ National Civic Federation Review, 4 (July 15, 1913), 24.

²⁷ “Creating Efficiency Among Store Employees,” Dry Goods Economist, 70 (January 1, 1916), 45; “Looking After the Needs of Employees,” Dry Goods Economist, 70 (January 8, 1916), 47.

²⁸ The Echo, 7 (January 1910); 14 (December 6, 1918); 15 (December 5, 1919); 21 (January 25, 1924); Memorial to T.K. Cory, August 25, 1925; 25 (May 6, 1927); 33 (September 7, 1934).

²⁹ “Training for Selling,” Convention Proceedings, Fourth Annual Convention, Store Managers' Division, National Retail Dry Goods Association (New York, 1927), 102.

³⁰ “Jordan-Marsh Ninth Floor Heralds New Era in Personnel Work,” Dry Goods Economist, 74 (March 13, 1920), 73.

³¹ Emmons, Arthur B., Health Control in Mercantile Life: A Problem of Conserving Human Life (New York, 1926), 222–224.Google Scholar

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³³ Personnel Group of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, The Scope of Training for Retail Store Service, publication of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, Trade and Industrial Education Service (Washington, D.C., 1929), 4.Google Scholar

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³⁵ Norton, Department-Store Education, 12.

³⁶ “Fashion Training for Salespeople of Ready-to-Wear,” Journal of Retailing, 4 (April 1928), 29.

³⁷ Norton, Helen Rich, A Textbook on Retail Selling (Boston, 1919), 272–276Google Scholar; see also, Personnel Group of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, The World of Fashion (New York, National Retail Dry Goods Association, 1931), I, 9–45; II, 47–61.Google Scholar

³⁸ “Expose Employees to Knowledge,” Department Store Economist, 1 (August 10, 1938), 35.

³⁹ Koch, Felix, “Making the Customer Happy with Her Purchase, Is Mabley's Selling Keystone,” Dry Goods Economist, 78 (January 5, 1924), 33Google Scholar; Elliott, Martha, “The Buyers Share in Training,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 16 (July 1934), 39.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Louis, George H., “The Gentle Art of Subtle Selling,” System, 20 (August 1911), 149–154Google Scholar; “Two Sales to Each Customer,,” System, 31 (February 1917), 203; Research Bureau for Retail Training, Personnel Research in Department Stores: A Report of Studies, 1918–1925 (Lancaster, Penn., 1927), 29–31Google Scholar; Twomey, H.F., “How to Raise the Average Sales Check Through Productive Advertising and Display,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 14 (July 1932), 492Google Scholar; Thatcher, Virginia, “Organizing Suggested Sales,” Bulletin oj the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 14 (September 1932), 667–670Google Scholar; Curtis, Mary, “How Does a Good Saleswoman Sell?,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 17 (August 1935), 17–18.Google Scholar

⁴¹ See, for example, The Echo, 10 (February 12, 1913); 17 (October 21, 1921); 29 (January 2, 1931).

⁴² Breithaupt, Henry A., “Putting Personality into a Store,” System, 48 (August 1925), 222–224Google Scholar; Spalding, Caroline, “Case Studies in Training,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 18 (February 1936), 86–87Google Scholar; Sumner, Lynn, “Retailing by Wire,” System, 15 (1909), 281.Google Scholar

⁴³ Charters, Werrett Wallace, How To Sell at Retail (Boston, 1922), vii.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ “A Reminder to Clerks,” Dry Goods Economist, 63 (October 9, 1909), 109; “What Happens to the Want Slips in Your Store?”, Dry Goods Economist, 79 (September 5, 1925), 18; The Echo, 1 (October 1, 1902); 5 (June 1907); 15 (July 17, 1919).

⁴⁵ “General Type of Employee Must Be Raised, Charters Asserts,” Dry Goods Economist, 74 (February 28, 1920), 17.

⁴⁶ Dry Goods Economist, 63 (November 21, 1908), 49.

⁴⁷ The Echo, 1 (August 1902).

⁴⁸ Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1916, I, 173 (Washington, D.C., 1917). I am indebted to Janice Weiss for this quotation.

⁴⁹ National Retail Dry Goods Association, Ninth Annual Convention Bulletin (New York, 1920), II, 55–67Google Scholar; “Corsetiere or Corset-eer — Which?”, Dry Goods Economist, 74 (January 17, 1920), 197.

⁵⁰ “The Salesforce Payroll,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (September 3, 1910), 35; “Salaries,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (September 24, 1910), 79; “The Clerk's Difficulties,” Dry Goods Economist, 64 (October 22, 1910), 61; LaDame, Mary, The Filene Store: A Study of Employes' Relation to Management in a Retail Store (New York, 1930), 148–152, 159–160.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Bezanson, Anne and Hussey, Miriam, Wage Methods and Selling Costs (Philadelphia, 1930)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, see esp. ch. 4.

⁵² The Echo, 14 (May 23 and June 28, 1918); “Ten Commandments in Selling,” Dry Goods Economist, 79 (April 18, 1925), 24–30.

⁵³ Boyle, Josephine, “Answering Customers' Objections,” Journal of Retailing, 14 (December 1938), 120.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ The Echo, 26 (March 30, 1928); Manning, Susan Katherine, “An Analysis of a Merchandising Department (Foundation Garments) with Organized Material for a Departmental Training Program; A Study Made in Nine Pittsburgh Stores” (M.A. thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1930) 26.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ Store Management Group of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, Mid-Year Convention Proceedings (New York, 1942), 139.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ “They Put Martha in Kitchenware, And Left Her—So Someone Else Got Her,” Dry Goods Economist, 74 (January 3, 1920), 19.

⁵⁷ The Echo, 10 (December 7, 1912 and April 30, 1913); 14 (January 11, 1918), 21 (April 4, 1924); 22 (February 6, 1925); 24 (February 18, 1927); “Martha in Kitchenware,” 19–20.

⁵⁸ “Customers Who Have Tried to Uplift Me,” Dry Goods Economist, 73 (January 11, 1919), 105.

⁵⁹ “Saleswomen's Appearance,” 44.

⁶⁰ “Employees' Dress Regulations,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 10 (October 1928), 457.

⁶¹ “Store Instructs High School Students,” Dry Goods Economist, 69 (March 13, 1915), 33: The Echo, 39 (March 27, 1931).

⁶² The Echo, 1 (December 1902).

⁶³ The Echo, 10 (February 26, 1913). See also January 29, February 12, and February 19, 1913.

⁶⁴ The Echo, 29 (June 27 and July 18, 1930). See also July 11, September 26, and October 3, 1930, and March 27, 1931.

⁶⁵ “Told to the Salespeople,” Dry Goods Economist, 67 (March 8, 1913), 95.

⁶⁶ Keene, Westlaw, “Fabrics,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 22 (May 1940), 48.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ “The Covert Sneer,” Dry Goods Economist, 66 (June 1, 1912), 41; Moore, Anne Shannon, “What I Don't Like When I Go Shopping,” System, 37 (May 1920), 962–964.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Pogue, Robert W., “A Bonus Plan that Cut Costs,” System, 37 (January 1920), 62.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Titcomb, Margaret Holbrook, “Selling to the Selling Force,” Dry Goods Economist, 80 (December 19, 1925), 13.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Lombard, George F. F., Behavior in a Selling Group: A Case Study of Interpersonal Relations in a Department Store (Boston, 1955), 160.Google Scholar

⁷¹ I have written in detail of these and other shop-floor practices of saleswomen; see “The Clerking Sisterhood'; Rationalization and the Work Culture of Saleswomen in American Department Stores, 1890–1960,” Radical America, 12 (March-April 1978), 41–55, and “The Customers Ain't God: The Work Culture of Department Store Saleswomen,” in Walkowitz, Daniel and Frisch, Michael, eds., Working-Class History; Toward an Integrated View of Labor in American Life (forthcoming from University of Illinois Press in 1982).Google Scholar

⁷² Collins, Kenneth, “The Trend Toward Self-Service,” Journal of Retailing, 16 (December 1940), 99.Google Scholar

⁷³ See, for example, Lamb, Franklin, “Store Service Economics,” Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, 25 (February 1943), 30, 34Google Scholar; and Seymour, Robert G., “Simplify Your Selling and Take a Profit,” Stores, 34 (December 1952), 24, 41–42.Google Scholar