FROM THE ARCHIVES:Bylines were rare in the early 1960s, which was probably fortunate for the author of this "news report" on the post-Christmas sales. – JOE JOYCE
EVERY HOUSEWIFE – and it is an inherent part of her character – is a bargain hunter. Anything that can be bought for less than it normally costs will find a ready female purchaser. The cartoons of whole families sitting down to meal after meal of some strange dish out of a tin, bought by the woman of the house purely because by buying hundreds of tins in a particular store on a particular day she saves a ½d. on each, is probably as old as womankind.
This constant quest for the bargain – capitalised upon by many a manufacturer well-acquainted with the psychological impact on the female brain of a large label proclaiming a farthing off the price of an item normally costing many, many farthings – is evident at any time.
Immediately after Christmas, when the big stores hold their winter or January sales, the bargain-hunting season comes into its own. Yesterday, the season opened in a number of Dublin stores and the hunters were very evident, in fact, from all accounts, more so than ever before. For a mere male, indeed, the sales can be a frightening affair. Women shoppers at the best of times appear aggressive. At the winter sales they can be positively frightening.
Frustration probably plays some part in the whole affair. The “compleat” bargain hunter doubtless feels upset that she should have been compelled to shop for Christmas gifts at ordinary prices knowing full well that within a couple of days after Christmas every department store in the country will be marking down dozens of items.
The manager of one leading department store in Dublin, sounding a trifle harassed by the hordes of women, with a few brave men, swarming through his empire, confessed that it was the busiest opening day of the winter sales that he could remember.
The mere layman, financially exhausted by Christmas and pre-Christmas, must wonder where the money comes from. Probably the true bargain- hunting woman saves away during the year, in much the same way that the squirrel stores its acorns in preparation for the same time of year. Certainly carpets, even with prices reduced not the least expensive shopping items, were being sold with great rapidity in the appropriate department of one store. Other smaller goods vanished with similar dispatch into the waiting maws of shopping bags.
However, some of the stores are still girding themselves for battle. Some, their staffs probably exhausted by the pre-Christmas rush and sternly preparing for what at least in one store yesterday were even bigger crowds, won’t take the plunge until Monday; a few others not until January 1st.
The sales must be, one feels, of enormous interest to the student of feminine psychology. Then, of course, one can always pick up a bargain!
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