Etiquette and Gentlemen at Work

“As to his manners, I would not have hired him if I did not believe him to be a gentleman. I never say any thing to a new man on that head at all. He should be well posted on all points of etiquette and good-breeding necessary to make him agreeable to the people he waits on. The man is expected to go right in and sell goods in a way that will be profitable to the house and pleasing to its patrons. A clerk’s pay is not gauged by his experience, but according to the department he is in and his ability to sell goods. There is a certain limit for the pay of clerks in each department, and we rarely go over that. A clerk is hired for a certain department, given so much pay, and generally that ends it.” 

The Dry-Goods Clerk…

His Qualifications Outlined by a Chicago Manager…

He Must Be a Gentleman and Have a Complete Knowledge of the Class of Goods He Sells 
Pay Regulated According to Departments

“Dry-goods clerks, although they are continually being sneered at, possess considerable brains,” said the manager of one of Chicago's great retail houses to an Evening News reporter. “People in general are fond of making unkind allusions to dry-goods clerks and considering them as a lot of machine-like men, good enough to wait on you and try to make you buy goods, but that is all. The fact is, many, if not all, clerks possess much business capability. In their own way they conduct almost a business of their own at the department over which they preside, and take as much pains to promote the growth of that business as if it were their own. The customer thinks that they are instructed to act just so and work just such schemes, but that is all wrong. The clerk receives no instructions, but goes ahead and carries on the work he is assigned to the best of his ability.

“I don't think there is a big retail house in the city where the salesmen receive regular instructions about their work. I know they don’t in our house. An applicant for the position of salesman comes in and asks me for a position. ‘What are your qualifications, and how much experience have you had?’ I ask. He tells me, and then I ask him what pay he wants. He will name the amount he thinks he is worth. Perhaps it is the limit of the amount paid in the department that he wants work in. If I think I want him (and I assure you, long years of experience have taught managers to guess pretty accurately of a man’s worth in one interview) I tell him I will give him a place, but would not like to pay him at first quite as much as he asks. If all is satisfactory between us, and he is engaged, that ends it.

“He is introduced to the floor-walker in his department, who in turn introduces him to the other clerks in that department. He is given a check-book, placed behind the counter and left to hustle for himself. That's all there is to it. We don't tell him to act just so, and to be polite to this party or not, etc... None of that at all. When I hired the man I did it supposing he was a competent man and a gentleman. No beginners or novices are taken. The men must have learned their business in some smaller house before they will get a job in a large one, and during their apprentice days should have learned all those points which go to make up a good salesman. He must know his duties thoroughly and understand the art of selling the articles in his department, once he becomes familiar with them and the prices.

“As to his manners, I would not have hired him if I did not believe him to be a gentleman. I never say any thing to a new man on that head at all. He should be well posted on all points of etiquette and good-breeding necessary to make him agreeable to the people he waits on. The man is expected to go right in and sell goods in a way that will be profitable to the house and pleasing to its patrons. A clerk’s pay is not gauged by his experience, but according to the department he is in and his ability to sell goods. There is a certain limit for the pay of clerks in each department, and we rarely go over that. A clerk is hired for a certain department, given so much pay, and generally that ends it.” 

“In what department does a clerk get the best pay?" “In the dress-goods, silk or linen department. You see, in the dress-goods and silk-departments a great deal of the sales depends on the ability of the clerk to make the customer buy what she doesn't want. To so arrange fabrics as to catch her eye and make her want them. He must be a good talker-in short, have the gift of gab, so as to make his patrons covet and buy more than they really intended to. 

“Often a comparatively new and inexperienced man will be given a position in those departments for the very reason that he is a good talker. The manager thinks he has the right qualifications, and, although he may not know a thing about the business, the new clerk will go in and sell right over the heads of the old clerks. Such a man is valuable, and is generally, in the course of time, transferred to the wholesale house and sent out on the road.

“A man who understands linens is almost always in great demand. Our linens are made in the old countries, and when a man comes along who has been right in that business all his life he is valuable. Foreigner though he is, and doesn't know a thing about American ways, he is a valuable man, for he understands the merits of linens and can sell them. Such men are always sure of a position, and get good pay.” – Morning Union, December, 1890

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor or the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia