THE AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
VOLUME IV
MAY, 1899 NUMBER 6
TWO WEEKS IN DEPARTMENT STORES.'
It is so common for those who purchase goods to think nothing at all about the clerk in attendance, or the conditions under which the goods were produced, that it seems timely just now, when the Consumers' League^ has started upon a crusade of educating the public, to give a true picture of some condi- tions existing in Chicago.
The necessity for a thorough investigation of the work of women and children in the large department stores in the city was apparent, and the difficulties manifold. With a view to ascertaining some things which could be learned only from the inside, the investigation which is to form the subject-matter of this paper was undertaken. It seemed evident that valuable information could be obtained if someone were willing to endure the hardships of the saleswoman's life, and from personal expe- rience be able to pass judgment upon observed conditions. The urgency of the need, coupled with an enthusiastic interest in the
■It should be distinctly stated that the two department stores in which the mate- rial for this paper was collected are not the establishments which have the best repu- tation of their class in Chicago.
'The Consumers' League of Illinois was organized by the collegiate alumnae of this city in February, 1897, when a standard was adopted and a provisional constitu- tion drawn up. A permanent organization, with Mrs. Charles Henrotin as president, was effected at a meeting held in Hull-House, November 30, 1898. The league at the present time has about eight hundred members.
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