In reading THE SURVEY of March 29, I was interested in the Shoppers’
Puzzle on page 913. It certainly seems unfair to people employed all
during the week in offices and factories to deprive them of their only
opportunity to do their shopping Saturday afternoons. On the other hand
while they are having their half holiday the clerks who wait on them are
deprived of the half holiday so much needed during the hot summer
months.
Would it not be possible, however, for the St. Louis Consumers’ League
to arrange with the heads of the department stores to give the customary
half holiday on some other day—say Thursday or Friday?
I was in England last June and there was a great deal of discussion in
the papers over the enforcement of a law compelling a weekly half
holiday in every line of business. In London business was suspended at 1
P. M. Saturday, but in Oxford we learned to our sorrow that the closing
day was Thursday.
One of our party being in need of a dentist one Thursday afternoon we
started out to find one about 2 o’clock. Not one was to be seen until
9:30 Friday morning, we were told. “The next best thing, we decided,
would be to consult a druggist or “chemist,” but there again we were met
with barred doors and drawn curtains. Finally appealing to a “bobby” we
were directed to a shop where we could ring a night bell and get some
attention. When we told the chemist that in America the drug stores were
always open even when other places of business were closed he said that
in England it was against the law. He also explained that the country
towns in England had the half holiday during the week as Saturday was
the country market day. In Winchester the closing day was Wednesday.
This is offered as one answer, though there may be better ones for this
modern industrial puzzle.