In the purchase of furniture and of clothing there is the temptation
to buy on the installment plan. This plan is open to all the
objections ordinarily brought against buying on credit. The buyer is
tempted to overestimate his ability to pay in the future, and he may
not take the same trouble to calculate the actual value of his
purchase as when he pays money down. In the past the form of sale has
often been such as to place him peculiarly at the mercy of the seller,
who might find it more profitable to reclaim the possession of goods
on which a considerable share of the price has been paid than to
extend the time of payment and allow the payment to be completed.
The superintendent of the Bohemian Charitable Association says, for
example, that it is very common for newly married people to load
themselves with debt for household furniture, and that at least two
thirds of the stoves which are commonly bought on the installment plan
are taken back by the dealers before payments are finished. The
immigrant from the rural community may be quite unused to purchasing
furniture of any sort, and may be easily persuaded to buy what he
thinks is "American style."
The Lithuanian peasant, for example, had little furniture at home. In
the cottage of two rooms, one was used on the occasion of the visit of
the priest or at the time of a wedding or funeral, and contained
nothing but the shrine and the dowry chest of the daughters. The walls
were decorated with paper flowers and cheap lithographs. In Lithuanian
homes here one is struck by the fact that among the more prosperous
the same sort of furniture is seen in all the houses. This consists of
the heavy oak and leather sets of three or four large pieces usually
sold on the installment plan by stores in the immigrant districts. It
is not beautiful, and there is no reason to think that it is
distinctly American, but the immigrant is not in a position to know
that.