The Slump in Khaki

Southland Times, Issue 14788, 3 November 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Slump in Khaki

'I've marked 'em down to a penny each, an' Icaa'D Bell them at, that). Co3b me eight-an'-six a dozen, they did, an' well bought at that too, from Hermann and Shumm, of London.' lexpresaed the hope that Mr Nodley, the Pogsford outfitter, hadn't maDy left, as buying at eightpence-halfpenny and selling at a peony was clearly ruinous. 'Whole grosses on them. Young Gottlieb, that travels this journey for the makers, told me ai they waa all the rage in London. Big outfitters in Bood-street, he said, cju'dn't get 'em fast enough. His people were refusing ordere every day, but, as they was anxious to make me a customer they had decided to give me the first refusal of a large parcel. They was bargains he said, and would sell like ripe cherries. 'X gave an order for the lot, and at the first gooff they sold remarkably well. Every man employed at the Slinktoo pit bought one the first pay Saturday that came round, after I'd put 'em in tbe winder. I cold 'em easy the first fortoighb for eighteenpence each. Nobby things they are in ties, I think my ■elf, an' as good a line as you could bay a eight-an'-six the dozen anywhere. Just look at 'em, khakis and scarlets ; the knot is all red as you see, an' the rest is khaki, an' there's the Union Jaok stamped in quite neat. Tasty things they are ; but it's no go, they won't sell no more. Sorry I bought 'em. That young feller Gottlieb don't ge<i no orders from me again, I'm sure. •The khaki craze dead ? You may well say My to, elr. Lor* lumroe, it'e ai dead as a

- door nail. No, it will never be revived — anyt how, not in the outfitting line. Not even - when our brave fellows come marohing home s from Pretroariar with old Kruger chained to f Lord Bobs's stirrups. Revived ! Not it, io- > deed ; I've bean in the trade man and boy i these thirty years, an' I've seen fashions . come an' fashions go, an' come again ; but a ■ oraze has never a second innings. When it's i out, it's oub for gool an' all. Look at th? Dieman Jubilee ! Everyone then wanted rilo purple neckties, an' socks, an' braces, an' belts. That was in June. In July you'd have offended your customer if you'd even Linted at a rile purple necktie. You learn a lot about what our Parson calls the unstable ness of the masses when you're an outfitter* I'm old enough to have known better than to gab landed with them khakiß. 'Our parson was the first to pick a hole in 'em. Says ha tome, 'Nod ley, them ties were made in Germany, I hope.' They were sir,' says I ; ' but how did you know ?' 'Ob, easy enough,' he says ; 'chad's a German brand of Union Jack. Both the colours and the design are all wrong. 'I oan'o see anything the matter with them Union Jacks myself, an' neither could any of my customers. But our Parson is a very particular sort of man.' 'Lor' lumme, yes ! the patriotic business in our line is played out, an' there ia no demand a* all for what we call red-white-tnd-bluegoods. People are now asking for black; grey is the very liveliest) colour I can sell. You couldn't mult your customers more than to introduce a kbaki neokt'e ab the present time. Late of people are ashamed of ever having worn one. It's a fact, I assure you. 'Sum thing* you learn behind a counter. Now there's my neighbonr Saweil, the little tailor acrois the way, he an' me h*s befn friends tbi< twenty years ; he'd never added an outfitter's department to his shop, au' I've never opened out in the tailoring.' ' Gimme one o' them black shillin' ties you've in the winder, Nodley,' he gays to me the other diy, plankiu' down his bab on the counter. 'Can't I oe'il you a kbaki ?" I says. Seem' he was a frieDd I thought I'd land with one, a thing I wouldn't have tried on with a Stranger. 'A what Vhe says. 'Dj you think I'm a bookmaker, or the landlord of the B'uo Pig? Well, I'm not. I'm a high-clas3 tailor, an don't you insult me.' •But, Sewdl,' says I, ' you did buy one from me a while ogo, an' what's more, you wore it. I saw you wearing it myself. Io was khaki and scarlet.' 'It's a lie !' ho yelled. ' I never wore such a thing in my life, au' if I didn't know you were too mean to spend the meney I'd Bay you had been drinking,' an' out he went without another word, although everything I'd said about his khaki necktie was as true as Gospel. 1 expect thab he'll now open out an outfitting department in opposition to me. If he doea I'll commence tailoring myself. 'There's a deal of character in a man's necktie. None of us 'ere in Pogsford wears khaki now, an' we don't think khaki neither. The pitmen did a lob of mafficking one way an' aaothsr, an' some of them are still in Bratnborough Gaol oa account of it — drunk and assault business you know. Lots o' folks here in Pogsford think the war ought to have been finishe 1 long ago : they're quite sick of ir. But we're a sporting lot, an' we admire grit in any shaps or form, an' we're qnite willin' to admit that the Boers have given us a run for our money ; so in our way we respect them for what we oall their downiness, whioh is a thing we have a regard for. 'If you don't believe me, go to Pogtford Moor on a SundiV morning. That's the place to learn the true views of the pitman. A month or two ago a Pro-Boar daren't open his mouth there. But now the people who want the war ended speak out quite bold, an' what's more, they're listened to. That's how it comes that I can't sail khaki neckties at a penny that are dirt cheap at a shilling. ' War bubtons ! Gone clean off. I wouldn't buy 'em if you was to offer 'em at a penny a great gross. No; I haven't one left, which I will own up is more by good luck than good guidance. la May I offered Greenberg and Bwm as much as ten shillings a gross for 'em, bub they said they couldn't undertake to deliver for a month or two. I'm glad to say I hung off an' didn't order. War buttons is dead as Pogsford. So is khaki. That's why I'm losing raoaey on them ties.' — Westminster Budget.