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Page 12
"Cheapness, monsieur. In the first place, very handsome silk hats can
be built for fifteen francs, which kills our business; for in Paris no
one ever has fifteen francs in his pocket to spend on a hat. If a
beaver hat costs thirty, it is still the same thing-- When I say
beaver, I ought to state that there are not ten pounds of beaver skins
left in France. That article is worth three hundred and fifty francs a
pound, and it takes an ounce for a hat. Besides, a beaver hat isn't
really worth anything; the skin takes a wretched dye; gets rusty in
ten minutes under the sun, and heat puts it out of shape as well. What
we call 'beaver' in the trade is neither more nor less than hare's-
skin. The best qualities are made from the back of the animal, the
second from the sides, the third from the belly. I confide to you
these trade secrets because you are men of honor. But whether a man
has hare's-skin or silk on his head, fifteen or thirty francs in
short, the problem is always insoluble. Hats must be paid for in cash,
and that is why the hat remains what it is. The honor of vestural
France will be saved on the day that gray hats with round crowns can
be made to cost a hundred francs. We could then, like the tailors,
give credit. To reach that result men must resolve to wear buckles,
gold lace, plumes, and the brims lined with satin, as in the days of
Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. Our business, which would then enter the
domain of fancy, would increase tenfold. The markets of the world
should belong to France; Paris will forever give the tone to women's
fashions, and yet the hats which all Frenchmen wear to-day are made in
every country on earth! There are ten millions of foreign money to be
gained annually for France in that question--"
"A revolution!" cried Bixiou, pretending enthusiasm.
"Yes, and a radical one; for the form must be changed."
"You are happy after the manner of Luther in dreaming of reform," said
Leon.
"Yes, monsieur. Ah! if a dozen or fifteen artists, capitalists, or
dandies who set the tone would only have courage for twenty-four hours
France would gain a splendid commercial battle! To succeed in this
reform I would give my whole fortune! Yes, my sole ambition is to
regenerate the hat and disappear."
"The man is colossal," said Gazonal, as they left the shop; "but I
assure you that all your originals so far have a touch of the
Southerner about them."
"Let us go this way," said Bixiou pointing to the rue Saint-Marc.
"Do you want to show me something else?"
"Yes; you shall see the usuress of rats, marcheuses and great ladies,
--a woman who possesses more terrible secrets than there are gowns
hanging in her window," said Bixiou.
And he showed Gazonal one of those untidy shops which made an ugly
stain in the midst of the dazzling show-windows of modern retail
commerce. This shop had a front painted in 1820, which some bankrupt
had doubtless left in a dilapidated condition. The color had
disappeared beneath a double coating of dirt, the result of usage, and
a thick layer of dust; the window-panes were filthy, the door-knob
turned of itself, as door-knobs do in all places where people go out
more quickly than they enter.
"What do you say of THAT? First cousin to Death, isn't she?" said Leon
in Gazonal's ear, showing him, at the desk, a terrible individual.
"Well, she calls herself Madame Nourrisson."
"Madame, how much is this guipure?" asked the manufacturer, intending
to compete in liveliness with the two artists.
"To you, monsieur, who come from the country, it will be only three
hundred francs," she replied. Then, remarking in his manner a sort of
eagerness peculiar to Southerners, she added, in a grieved tone, "It
formerly belonged to that poor Princess de Lamballe."
"What! do you dare exhibit it so near the palace?" cried Bixiou.
"Monsieur, THEY don't believe in it," she replied.
"Madame, we have not come to make purchases," said Bixiou, with a show
of frankness.
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