My Wonderful Year | Page 8

seemed rather strange to me since one goes inside to purchase the stamps. The stamps are all of the same design, carrying the head of the king, only varying the position of the head from right to left with each succeeding monarch. The postmen wear navy blue uniforms piped in red braid with the insignia of the king on the lapels. The mail trucks are red and had on them while I was there, GV Rex, (George V, King). The postmen's bags are like gunny sacks. They give them a twist and throw them over their shoulders. At College Hall mail was delivered four times daily. Four times every day did I go to my mailbox. I did not have many disappointments. However I had many friends who did not find out the cost of the postage to England, for I spent about $7.50 on due postage. Post cards are very expensive in London, the ordinary picture card costs two cents, many of them are much higher. I spent around $75.00 for cards and stamps. The routine of securing a money order is much simpler than ours. You simply ask for a money order for a certain sum of money, pay the sum and the fee, and fill out the order yourself. You keep the memorandum or receipt. The postoffice does not seem to have any record of the money-orders issued, certainly not to the persons to whom they are issued. There is no long standing in line at this window at the postoffice.
All packages that come into the country are subject to the scrutiny of the custom inspectors. My family and friends sent me one large box at Christmas. The custom inspector in his haste did not attach all of the cards to the proper gifts and it was not until I returned home that I could thank my friends for their individual gifts. I received a graduation invitation in the usual collegiate book form and the double envelopes, which made a rather bulky package. The inspector must have thought it contained handkerchiefs or some small article for which payment of duty was being evaded, for the invitation had been opened. After all he was only doing his duty in the highly efficient English manner. Tax is very high, especially on those articles that can be purchased in England. I paid duty of $2.50 on a gift package of Helena Rubenstein toilet articles, but I did not mind this as it would have cost me that much money anyway, and I was glad to be remembered by my friend.
The Englishman does not understand our drug store. He cannot conceive of such a place. England has a highly specialized business organization. One gets medicine and drugs from the chemist, ice cream and candies from the confectioner, meat from the butcher, vegetables and fruit from the greengrocer, butter, cheese, and eggs from the dairy, and staples and canned goods from the grocer. Chewing gum was available only at Woolworth's and then I saw only two or three packages. English people do not chew gum. Many stage jokes are centered around the American's habit of chewing gum. The Army and Navy Store is the only store that keeps everything to eat, wear, and use that a person might need.
"By appointment" is the one goal for which the stores vie with one another. Stores that receive royal patronage are allowed to advertise in this manner By Appointment to His Majesty the King, or Her Majesty the Queen, or Their Majesties, and for members of the Royal Family, to H. R. H. the Duke of Kent. I made several purchases at stores that so advertised, one such purchase, a dress from Marshall and Snelgrove. The stores do not advertise profusely, perhaps a costume or an ensemble might be featured in the paper, but never such articles as ties, hose, sweaters, handkerchiefs, and the like. I was told that the Englishman knows what stock the store carries and if he wishes a tie or a sweater he simply goes purchase it. The store that has an American atmosphere is Gordon Self ridge's; I learned that the owner is an American who has taken British citizenship. As far as the brand of purchases, one does not know that he is not in America. You can purchase I. Miller shoes, Walk- Over shoes, or any brand of American clothes you wish.
The Englishman is a good conversationalist. I think two factors contribute to this. Conversation is lively during the hour that the Englishman spends at tea and the newspapers contain only news. There are no comic strips in the English newspaper. Punch, a weekly comic magazine, is read for the humor which the dailies lack. The London Times, The Daily Herald, The Mirror, and The Evening Standard are