Gimbels Tells All

Extension screens . . . 2 for 94-c-. . . . The frames are of wood and will warp in time. But the joints are dovetailed so they'll stand a lot of slamming windows.

Iceboxes. . . . You won't find chromium hinges; the shelves are lighter than you'd find at $19.85, but they're heavy enough for average service. . . .

Fabric gloves 44-c-. . . . We don't believe they're quite as smart as pique and organdy (at $1 and $1.95) but they're much easier to wash. . . .

Naturally you won't find the exquisite tailoring but. . . .

Thus last week the newspaper advertisements of Gimbels, big Manhattan department store, bitter rival of famed Macy's. Astonished newsreaders were not left in the dark about such deprecating sales talk. Accompanying each layout was a statement headlined: GIMBELS TELLS THE WHOLE TRUTH! Excerpts:

''For years on end we at Gimbels have been thinking that we were telling the truth. . . . But what we have been telling was, so to speak, 'commercial truth'. . . . We told you that a certain portable phonograph was light, that it had a good tone. carried so many records, came in several colors, and was very inexpensive. Those statements were absolutely accurate. We failed to tell you that because the phonograph was light and was inexpensive, the motor was not strong enough to give more than a few seasons' wear. Hereafter we will tell you this. In other words, all the truth and not just part of the truth. . . ."

Also, Gimbels sales clerks would be required to volunteer all facts, favorable and unfavorable, to customers: to insure accuracy, merchandise would be tested by Industrial By-Products & Research Corp. of Philadelphia.

Although no one at Gimbels would credit the idea to any individual, all admen recognized the handiwork of Kenneth Collins, high-priced publicist who quit Macy's last November, was soon hired as assistant to President Bernard Gimbel.

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