 Hello, I'm Sarge Carleton, an almanac today at Couture, at Cuisine, and Max Headroom. We take a look at fall fashions in the U.S. and meet the latest media sensation. He's part human and part computer. For our cover story, we visit San Francisco and the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, makers as some of the best chocolate in America. Chocolate. 4,000 years ago, the Aztecs, who drank it as chocolatell, thought it was brought down from the Garden of Life as a consolation to man for having to live on Earth. It was discovered, along with the Americas, by Columbus, brought back by Cortez to Spain and maintained there as a royal secret for a century. Finally, bit by sweet bit, it became one of the treasured confections of Europe, reputed to be an aphrodisiac before it came back in solid form to the Americas. Ghirardelli chocolates of San Francisco has roots deep in Italy. Dennis DiDomenico is general manager. His sister, Deborah, is national sales manager. They clearly loved their work. But I don't think that I know of anyone that's ever received chocolate as a gift and looked at that gift giver and said, I don't like this. That just doesn't happen with chocolate. It's acceptable and loved by everyone that I know. And, you know, it's a wonderful business to be in. When you walk in and they say, oh, there's the candy lady again. There's the chocolate lady. It is so wonderful to see the eyes of the person I'm talking to. Adults, and a smile come to the face when I say, I've run a chocolate factory. The chocolate factory run by the DiDomenicos was founded in 1853 by Italian entrepreneur and chocolatier Domingo Ghirardelli. The DiDomenicos carry on his standard of excellence in a modern plant across the bay from the landmark that Domingo and his offspring established, San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square. It's a place for tourists now, but small quantities of chocolate still are made here amid the reminders of another era. Although advertising and packaging have changed with time, the emphasis on a quality product has not. Only selected cocoa beans are used and then processed in the best equipment, most of it from Denmark, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and, of course, Italy. Ghirardelli not only sells chocolate at retail, but to large bakeries, dairies, and to candy makers. Their formula is still a secret, not their most important ingredient, quality control, which now is aided by a computer system installed by the DiDomenicos. The secret of making a good chocolate is to start with a good sound bean, blend it with beans from different countries, and to roast it to the right degree. And that depends on the company involved. Some companies roast to a higher degree than others. And once the bean is roasted, to make sure that the bean is ground with a very, very fine fineness and use very good milk products when you're making a milk chocolate, put vanilla in it when you want to flavor it with a vanilla rather than vanilla, and to treat it very well all the way through. Temper it well before it's deposited or molded into a bar. Good quality control and a variety of different beans will impart different flavors into the chocolate. And so each company has its own formulas as to what type of beans they want to purchase to give their chocolate what they're known for, that particular flavor. Girardelli's sales have been on the rise of late, due in part to efforts by this West Coast company to sell more chocolate in the eastern United States and in part to a recognition that the snack market is an important one in America and that selling to that market requires not only good chocolate but eye-catching and attractive packaging, an appealing name and competitive pricing. Also helping sales are more Americans demanding and eating good chocolate thanks to the Europeans. In terms of pricing, Girardelli is really in the mainstream of American chocolate prices. We're competitive with all of the major national companies, Nestle, Hershey, Mars. And in terms of our quality, we've positioned ourselves as the premium domestically produced chocolate. We feel that our niche is as good as any European product, better than most domestic products yet competitively priced for the consumer. And we are seeing excellent increases in consumption. Part of that has been attributable to the European interaction and involvement in the American marketplace, offering higher quality merchandise, higher quality chocolate, non-chocolate products, and American companies more concerned about quality and about packaging, which the Europeans have always been the best at. They know how to package their products better than anyone else, I feel. And we have a lot to learn from them. Yes, I would agree. The consumer in the United States has gone through a rather qualitative change in terms of product demand. There were attempts to bring to market designer chocolates in the United States, which failed miserably. There is an awareness in the consumer's mind that chocolate, the manufacturing of good chocolate involves some history. Not just, I don't mean back to the Aztecs, but company experience. It's not possible to put a name on a chocolate bar and sell it because of the name. It's really a figure in society, I mean that kind of a name, a person's name, and get it to sell chocolate. It's really a company's reputation for making a very, very fine chocolate over time that develops a good, loyal consumer. At Ghirardelli Square, consumer loyalty abounds with a number of faithful swelling every day as sweet toothed tourists take their first bites. One taste seems to do it, even if these budding chocophiles are oblivious to the company's long and rich history or to the DiDomenico's own commitment to excellence, growing out of ownership and family. I think that there's an emotional tie to the company that is extremely strong for me that wouldn't exist. I cannot imagine it existing to that depth in a company that I did not have any ownership in whatsoever. And I think for me, I have a lot of pride when I walk into a grocery store or I walk into a drug store or a candy store and I see products that I know my family and myself have worked hard to formulate, produce, get into distribution and then to see someone eating that product and enjoying that product. For me, that's what I enjoy. And I can see it already in my son when we are shopping in the market and we'll pass by an aisle where one of the companies, one of the corporation's products is located. He'll see it and he knows by now what it is and he'll say, that's our family's product. It just gets in the blood at a very early age and you become proud of it and it just stays with you and gets stronger and stronger. It's a wonderful business to be in. And yes, we did get some samples but now that we've turned on your sweet tooth, we'll turn it off to its sweet. Think then and join us for a look at America's Fall Fashions as Janet Wood hosts a sample of the season's designs. This fall, American designers are returning to the classics. Annika Gao, fashion spokesman for Garfinkel's Department Store in Washington is here to tell us why. So good to see you. Nice to be here. Thank you. You know, fashion so often reflects the nature of the times. What has brought about this return to the classics in America? You know, as we're well aware, there seems to be a cherishing of traditional values once again in America and with that comes a little bit more of conservatism, a little conservatism in attitude, in social outlook, in mores and in fashion terms this translates into the classics, propriety and what's appropriate and with that comes a certain innate elegance, a fundamental elegance that's, you know, very American. Define elegance for me in this respect. Well, elegance is, as we know, conventional. It has to do with more prescribed form. It has little to do with fashion exaggerations. It has more to do with conforming to the rules of good taste and it has a quintessential look about it. It's quality, it's ease and it's comfort. You mentioned those three adjectives, quality, ease and comfort. Perhaps no one does it better than Ann Cline and Calvin Cline. There's certainly masters at that. Yes. Luis de Lelio for Ann Cline and of course, you know, Ann Cline was the first one to produce quality sportswear in the United States. So Luis de Lelio for Ann Cline has continued this wonderful tradition and we'll take a look at Schoen in the season's hottest item, the seven-eighths coat. Randed shoulders, it's cinched at the waist. It's in the season's newest color, which is Beige's and Baikouni's and Camel's. Beautiful fabric. It is a very luxurious fabric and this is what we're known for. Simple shapes in superb fabrics and good cuts. Now if we undo the coat, you could see that underneath it is a cashmere jewel neck sweater cinched at the waist again with a good three-inch belt and trousers. American designers showed a lot more trousers than the European counterparts, for example. And again, no one does trousers better than American designers. Thank you, Schoen. Here is the newly proportioned suit also by Ann Cline, a little bit longer jacket, as you can see, and a longer fluid skirt. In fact, what we're seeing and one of the big news of fall eight to six is the option of skirt lengths. Here we have a longer, more fluid skirt in this newly proportioned suit, but should the skirt be shorter, it would probably be straight. Now I would think the monochrome, the color, one color would be easier for a lot of people to wear that perhaps are not as tall as some of your models. It is because it cuts you less and it certainly is much more wearable for a shorter person. But and if you're tall, it makes even taller and lankier. Notice we've combined it with the same color, hose and shoes. So it has a beautiful monochromatic quality. Calvin Klein, which is the next outfit we're seeing, has a great awareness for American style, simple bodies, superb cuts. There's always an elegant modesty to his self assured styles. Now this reminds me of something almost out of the 1940s. Well, I tell you why, because it's a shorter jacket with a longer skirt and a big deep kickback pleat in the back. And it is something of the 40s, even a little bit longer in length. But you know, Janet, there's so much of this resurgence of the 40s, 50s, 60s and they seem to have taken the best elements of these decades and translate them into the most wearable outfits for today. For today is a woman in America, right? Thank you very much. American women seem to have this penchant for putting something on in the morning, looking great and wearing it throughout the day and then turning it into something smashing in the evening. Well, you know, the American women's lifestyle has become a very, very busy one and they really don't want to fuss with their clothing during the day. They want to put something on and they want to make sure that they look excellent at five or six o'clock at night, ready to go out to dinner or so forth. And fortunately, we have wonderful designers who have provided this outlet for us. And I'd like to show them to you. Very good. I believe our first designer is Marion Restivo, who is certainly not a household name but probably will soon be one. Don't you agree? Well, she's certainly an up-and-coming one. She's very popular with American working women, which as you know, is a big segment of our population. And she designs for the working women and her designs are as direct as she is. I'd like to show you this first dress that we have for you, which is a Wool Jersey charcoal gray dress. And it makes... By this, she makes three statements. One is that it is the newest neutral, which is gray. The second statement is that it's Wool Jersey. It's certainly a very, very popular and a very important fabrication for Fall 8 to 6. And the third, the shape of the dress is very new. It certainly was copied by other designers, but she came up with it first. We have major accessory statements here for Fall 8 to 6. One is that it's very nice to wear a soft brand with gray. The mid-turban on the hair. The three-inch mock croc belt and mock crocodile is a major leather statement. And on her arms, as you see, we have put some leather bracelets, leather straps, and it's just sort of a fun new way to accessorize a dress for the day. Oh, it's wonderful. But now you could take the accessories and change those. Now, that's the beauty of this dress. Yes, you could actually put rhinestone earrings with this and a little thin rhinestone belt. And you're ready for a wonderful dinner out on the town. And you're still comfortable to boot. And you're still comfortable. You put it on during the day and at night, you look just as marvelous as when you started. Thank you, ma'am. The Little Black Dress. The Little Black Dress by America's romantic designer, Ralph Lauren. And this is his interpretation of a day-into-evening dress. It's wool crepe with satin lapels, but you could see how wonderfully elegant it is. You could put a scarf in it for during the day. You could wear it to work. And you could certainly accessorize it with an antique brooch or pin as he did it for his show. The little bow in the back of the hair, very important. It's very feminine, classic, traditional, but with so much elegance. Nice clean lines to it and everything. Yes. Thank you very much. That's one dress you could put on and you'd always feel good in. Oh, it's a wonderful dress. It really is one of my favorites. Oh, now this is pretty. Here we have Gloria Sax, who is, of course, known for her interchangeable separates in soft wool shali. This dress has a season-less timeless quality. She has her wit and whim as you remember from the last time. She takes off on traditional patternings here in wool shali and she combines it for day, for example, with a velvet jacket. Now, I thought velvet was traditionally for nighttime. Well, this is what is new in fall 8 to 6. There are nighttime fabrications in daytime shapes and this is a good example of it. This daytime jacket just in a velvet takes you through that transition period that you would need and if you take the jacket off, Andrea, we can see how easily this works in the office, for example. You change the accessories. You take that shawl. You could wrap it around your waist. You could wrap it around your shoulder. There's so much you can do with it and she certainly is one of our very favorite designers. Talking about the classics, you can't get any more classic than Gloria Sacks. Her attention to detail is superb. Now, we mentioned velvet going into daytime. What about some of the daytime fabric, such as cashmere, which is just a marvelous, wonderful fabric going into evening? Well, you have a treat in store for you because we have marvelous nighttime shapes now in daytime fabrics and we will start with a Gloria Sacks cashmere dress that you will not believe her rendition of it and then Caroline Rome, who we've seen the last time, again in a cashmere this time with draping and then we'll go into a treat of Mary McFadden. Anika, let's take a look then at some beautiful evening wear from some great American designers. You know, we're very lucky this season in that Fall 1986 brings with it a superb cashmere season. Great cashmere statement. This one by Gloria Sacks is a simple little sweater dress, believe it or not, which is beaded at the neck, slinky, fluid, a little bit sexy, but it's all in good taste. We have accessorized it with a silk-paced scarf so the dress can really go from a dinner onto a gala, dinner dance, for example, if she takes the scarf off. And cashmere is such a wonderful fabric. I think every woman feels good in it. Oh, there's a timelessness. There's such quality about it. It really is a very, very hot-selling fabrication and we love it from Gloria Sacks. Simple and elegant. Thank you very much. Now, the next outfit that you're about to see is from Caroline Rome, who, as you know, has only started designing on her own just very recently, and she has put together this beige and camel cashmere wrap dress and drapes it with absolute precision, combines it with a jeweled cuff and collar. Now, can you take the collar and the cuffs off if you'd like to and do something different with it? This particular one you cannot, but you can order this dress without the cuff beaded or without the beading around the collar. And actually, either way, it is a magnificent dress. It has such a nice, relaxed look about it. It is absolutely wonderful. And the drop earrings that you see on her are also a major statement that continued from last year. The color combination you really wouldn't expect. It's a very elegant, rich look. Well, I think it's the classic steak into another level again, you see? And we love it. Thank you, Sharon. I believe our last model is wearing something from Mary McFadden. Mary McFadden, who really started the idea of this Fortuni pleating, took it to a concept whereby her bodies don't change particularly from season to season. But it's her attention to detail with the beading and she, every season, designs a different ethnic influence. And from here, this is Elizabethan era and beautifully beaded, very elegant. And in a jewelry room as opposed to... Yes, she does wonderful colors and marvelous designs on her embellishments. Briefly, Aniko, gorgeous clothes and a cap for us for 86. Well, as you saw, it is classic steak into another dimension with a little bit of modernity. It is good quality fabrics, interchangeable separates. The major color story is on gray and camel. The shoulders are round. It's always cinched at the waist. You have a great option in length. We prefer monotone dressing, monochromatic dressing, which is very, very important. It gives you the option when you're tall, when you're short. You really can play with it. And a little more fluid shapes coming into next spring. A little bit a-line, more trapezoidal. So I think we've seen the end of body consciousness for a while. Aniko, thank you so much. Always nice to have you here and I'll look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you very much. I love being here. Thank you. Max, Max, Max, Max from the show on Cinemax has got everything. It's got you quizzed. And now as promised, Max Headroom. The talk show host from England has been imported to America and is creating a sensation. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael, my friends call me Sugar Cain. Your famous TV talk show hosts like Johnny Carson be replaced by a computer. Meet Max Headroom, England's irascible talking head and number one TV star. This international phenomenon spawned two bestsellers, feature film, a successful record and a popular European t-shirt industry. Max is the latest craze sweeping the world. He's a computer-generated character and probably the reason for his success is the first personality that's been created for a sort of computer literate generation. Max is in the U.S. now and Coca-Cola has named him the new star of their advertising campaign. He has qualities that we think are unique. They match up, we think, with our product Coke. He's aggressive. He's refreshing. And we think it's a good fit. So does cable TV, which is counting on new pay TV subscribers when his new talk show premieres soon on the cable service Cinemax. The Max, Max, Max, Max show on Cinemax has got everything. It's got you quizzes. It's got you songs. It's got your voice spots. It's got your big celebrity interview. Let's get a little old moi right through it. Newsweek magazine calls Max the talk show host of the year 2000 and the newspaper USA Today calls him TV's hottest personality. Well, how do I account for my fame and my fortune? Probably has something to do with my... I don't know. It's something to do with being a cult, I think, and that can be such a slugger. Frightening business for some. I feel sorry for those people in the biz in quotation marks who carry fame like an ox's yoke. Must be a real pain in the neck. Sting vouchers. Well, basically, it started off with a request from Channel 4 to look at a video clip rock show series and Max was really born as a linking device between the videos. But it quickly mushroomed from this into a whole storyline. On the British produced TV show, first seen in the US last year, Max started as a human reporter injured while covering a story. His head was video-duplicated by unscrupulous advertisers. Nobody cared much about the fate of the reporter, but Max's of the molded blonde hair and plastic complexion has caught on. Max is actually British actor Matt Brewer who endures a four-and-a-half-hour makeup session in order to become Max's headroom. A mold is placed on his face and then prosthetic rubber is poured on to produce the bulbous head and the square jaw. To make Max's stuttered speech pattern, the producers film the actor speaking and then use only one frame in every 12, giving the impression that Max is trying to catch up with himself. But critics agree that Max is the most unique personality or thing on television. Whether he's seen on a Cinemax TV series or promoting Coke, Max's headroom is an original. Isn't it great? Isn't it fine? Woo! This is like opening a Beaujolais wine. It's a new show. It's a new show. It's like a beautiful don or the roses you've sent him. An old calamity. I'm Jill Dordy for Almanac. It's a new show. Max Headroom, who knows? You may see him hosting Almanac. We're going to turn our sights now to John Loughlin's Capital, Washington, D.C. In all the world, there is no other city like it. Wrote John Lough, in the beginning, all the world was America. For over 200 years, all of America has found unique expression in Washington, D.C. Here, etched in granite, is America's history, chapter and verse, portrayed in the words, deeds and likenesses of the people who built and preserved this nation. Inside our great institutions of learning, you will find the written annals of this nation's history and the accumulated wisdom and experience of over 2,000 years of civilization. And within the walls of our government, men and women continue to carry out the still unfinished experiment in self-government that is the very foundation of our way of life. For Washington is not only a city of symbols, but a place where liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness continue to find expression in the words and actions of our elected leaders. In all the world, there is no other city like this. Steeped in tradition, yet constantly reaching for the new, Washington, D.C. is indeed rich in unique delights. A capital city worthy of its namesake. Washington, D.C., one of the country's most popular cities to visit. I'm Sarge Carleton. Thanks for joining us on Almanac.