HI GO 58 BG6 Cornell IDlntvetstt^ OF THE IRewl^orFi State (toUcQC of agriculture fjc^Mks.. liinmz. Cornell University Library HD 6058.B6S Home work for women; twenty ways by which 3 1924 013 909 431 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013909431 OM&WORK orM)MEN TWENTY SPARE TIME PLANS By Rttu D. BreuMr . "-'' ' '''•■ flit,- 'io. INTRODUCTION BY giving a number of ways b^ which money can be earned, I have no doubt that you will find some which are applicable to the male sex as well. But women vnll invariably be more successful in these enter- prises than men, especially if thqr strive to sell their goods to, or do business with, other women- A new business enterprise sterns like an unpleasant inno- vation, in many cases, but I vnsh to assure you. Miss or Mrs. FUader, that I have striven to include all of the in- formation I can to assist you. Every business is perfectly straightforward, entirely holiest and free from any stigma w^ich might be cast upon your womanhood. With the hope that you will find many points of inter- est and advantage in this little book, I am, your friend. The Author. Home Work for Wpmen ^TWENTY WAYS^ BY WHICH LADIES OF REFINEMENT CAN EARN A LIVING OR POCKET MONEY IN SPARE TIME Price, $1.00 COPYRIGHTED 19J3 BY ROSS D. BRENISER Twenty Ways for Women TO Make Money PARTI Acting as Photographer MANY women possess a camera and know well how to use it, yet they are not fully conversant with the actual money-making properties of this instrument. In the right hands, a camera can be made to pay bountiful dividends; it is pleasant to work with, and play-time very closely im- pends upon work-time. If you are an ardent amateur photographer, nothing need be said here about workmanship. If you are unfamiliar with the art of producing really artistic pictures, practice until your work can safely be called excellent. For, first-class technique is necessary in properly conducting any of the plans which I have to suggest. Practice indoor photography as well as outdoor, remembering that the jobs which the professional photographer often will not get should be made to come to you. Here are just a few suggestions by which photography can be made to pay — and pay the woman of refinement rich returns for her time, her art and her skill. The business man offers a first opportunity. Seek for chances to photograph his stock, his employees, his show windows, his delivery service — everything that he is interested in. Don't ask him any money in advance, don't wait for his orders, until he volunteers them, but fill up plates with good attractive posings. When the plates are developed and excellent prints made, go back to him, present them for his approval and take his orders at high prices ioi such of the prints as he wants. He will use these in adver- tisements, circulars for framing in his offices and other numerous purposes. He will probably never want but one or two prints of any one subject, so govern your prices accordingly. Hotels, especially of the summer variety, are bonanzas. Take interior and exterior views under the same terms as suggested for the merchants. Also line up some of the employees in front of the hotel, and make a number of prints for sale to each one in the crowd. Work on lodges, schools and other public assemblages for permission to take the members of the organization in a group and then sell the individual prints for a fair price. Make good copies of noted scenes, historical monuments, or other interest- ing things and reduce these to attractive size prints. Expose these for sale in your local shops, upon a consignment or a commission basis. Be continually seeking work which ordinary photographers do not take. Offer to photograph sick people or invalids in their home surroundings. Their Home Work for Women 3 relatives are often willing to pay high prices for good photographs. Make a specialty of babies, household pets and other loved things without their hav- ing to go to the photographer. Don't have a "studio" — go to places where the picture is to be taken. It will give you a splendid opportunity. Be sure to be on hand at graduations, base ball games, amateur theatri- cals imd other entertainments for the purpose of taking pictures of the events. There is another very large field, not usually understood by photographers, this being the furnishing of photographs for use in advertising. For instance, cigarette houses buy photographs of attractive men or women for their brands, soap houses want attractive children, complexion cream houses wish for beau- tiful women's faces, and so it goes. Whenever you see a really beautiful young woman, a really attractive old man, or in fact a thoroughly characteris- tic member of euiy sex or at any age, take the picture and file it in your col- lection. Then when you have a number of such subjects, choose from some of the leading magazines, the names of parties whom you think would be in- terested and forward these prints for their approval, offering to sell the prints for a fair price. Nine times out of ten, you are perfectly safe in making this offer, as there is little danger of a reputable firm stealing your works. A good print is sold at from $5 to $100, depending upon the value of the subject and the pur- pose for which it is to be used. It is well to mark upon the back of the print just what price you ask, send the prints fully prepaid v«th postage for their return if not acceptable. Sometimes firms will noit be interested at all, but as a rule, large advertisers find it difiicult to obtain just the kind of subjects which they desire and eagerly welcome works from a new photographer. Landscapes, if well taken, and finished, can often be sold at large prices, particularly if a characteristic of some season, some noted scene or the like. Good taste should govern the taking of such pictures, as from $2 to $25 a print are not unusual prices for such work. In photography, the principal requirements are artistic sense in the posing or discovery of the subject, care in the lighting and careful understanding and operation of the processes of development. Photography can well prove a life work for a woman who will give it her attention, study it conscientiously and set out to live by its proper principles. PART II Producing Amateur Shows THE idea is to start a dramatic club for the performance of a play, opera or musical entertainment. Usually one of these three shows is selected. The first thing is to decide upon the play or the plays to be given, selectmg in most cases something which gives an opportunity to the largest number of peo- ple. Strictly "star" plays should be tabooed. These are all right for the person having the principal part, but others suffer, and it causes jealousy. You can find the names of play publishers in many of the leading magazines. 4 Home Work for Women The next thing to do is to make the rounds of various societies, hospitals, lodges and similar organizations who are constantly in need of money ^and who would be depended upon to back an amateur play or production. Make arramgements with the best ones (best as far as the membership is concerned and the possibilities of selling tickets) that you will furnish the production of that play for a third of the receipts, they do all the financial work, to pay all of the expenses connected with the play and the outside part of the business. Sometimes it is well to work in pairs, that is to have one woman to drill the players, while the other woman attends to the financial end, in which case it is the usual plan to give the charitable organization from 30 to 40 per cent, of the receipts. In this case, what the financial woman does is to act as treasurer, see that the tickets are properly taken, that the ushers are provided for, that the program is issued, that people are seated — ^in fact, to perform all of the duties of the "man before the curtain." After these details are properly settled, then form your dramatic club. If you have a large following or an acquaintanceship, talk about the matter among your friends. Urge them to join the dramatic club, if they are in the least interested in amateur theatricals. Then get them together some night, read the play to them, and if possible assign the parts. Then start with rehearsals. Rehearsals should be held at your home, providing you have a large enough room to conduct them in, otherwise a room rented for the occa- sion. The rehearsals should by all means be divided into two parts — about equal in length, i. e., from 8 to 9.30 for rehearsal, and from 9.30 to 1 1 for pleasure. If yours is a musical play, and you have an accompanist, arrange to have that accompanist to play for dancing during the pleasure part of the rehearsal. Perhaps you can have another instrument brought in also. If yours is not a musical play, you cem arrange that games be played, and a general good time indulged until 1 1 o'clock. Your skill as a social arbiter will be necessary in seeing that none of the young ladies are forced to go home alone, but that escorts are provided for them among those young men with whom they are acquainted. Stick stricdy tb business, during the business part of the rehearsal. Don't allow laughing or talking or spooning or playing. Make sure that your people arrive on time, or impose ,a small fine for their not doing so. Take them aside and show them where they are keeping back others besides themselves. Don't reprove people publicly unless you cannot possibly avoid it, and keep your temper at all times. You will find that jealousy is rampant, so try and give everybody some- thing to do and if possible equalize the parts as much as you can. Still you will find that the person having talent will always have to be favored, if your show is to be a success. But don't play any favorites and don't by any means try to be smart yourself. In fact, it is always best to give yourself a minor part, or no part at all, not only from the fact that people will talk less about you in that way, but also from the fact that you may be needed to fill in some other parts, where someone has 'been taken sick, or refuses to go on. Home Work for Women 5 Each performer is provided with two tickets for each performance — no more. If they wish any more, they should buy them, and it should be pointed out to them that the charity is to benefit. Some putting on a show of this kind insist upon a guarantee, but I con- sider it best to get along without such a guarantee. You will usually make more money and in cases where you make only a few dollars, you still have the good will of the society and can perhaps recompense yourself later upon another show. Keep your dramatic club intact, although members will drop out and get tired. A membership of 15 to 30 will provide for almost any play and the members who do not appear in one play can be put in another one. As soon as one play is over, start to rehearse another one, even though you have no present charity to work for. It is often possible to put on a play at your own hook, by assigning mem- bers of the play certain tickets to sell, according to the importance of the part which they assume. Thus the leading part would have to sell 50 tickets, the next 30 and the next one 20 tickets. By devoting a portion of your receipts to cheirity, it can be advertised as a charity entertainment and patronized ac- cordingly. Under these conditions, each performer provides his own cos- tumes, while you are responsible only for the cost of the tickets, the rent of the heJl and the incidental expenses. Entertainments of this kind have been given which netted $400 and up- wards for the promoters, while charity entertainments often produce as high as several thousemd dollars upon several nights or a week's run. If you are a good ceuivasser, you can often make as much out of the pro- gram as you can from the show itself. Merchants, manufacturers, doctors, dentists, etc., should be urged to place their ads therein, thus giving some money to charity and incidentally to you. PART III The Real Estate Business for Women NOW real estate may sound like a business which is very much over- run, imd so it is with the ordinary real estate men, but there certainly is an opportunity in almost every town for a live woman to operate in this field of business, and she need not have any office except that furnished by the four walls of her home. It seems a strange thing, for instance, that the renting and collecting of rents for houses has heretofore been all in the hands of men whose knowledge of home conditions is but slight and whose appreciations of the need of a home to womankind are those of dense ignorance. The average man is in his home only a few wakmg hours per day, while the woman spends practi- cally her whole life there. Why would she not be better adapted to decide as well as suggest what another woman would be apt to need most. There are in your town a number of houses which are known among real 6 Home Work for Women estate men as "poor renters." For a variety of reasons they either remain un- rented altogether, or do not keep their tenants. Thus as an investment to their owners, they are very poor. Few real estate men wish to hcuidle them, and the owner would welcome a newcomer who could tell him how to get permanent tenants. Therefore approach these owners and get them to give you an agreement, allowing you a certain percentage of the rent, if you will rent their places permanently. The usual commission ranges from 2 per cent, to 1 per cent. of the entire term under which the lease is made. So you can see that under this arrangement you will obtain for renting, upon a house which rents for $20 per month, your percentage upon $240 (the yearly basis). This does not include anything for collecting the rent, but merely for seeing that the place is rented. The owner pays you this much for your services. Then seek your tenants. You can do this by a little advertisement in your local papers, stating that you will help women to find good houses to live in, that you are a woman yourself, and therefore know woman's desires in the way of houses. The same result can be achieved by passing around cards or circulars. You should before long have a number of prospective tenants. Then take them around to see the houses which you have on your books. You should have studied these houses beforehand and figured why (from a woman's stsmdpoint) these houses were not rented permanently. Per- haps it is because of some little repairs or changes which must be made, but which the men — blind creatures — do not understand. Rent the woman the house with the understanding the repair or change will be made (providing of course that it does not come to too much money) and agree to pay for the change out of your own commission. That is the crux of the whole idea — that the landlord probably will make no repairs or changes, because he does not think that they are necessary. The tenants evi- dently have thought that they were necessary. Therefore charge a large commission with the understanding that you will get the tenant, and make the repairs yourself at your own expense. The increase in commission above what you usually obtain, will in most cases allow for this. You will of course also seek to secure the collection of the rents, which is usually figured upon a basis of from one per cent, to five per cent. There is not much in collecting one or two individual rents, but when you have a number of these to collect, they soon mount up and make a certain and sure income for you. Also figure in the sale of properties, pursuing the same general methods. i. e., catering to women and making any slight repairs at your own expense which may be necessary. In this way, you wdl get the confidence of your woman customers. The principles of success in the real estate business are progressiveness and constant watchfulness for buyers; industry in seeking to list properties and to go out after customers; and the pushing forward of the fact that you being a woman are better able to aid other women in finding the house. M Home Work for Women 7 PART IV Conducting a Mailing Bureau UCH money has been made out of mailing, but using considerably different methods from those employed by the circular mailers who advertise in some of the trade papers. There is a nice profit in mailing circulars, providing your methods are up- to-date. It forms a pleasant business for a lady or gentleman, can be con- ducted in spare time and requires practically no capital, save a willingness to work and the ability to talk convincingly. Secure, if possible, a list of the pay roll of any large manufacturing plants which may be in your vicinity. Obtain the names of the men and their home addresses. Prepare long No. 9 envelopes addressed to these men. The following is an account of how one lady conducted this: "I called successively upon several piano houses, a savings bank, a build- ing and loan association, a men's clothing house, and a bicycle company. From these concerns I secured six orders for one thousand circulars each, which I agreed to print and mail at fifty cents a hundred or five dollars for the thousand. I :Jlowed them to examine my envelopes for accuracy, etc. Most of them did look the envelopes over and saw that they proved to be accurate. I started mailing and the enterprise was so successful that I had little diifi- ctdty in inducing the same concerns to use the same list several times a year. My profits, while not large, recompensed me well for my trouble. Eight concerns at $5 each $40 00 EXPENDITURES Postage $10 00 Ejivelopes 3 50 *Printing 8 lots circulars 1 5 00 28 50 Profit $11 50 "Emboldened by my first success, I had a list of farmers prepared for me by the county clerk, who was a personal friend, and who compiled it from the tax records. Some of my old customers I succeeded in inducing to use this list. I also got some farming implement manufacturers, seed men, commission merchants, etc., to use circulars. Also after the first time I em- ployed a combination circular, for the commission men and charged each of them three dollars instead of five dollars for the one circular. This in- creased my receipts considerably. All that the commission men wished was a word or two about their facilities and their name and address. "My next plan was to compile a list of housewives of the town, which I had little difficulty in securing, owing to my large mailing list of the Thii wu opecUIIy cheap, becaute 1 had die eiaht ciiculan printed at one dme on a larse pren, thus avins press work. 8 Home Work for Women men. These housewives I did not mail to, however, but had the envelopes delivered by a small boy at much less cost. This also enabled me to en- close samples of various products secured from manufacturers, wrhich gave my envelopes real value and led to them being expected every month as rapidly as I got them out. While I conducted my business as a side issue entirely and still held on to my position, I feel that I could have made a permanent thing of it, had I decided to devote all my energies to it. I have not for some years tried to do any mailing, owing to the fact that I have been advanced in my regular work, but the idea is just as good now as it ever was. Have good lists, solicit business only from those who do not compete with each other and give first-class service. Many mailers who are now striving to make ten cents on a hundred circulars, would do well to turn their attention to the local part of their business. They will find numerous loccJ concerns, who will gladly pay from 25 cents per hundred upwards for the same service." PARTY Sales Agents THERE are numerous manufacturers who advertise goods in the maga- zines and in other publications who would be glad to give a generous commission to euiy woman who would represent them in her locality. The requirements for a local representation are simple. Set aside a room in your house for a display room. Decide in your own mind as to the line of goods which would have the best sale in your locality and to the people that you know. For instance, take a line of household speciaJties, including vacuum cleaners, carpet sweepers, dustless dusters, and the like. Or take a line of kitchen specialties, such as filters, new kinds of pots, ketdes, fireless cookers, and the like. Or take a line of dressmaking specialties, or almost anjrtlung which appeals to women. Then write to the manufacturers of such goods as you see advertised, stat- ing that you have opened a local sales agency and a display room, and offer- ing that if they send you sample and an amount of descriptive literature, that you will act as their local representative. Write a plain business-like letter upon good stationery, setting forth your ideas, and you will receive an ex- cellent number of replies from firms who are interested. Arremge your samples, as feist as they come in, upon display stands, which one of the men folks in the family can make. Have 2jso a full supply of circulars, booklets, etc., where you can lay your hands upon them. Invite, by circular matter, by advertisement and by personal calls, all of the women of your town or city that you can to visit your exprasition and ex- amine the samples. The wise way is, if possible, to make definite appoint- ments, by which several women can call euid be told about the various things which you have for sale. No capital is required in this business, because the manufacturer furnishes all the circular matter and such samples as needed. You do not sell goods. Home Work for Women 9 you merely take orders, and they ship the goods. If the manufacturer gives credit, your customers pay him direct; if he does not give credit, you collect the proper amount from the customer emd remit same to the manufacturer. A commission ranging from 10 per cent, as high as 50 per cent, is often given upon goods of this nature, and it does not take very many sales to make a good showing. Even in cases where the manufacturer has these goods for sale at the stores, he is willing to give you a chance to take orders, and interest such people as you can, delivering the goods to them later, direct from such stores or supply depots, which he may have in the locality. The principal thing about this business is to have all of the novelties to present to the women and to always be able to show something new, when they call upon you. Keep foUowdng up the new advertisers and get hold of their goods, before these goods are introduced into your town. In such a way, you will be able to always interest your customers euid secure orders for goods from manufacturers before they have their agencies placed. I know of a lady in a small Pennsylvania town who has continuously made from $ 1 5 to $30 per week from this business. She uses the mornings for ceJling upon people to interest them in her expositions and uses her after- noons amd parts of the evening in which to show the people the goods which are on display. This business is not canvassing, but is merely introducing new goods to ladies who will be interested when they see what labor saving devices you are able to show them and how you can help their work in the kitchen or around the house. PART VI Secretary THERE are several different kinds of secretaries — ^private secretaries, so- cial secretaries and corresponding secretaries. Each of these have their field. The private secretary works for a man or woman of large interests, her duties not only being to euiswer letters, but to perform some part of super- vision over the interests of her employer. A knowledge of stenography and a considerable knowledge of business is usually necessary to become success- ful in the private secretary business, so I shall dismiss this feature, with only a mere mention. The social secretary is, however, more a matter of refinement, suid social standing them it is a matter of business. The social secretary takes charge of a society woman's social affairs. Her duties are to answer all of the cor- respondence of her employer — ^all of the invitations, all of the acceptemces. When her employer gives a social event, the social secretary is expected to have ready a large or small list as the occasion demands, of those to whom her employer is socially indebted. The social secretary's position is an important one, so long as she keeps in touch with the social conditions and makes no 10 Home Work for Women mistakes. A knowledge of social interests in the communities, the writing of a nice hand and that instinctive taste in the choosing of correct phraseology, in the phrasing of notes as well as in the managing of social a£Fairs are about the only requisites of this kind. A social secretaryship pays from $20 a month as high as $200, and in many cases includes board and room as well. The social secretary is also expected to meet atll the visitors except those of her employer's immediate circles and in every way conserve the time and lay out the course of her employer. The corresponding secretary, or business secretary, as I might phrase it, is an entirely different type. In this line, a trade can be made in eJmost every town. Call upon those business men who have not many letters to write and whose knowledge of good business English is perhaps meager. Offer for a certain set sum per month to call every day, and answer business letters for them. It would be well in this line to hire or buy a cheap typewriter — ^your work is of course done in your own home, providing the man does not possess a typewriter of his own. Keep a stock of his stationery in your workroom, and have a certain set hour for meeting him and going over with him the contents of his correspondence. At first, he will perhaps have to lay out the letters for you, but after you fall into his style of dictation and his ways of doing business, you will be able merely from a slight notation upon the letter to be answered to figure up the answer itself. Then return, turn out the work and bring it back to him, before the close of business for his signature. Many men who caimot afford a typewriter and stenographer in their business will gladly pay from $5 per month upwards for this work. Or, if you prefer, you can make a specified charge per hour, or per letter. Most business men, however, prefer to pay by the month, according to the approximate amount of work which they want. While there is not a fortune in this little idea, it is an honest living and it will enable you to so learn business needs and desires that in time you can graduate into the private secretary position or obtain a position as confidential stenographer, at a salary ranging from $ 1 per week upwards. PART VII Tailors' Representative MANY women have difficulty being fitted with suits at their local tailors, or at the local store. There are mail order tailors who take a chance of allowing the woman to measure herself, and write her requirements in the way of a suit but quite often this work is very unsatisfactory. Besides, the profits which have to be charged by such concerns (on account of their high cost of doing business) are such as not to allow very good value. To become a tailor's representative, go to your nearest large city, where styles can be depended upon, and select in this city a high priced, a medium priced and a low priced tailor. Make an arrangement with these people to represent them in your town and locality, having them furnish you with Home Work for Women 1 1 cards, necessary stationery, etc. You can have them teach you the art of measurement, and to give you order blanks on which the measurements are to be recorded in triplicate. Then come home and send out your cards with a personal letter inviting the women to call and examine your samples, style sheets, etc. Reinforce these circulars and cards by p>ersonal calls wherever you think it will do. Of course there are seasons to this sort of busings and you should act well in advance of both the Spring and the Fall, so as to get the work under way, and have plenty of time for the woman's wear. Your tailors should quote their regular price and allow- you a good sized commission for taking the order. Go over the book of samples, styles, etc., with your customer, take the measurements, and send the order to the tailor whose prices seem to suit the customer the best. A fair commission would be from 20 per cent, to 33 1-3 per cent., al- though some tailors will not give more than 20 per cent. You can easily see that with women's suits, running from $25 to as high as $150, a 20 per cent, commission is not to be sniffed at, particularly in these days when all women buy tailor-made suits. It might also be well to take an agency for a made-to-order shoe house, also for a hand-made shirt waist house and for a stylish dressmaker, although the latter will be jather hard to handle in the case of women who are very difficult to fit. Nowadays, however, it is the person who conducts the business end of the dressmaking trade who makes the money. There are plenty of clever de- signers and skillful work-women, but after all securing the business and sat- isfying the customer, are the principal points of the trade. These are the places where you can be of assistance and where you will be able to make your commission. PART VIII Record Exchange ALMOST everybody has a phonograph nowadays — a machine of this kind is almost as common as an organ, yet most people are not so situated that they can afford to buy all of the records as fast as they come out, therefore a record exchange business should be very profitable. Write to all of the manufacturers, for their prices upon records and put a fair supply in stock. Have the bulletins of the latest records for your cus- tomers to select from, and you can agree to allow a few of these records and a few standard ones in the same exchange. Base your service charge on one dollar, two dollars and five dollars per month. One dollar permits the exchange of ten records, two dollars 20 records, five dollars 50 records per month. In the former case, the ten records must all be exchanged in one lot, but in the latter cases weekly exchanges can be made if desired. 1 2 Home Work for Women No cracked nor broken records should be received at any price, nor should any which are worn beyond a certain poinit be sent out again. If the record is broken, the customer must replace same or pay the wholesale price for it. To cover breakage and losses which may otherwise arise, it might be well to insist upon a deposit (when the person joins the exchange) of an amount equal to the wholesale price of the records to be returned when the person drops out of the exchange, or if desired that person can keep the lot of records which he then holds and the amount which he has paid would be sufficient to cover the cost. You can have a wagon to deliver the records, and collection should be made upon delivery. You can easily see that you are protected in this business, because you have the full wholesale cost of the records as a deposit, and every time an exchange is made, you are paid for it. In delivery of records, be sure to make note of the first and second choices of the people who are your customers, but do not give too much choice, be- cause otherwise you will bte loaded up vfiih a bunch of records which no- body wants except the person who first specified them. When a record becomes thoroughly well worn, or seems undesirable, clear it out at as low a price as you can to your non-customers. It is a wise plan to hold a clearance sale of records by which you can get rid of old records at a fair price. In conjunction with this plan, it is a good idea also to handle records for the mechanical piano players, which cem be operated under the same basis as suggested here. This business, while it requires some capital, is a very pleasant one, for a woman who is devoted to music. There is also quite a little profit to be made in selling new phonographs, phonographic supplies and in taking orders for phonographic repairs. Get into touch with live firms who sell these goods, and a good man who can be depended upon to repair in the best shape eind take commissions upon work or materials which you send in orders for. PART IX The Collection Business THE collection of bad bills is by no means the only opening to a woman who is willing to go out and meet other women and collect money. Much collecting can be done by means of correspondence, but there is al- ways that feature of personal contact which must be considered. To most women this is repugnant, but there can be no doubt that this profession pays bountifully for a little loss of pride. The best source of past-due bills are those of professional men, such as doctors, lawyers and dentists. These men are so situated that they hesitate to dun their clients, and, would gladly turn this work over to a persistent yet painstaking woman who will get in the money. From 5 per cent, to 25 per cent, upon bills which are good is about the range of commission. Most churches have pledges from members to pay certain amounts of Home Work for Women 1 3 money, which pledges have not been kept. While the minister often does this collecting or leaves it to a member of the business committee, in most cases much better results can be secured by an outsider, who naturally has no prejudice to combat, and to whom any answer but a plain "no" will be useless. There are eJways collections to be made also on public and semi-public affairs, because rarely are all of the amounts paid in immediately, and things hcuig over, which ought to be collected. Look after clubs, societies, organ- izations of all kinds and you will invariably find bills to collect and will also find that these bills are comparatively easy to bring in the money on, because of your status as an outsider. The modus operandi of bill collections consists of writing first a mild let- ter, then a sharper one, and finally a rather harsh one, following this up with a series of personal calls, until some settlement has been arranged or the ac- count given over as worthless. It quite often pays, in case the whole amount is not available, to take the money in installments of a dollar or two dollars or five dollars a week, calling each week to obtain the amounts. In such cases of course the commission is regulated according to the amount of trouble involved. While collecting is not regarded in some quarters as an extremely pleasant business, ui>on the other hand there is much money in it; it requires no capital cind it is certainly honest. Indeed much more honest than those people who refuse to pay their just debts auid obligations. A woman collector can depend in the vast majority of cases on receiving much better treatment than the man collector and she possesses usually a greater amount of persistence, which stands her in good stead when it comes to making repeated ceJls. In conducting a collection business, it is wise to have things always in the best form. A book of receipts should be provided vs^ith regulation stubs, in which can be noted the amount of payment, what the claim is for, and the balance still due. These receipts should be left with the person from whom the money is collected, while the stubs are retained as your record. Bills should always be presented, made out on the proper bill heads of the p)ly dote upon. First, look around among your acquaintances and find those women who would be willing to work in spare time upon various features of the baby's outfit. Tell them that you will provide all the material needed, patterns and everything complete, but that you want them to make the work a labor of love, in which each stitch is a message for the baby to grow strong and keep well- Organize your little "factory" very carefully, choosing your women with great discriminsttion and assigning to each only the part which she can do best. Your key-note must be beautiful work and not low prices. Don't give any of your workers too much responsibility — you are to be the super- intendent and the business manager. Don't atten^)t to do any of this work yourself, but reserve your energy for those parts of the business which need your undivided attention. Then correspond with a wholesale house in your nearest city. It may be a good plan to go to that city, consulting the city directory and obtaining the very best prices upon the materials you need. You must get low rates, you must be able to buy at wholesede. You simply can't afford to purchase your goods at the stores for the same retail money at whicih your customers purchase them. Make proper arrangements by which you can send your order and have it filled immediately. State your business, tell the manager of the estab- lishment just what it is you expect to do, so that he will feel no hesitancy in granting you the lowest possible price upon the material which you need. Now proceed to get hold of your customers, either by calling in person uf>on mothers and prospective mothers, or writing letters and sending out cir- culars. Don't confine your attention merely to your home town, but endeavor to work up a trade all around you. Strive to get the order for the entire outfit of a new baby. One good way is to offer a baby care book free to a new mother, or to offer to assist her 20 Home Work for Women with advice or hdp upon baby's needs at any time. A book of this kind can be purchased for very little money from the publishers, and no doubt you or some of your people are familiar with a book which is valuable along this line. The offer of the book, providing you secure the order for the entire out- fit, usually weights the scales your way. Outfits are of course priced according to the workmanship, the materials used and the amount of fancy trimmings the new mother wants. Usually, however, it is an order well worth going after. I am personally acquainted writh a lady in a New Jersey village who has operated such a business as this for years and has been unusually successful with it. She states that on a $25 outfit her cost sheet usually shows something like this: Actual materials, yardage, lace, trimmings and sundries $ 7 50 Thread, needles and sewing materials 1 00 Labor, 25 hours, at 25c am hour 6 25 $14 75 Making a profit of $10.25. This particular lady has now such a large business that she employs one woman who does nothing but cut out the goods from patterns and distribute same among the seamstresses. The trimmings necessary, thread emd other goods, are also distributed in like manner. Thus all the seamstresses have to do is to put the garments together under the proper direction. This lady does not make the knit goods, although there is no reason why she should not do so, except from the fact that she cannot find proper workers in her village. She buys these from wholeseJe houses at very low prices and includes them in the outfits. She also has a number of exclusive stores in the big cities who use her goods, though of course she cannot get such good prices as from the indi- vidual; however this serves to fill in what would otherwise be dull seasons. N PART XII Artists O, I do not mean for you to sit in your home and draw pictures for the art studios. There is no money in this sort of work nowadays. As an artist has said, "No artist is ever great until he is dead," and I am sure my readers will not wish to wait until they are dead, so that their canvases may become sellable. But there are many ways in which a little artistic ability may be put to ac- count, without going into the line of art where pictures are bought by collec- tors. The first and most profitable art line is that of fashion drawing. Fashion drawing is the showing of certain pictures of shirtwaists, gowns, tailor- made suits, hats, shoes emd all other adjuncts to dress. These are shown Home Work for Women 2 1 bodi on the figure and draped alone. It is not my purpose to enter into an account of fashion drawing in this book — there is not room enough — and if the reader is at all able I should advise taking a course of instruction from one of the leading fashion art schools. But the ^nact of the thing can be picked up widn patience through a study of such drawings as are reproduced in the fashion journals, and in magazines, catalogs and other literature. The princq>al object of fashion drawing is to show the clothes in their very best ap- pearance, to accentuate their good points and to keep back their poor points. Attractive figures of men, women and children are usually advantageous in doing this. Another line which usually pays well is in the decoration of menu cards, party favors, etc., by hand. Attractively hand-colored pictures, made by buying the flat prints from the publishers and putting the colors in yourself, find a ready sale in the book and stationery stores. There is likewise a good chance in commercial art work — ^i. e., the pre- paration of drawings for commercial firms to be used in advertisements, upon stationery, letter heads and the like. Study this work carefully and if you think that you are able to handle it properly make up some good drawings and submit them to advertisers in your home town or nearby. Do not essay the large advertisers until you have more experience. Even your local merchant has to use a letter head, or perhaps get up an attractive circular occasionally. A good drawing of his name or of the article which he wishes to advertise will find a place. Advertising agents and engraving houses are always in the market for these kind of drawings and if you will consult the editor of your loceJ paper, you can find the names of such concerns to whom you might sub- mit your work. The fact that you are a distance from them, counts some- what against you perhaps, but you can often quote a little lower price and do a great deal better work than the other party, hence you will get the business. There is money in retouching photogFc4>hs and lantern slides. Your local photographer sometimes has a great deal of this work to do, and while of course you are not familiar with the needs of it, providing you have cm ar- tistic touch amd are willing to learn, he can readily teach you how the work is to be done. There is money likewise in coloring lemtern slides and photographs. Every amateur photographer has his pet photographs which he wishes colored cuid for which he will pay a good price to have done. The Keil-Burr Co., 56-58 Pine St., New York, furnish with every box of their colors, at $1.50, a full set of instructions as to how to color photographs and lantern slides. There are other reliable firms also. Colored lantern slides are used by theatres and moving picture houses to illustrate songs and are always hand colored. While in many cases there are concerns which exist alone for the purpose of doing this coloring work, still you may be able by applying to your local picture house, get some of their work to do, or to be reconnmended to the house who handles the work. 22 Home Work for Women With these and other suggestions which will come up from time to time, any woman with artistic ability can easily support herself. in her own home and in a pleasant, agreeable way. PART XIII Shopping and Local Credit Bureau THE woman who lives in the city can very easUy do shopping for custo- mers who live in the smaller towns, somewhat distant. The average woman does not like to trust a department store with her patronage, direct, because she fears that they will send her inferior goods or charge the highest of prices. To have a personal shopper right on the ground means that she will get the best service in every way and that likewise she will be able to take advantage of the bargains advertised by the stores, but rarely sent to cuiyone. These bargains must be gotten by the person on the spot. The "shopper" is that person. The woman who lives in the country can become a professional shipper by taking daily or semi-weekly trips regularly to the city nearby, in order to do shopping for her towns-people. In this way she has more expenses than the city woman, but on the other hand she can save her customers much time, trouble and money. Also, she does not have the difficulty in securing custo- mers that the city woman does. For, the city woman must necessarily write letters, do advertising, or go to a great deal of trouble and expense in order to secure her customers. The out-of-town woman, on the other hand, can call in person upon her customers, smooth out complaints, secure business, etc. The usual charge to make for cash shopping or cases where the parties have a credit account with the store, is 1 per cent. That is to say that 1 per cent, is charged the customer upon each lot bought. It is usual also to obtain from the store an additional 10 per cent, discount as a "shopper." While the "shopper" cannot obtain this amount of money at the beginning, as soon as the stores see that she has valuable trade, they will be glad to accord her the shopper's discount of 1 per cent. Thus, if the shopper buys $10 worth of goods for her customer, she ob- tains one dollar from her customer and one dollar from the store, or a total of $2 for her trouble. It is usual also to run a "credit bureau" in connection with the shopping idea. You will find that many of the ladies whom you do business with do not wish to pay for the goods in ceish, but to wait until the end of the month until their husbands are paid or for some other reason. This can very easily be managed by opening a credit account with the various stores yourself. They will bill you the goods on the first of the month and you have from the tenth to the twentieth to pay for them. All of your bills should be collected by the fifth of the month, thus allowing you the use of the money in the mean- time. It is customary to ask an additional 10 per cent, for the accommoda- tion. The 10 per cent, is naturally added to the bill when it is sent out at Home Work for Women 23 the end of the month. Thus a person for whom you bought goods and had them charged to the amount of $10 would be billed with $10 for the goods, $1 shopping fee and $1 credit fee, a total of $12. In cases where your customer does not desire to use your services as shopper, but wishes to buy direct of the store, you can issue credit checks over your signature, which the store would accept the same as cash, charging you for the goods as bought in the usual manner. In such a case of course you charge the customer the 10 per cent, for credit, although of course you get the 1 per cent, from the store just the same. PART XIV Teaching THE idea of "teaching" usually occurs to a woman when she finds that she must earn her own living. Yet I do not refer particularly to "school teaching," as this is an illy-paid and very difficult profession, which has the additional disadvantage of taking one away from home. There are so many things which a person can teach without going out of her own home, that it is useless to pursue the thankless vocation of school teaching. I will give a few real examples to show what others have done — from these you may glean the germ of your successful idea. Lady No. 1 wasn't much of a cook in some ways, but her ginger-bread cookies were famous. She always used a certain kind of flour in making them. When she was forced to earn her own living, she wrote to the flour company and they employed her as "instructor" at a large weeikly salary. AH she had to do was to go from one town to another and give instructions to such ladies as wished to learn the art of baking cookies. She does not solicit nor do anything else of an unpleasant nature. Lady No. 2 started a dancing class for little folks in her own home, guaranteeing personal instruction and only the very best of company for the children. Many parents hesitate to send their children to dancing school for fear that the children will come into contact with others who are not the right sort of companions. Lady No. 3 taught backward children from the city schools and by dint of personal application and unique method was able to see her little pupils shine in later examinations over other children of their own age. Lady No. 4 taught young girls the art of riding prc^erly. She had been brought up in the South, where horses are usual and she had much skill in riding. Notwithstanding the encroaching automobile, there still exists a de- mand for riding horses. Lady No. 5 taught several kinds of fancy embroidery work to eager pupils. Lady No. 6 found her vocation of teaching elocution to a small class very profitable. She charged 50 cents a lesson, winding up the season by a neat little entertainment given by her pupils, which netted her $50. 24 Home Work for Women Lady No. 7 teaches the clerks in a certain number of stores the art of salesmanship and trains in at a set fee (from the proprietor) new clerks who may be emt>loyed. In connection she is now instituting a training school for clerks, where boys and girls just out of school can learn the principles of clerking in a store, the amount to be paid out of their weekly salary. Lady No. 8 instructs amateurs in the proper use of the camera, devel<^ng outfits, etc., working both independently and for a local photograph store. Seek out something — be it ever so humble — that you know better than most people emd offer to teach this. You will usually find takers at a fair price. PART XV Home Decorating and Planning THE woman with innate taste for beautiful things and a knack at ar- ranging rooms, apartments iuid homes without running into too great expense, enters a real field in interior decorating and planning. In these days of specialists, the modern woman finds that she secures the best results from employing an interior decorator to attend to the whole furnishing of her house. Carpets, rugs, furniture, even mantle ornaments and curtains are ordered so as to be in harmony with the other furnishings of the room and to carry out such ideas in the way of arrangement. Walls are decorated, painted and papered according to the interior decorator's idea. Chandeliers are ordered to fit the requirements. Wood work is painted and room hardware obtained, all to carry out the general decorative scheme. A woman interior decorator contracts to furnish and decorate m entire home or perhaps only a part of a home. There are two ways of doing this business, either to carry it out individually, the "decorator" hiring the pamter, the paper hanger, the furniture man, the carpet man and all of the other tradesmen and workmen, contracting with them for certain prices and making her profits upon the difference between the sum of these prices and the amount charged the customer, or to have all of the tradesmen and workmen bill their services and goods to the customer and charge a certain agreed commission for the work which has been done. Either of these ways are good, but for a woman with little or no capital, the latter is probably the best. The quality of being able to sketch, be it only a little, is an almost absolute necessity to this business, as is the artistic sense and a fair amount of business judgment. You must learn to size up your customer, find out what it is that she really wants and then gendy lead her ideas towards the things which are really best for her. Much tact and business enterprise is usually necessary in doing this, yet here is where the artistic ability to properly sketch out a thing in advance comes in. If you are able to show your custo- mer, even a rough idea of what the room is going to look like, this usually overcomes her prejudices against that particular kind of a room and you have gotten the order. Home Work for Women 25 Use ordiniary business judgment, have an agreement drawn up between you and the customer, stating what it is that she is to do and what it is that you are to do. Of course the agreement should in all cases be with the owner of the house, although you will probably deal with the woman of the house, as far as the details go. Sketch out your plans carefully and know in ad- veuice what it is that you want before you call in the tradesmen and me- chcinics. Lay their work out for them, so that they will not get in each other's way eui3 yet will not waste any time. Speed is usually an object, yet speed which hurts the work is never to be desired. The interior decorator usually charges from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent, of the amount which is spent, depending upon the conditions under which the job has been taken, and the amount of money involved as well as the amount of work which must be considered. It will be necessary perhaps in order to achieve a reputation, to take work very cheaply at first, but do your best. Get people to talking favorably about you. It is in this way that the work will soon come to you, as word-of-mouth recommendation is the only real way of increasing business in this particular line. Of course you must use due business judgment in seeking trade from those whom you hear are about to have a new house built or certain portions of their old one done over. Sometimes it is possible to go to a woman even in advance of your knowledge of her requirements, and present a pretty sketch of what you can do for her, providing she gives you the interior decorating. Or ask the opportunity of submitting such 'sketches to her without any charge at all, except her willing- ness to look at them. Suoh work must be handled carefully, however, as you may offend the woman by leading her to believe that you think her house needs improvement. PART XVI Kindergarten WORK in a kindergarten is usually well known by women, and I shall make it only as a suggestion who have perhaps thought vaguely of it, but do not know where to apply for proper help and instruction. Kinder- garten work is fascinating; it is usually not very taxing upon the brain nor the patience, and it pays fairly well, considering the amount of time involved. The F. A. Owens Co., of Danville, N. Y., are puUishers of many works upon teaching. No doubt you can secure all information in reference to starting a kindergarten from them. In conjunction with kindergarten, often a number of appointments can be secured as "Mother's helper" for a certain number of hours per day with the young folks of the family whose parents do not desire them to go to school. A mother's helper is simply one who assists the mother in teaching, giving the children instruction, and who can be relied upon to properly take care of the children during a certain specified time. To romp with them and 26 Home Work for Women to in every way attend to them while the mother is perhaps attending to social or other duties. In addition to a kindergaten, a "play club" can be organized for the chil- dren by which you can take a number of them on excursions to nearby places of interest and of enjoyment. All expenses are of course paid by the parents, with a rate per hour for the work done. PART XVII Clipping Bureau EVERY business and professional man, every i>olitician and statesman of importance, has numerous things said about him and of interest to him, scattered through hundreds and perhaps thousands of magazines and news- papers. The object of the clipping bureau is to go through these publications and clip out, placing in scrap books the thing in which the man is interested. One person may want everything which can be found relating to ploughs, another relating to chickens, another relating to forestry, another any one of a thousand kindred subjects. The man as a rule has not time to go through his publications himself, amd is glad enough to delegate this duty to a clipping bureau. For instance, in your town there is probably a. scientist or a man of great learning who wishes to keep track of all topics which come within his speci- alty. It is easy enough to make an arrangement vnth him by which you can furnish these clippings to him at a price to be arranged between you. These prices range from one cent up to 50 cents each, according to the number re- quired and the difficulty in locating them. There may be a business man in your home city who is interested only along certain lines of his business aitd who wishes to obtain materials for ad- vertisements and other matter. He hasn't time to go through his trade jour- nals, his magazines or other publications for these particular items. He em- ploys a clipping bureau to do it, and pays for the clippings as submitted to him in a scrap book, properly indexed where he can find them in a moment. Newspapers maintain very voluminous scrap books and there is often oppor- tunity to take charge of these scrap books, dcnng the reading and the clipping to keep them up-4o-date. Another big chance for a clipping bureau is the furnishing of names to ad- vertisers. If John Jones has rheumatism, that fact is of vahie to a number of firms selling rheumatic medicines or appliances. If Jennie Jones has just had the stork stop at her house, that fact is of intense interest to a number of firms making baby carriages, infant's outfits, nursing bottles, baby food and the like. If the new church requires a pipe organ, all of the pipe organ manufac- turers want to know it. There is a market for names of people who have gotten money in recent inheritances, for people who have newly mortgaged their houses, for those who have bought lots in order to build and the like. Home Work for Women 27 These names can very easily be obtained from local and other newspapers, neatly arranged in slip form, containing 50 or 100 names and sold at a fair price. Communicate with firms who would be likely to use them or whose advertisements you see in the newspapers and magazines. You can readily obtain "exchanges" from your local newspaper office of all the newq)apers published within a radius of many miles. They will give them to you free when they have no use for them any further. Back numbers of magazines can be obtained from your local newsdealer, with whom you can make an arrangement. He usually has to send back the cover pages or some other portion of the magazine to show that it has not been sold. But for your purpose it is equally as good as a new magazine. Back numbers of magazines can often be secured from dealers in such things in the big cities at a really small price. Consult the Philadelphia Magazine Co., Tenth street, below Callowhill, Philadelphia. In conjunction with a clipping bureau it is often well to run a library ser- vice, by which the newest books can be furnished upon any subject in which the party is interested. You can obtain these lists from the publishers and they will give you a commission for selUng the books, which are usually of a scientific caste and turn. Have your letterheads printed to show that you are a jobber in books and you will have no difficulty getting the commission on the books, which will range from 1 5 per cent, as high as 50 per cent. This is a little business which is new in most localities, but which will yield large dividends. Do not sell novels nor books which are generally found in book stores, but confine yourself to technical and semi-technioal works which have to be bought of the publisiher by the party who is interested in them. PART XVIII Manicuring and Hairdressing THIS is a typical woman's business, but the fact that so many women have gone into it does not lessen the real profit or sure demand which still exists. If there is no manicurist and hair dresser in your town, your way will be easy, even though your town is small, because it is certain that there are always a half dozen women or so who would rather have another womein treat their hair and nails than do it themselves. But if you are in a place where there is a good deal of competition in this line, it will be necessary to have some little way in which you excel, or some little plan by which you offer more than your competitors. Here are just a few ways in which real women have made a success out of the manicuring and hair dressing business: Lady No. 1 makes a point of calling at her customer's home twice a week or once a week, at a monthly charge. She does not charge by the applica- tion, but by the month, and does both hair dressing and manicuring, besides 28 Home Work for Women giving the face a healthful nib with cold creeun and other little personal ser- vices. She easily gets $1 per month to $3 per month for this service. Lady No. 2 gives with each manicuring treatment or hair dressing treat- ment an attractive cake of toilet soap which she procures for a few cents, but has put up with her own label. It is really a very meritorious article and pleases the recipient immensely because it would seem that there was never enough soap in the house. Lady No. 3, when she has made a customer, gives her a ticket entitling a new customer to either a hair dressing tceatment or manicuring free of charge. This the lady is asked to either give away, or invite one of her friends to come with her at the next treatment and be treated at the customer's expense. This will of course cost the customer nothing, because the ticket is given in lieu of cash for the new customer's treatment. This gets plenty of new cus- tomers at small expense. Lady No. 4 in doing manicuring, also carries out the idea of putting the hands into good condition by offering to clean all rings which are brought her free of charge. She procured from a jeweler a cleaning compound which she applies to stones and the ring with a brush (diamonds, being acid proof, are immersed in an acid bath to clean them, but this is not possible with other precious stones). She also had a box of jeweler's sawdust, in which the rings were placed while they were drying, then taken out of that, brushed with a jeweler's soft brush and placed on the hamds, where they glistened like fire. She made no charge for this, but since she was the highest priced manicurist in town she did not have to do so. But her customers are so pleased with the way their hands look >after she is done with them, that her business is enormous. Lady No. 5 carried catalogs of all of the leading hair goods people and had secured from them in advance a 10 per cent, discount. However, she agreed to give this 10 per cent, discount to all of her regular hair dressing customers, so that they had the saving. This made a lot of difference with women who like to save every penny that they can, even upon their appear- ance emd therefore she was assured much regular hair dressing trade in order that they might get a discount upon any hair goods which they might need. Swritches, transformations, rolls emd all other hair goods were included. So you can see that hair dressing and manicuring is not simply a case of having a beautiful work-room or spending plenty of money adverting — it is a case of doing good work and using unique methods to attract your trade. Write to the Cosmetician, La Crosse, Wis., and you can get hold of all goods connected vdth this trade at reasonable prices. Home Work for Women 29 PART XIX Edibles POSSIBLY the first thing which a good cook will turn to when she is obliged to make money for herself is something good to eat. Yet usu- ally such luxuries as cakes, pies and candy are the things selected. This is a decided mistake, because the market for such luxuries is but small, and the chances for profit are considerably cut up. Besides, the work is very confining, as it can usually only be done by the person whose reputation is bringing the trade. This precludes any amount of growth in such a business. It is always wisest in any manufacturing trade to choose articles which can be multiplied indefinitely by low priced help, under the careful supervision of the expert in charge. Reduced to sinqiler terms, this means that if you start selling edibles, the right plan would be to start somethmg which does not re- quire the work done by your own hands, but which others can be taught to do almost as well as yourself, although you will in all cases maintain the super- vision over the process. Naturally this cuts out cakes, pies, home-^made bread and such thbgs, but it opens the way for a vast number of other articles which are more profitable, and upon which the field is much wider. There is a woman in Phikdelphia who has built up an immense trade upon home-made jellies, jams and pickles. She started by producing these goods in her own section and selling to a few of the neighbors who were unaUe to put up good things themselves. Later some of the stores came to her and asked her to allow them to sell her goods, to which she assented, and en- larged her kitchen again and again until she has a considerable little factory, but still the same home methods prevail. Her workers are clean, cheerful girls, who sing at their work and who are always allowed a chance to chat euid play. She has made arrangements with several large fruit auid vegetable con- cerns to take their surplus stock every day during the season, which surplus stock being dead ripe, would spoil before it reached the consumer, but which in her hands is readily made into the most palatable of preserves. A choice family remedy for mince meat is the basis of another woman's fortune, while still euiother lady has foimd in home manufactured yeast an excellent income. Home stuffed mangoes vie with the famous peanut butter of the North. Each has made comfortable fortunes for several women. Choose some excellent recipe in your own family or in vogue in your town, manufacture the goods from it to eat. For those who prefer to sell something, not of a home-made nature, but upon which a real business can be built up, here is a suggestion : One of the best sellers and one that is also a money-maker for the manu- facturer is a "Pie Filler." This is often sold in barrel and car lots to the big bakeries and others that cater to a rather cheap class of trade. While 30 Home Work for Women this stuff is cheap, it is perfectly wholesome and there is nothing whatever wrong about it. With it pies of most any sort or flavor can be concocted at short notice, and it fills a real need, especially where fruit is wanting or too high in price, as is often the case. These pie fillers are of various composi- tions, but a good basis for one out of which all sorts of pies may be made is as follows: PIE FILLER Sugar . . . . : 8 pounds Corn Starch 24 ounces Eggs No. 20 Water 20 pints Rub the starch to a smooth paste with a little cold water. Dissolve the sugar in the )vater, add the starch paste smd heat until well cooked. Beat the eggs thoroughly and add to the mixture, stirring until all is smooth. Then remove from the fire, cool and flavor. Lemon is best, but many others can be used. PART XX Pet Shop EVERY visitor to the large cities who is fond of animals usually goes into one of the many pet shops which adorn the principal thoroughfares. Here are kept "in stock" all kinds of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, white rats, poultry, white mice and even as outre a pet as a monkey. The profits in this business are said to be quite large, especially if a breeding depart- ment be perfected in conjunction, as people will pay large prices for good blooded animals, or even for those of the common variety. Many a child, whose mother would not permit it to give a home to a straggling cat, will have purchased for it a dog or other animal which will run into many dollars. The pet shops in the cities do not as a rule have other industries in con- junction with them, but in a smaller place these would be absolutely essential. In addition to having animals for sale as pets, it would be well to carry also a stock of those which have utility. For instance, poultry, pigeons, goats and even ponies can be carried at a consequent profit. Flower seeds and other growing things form an excellent side line, and in many smaller places the two businesses fit well together and assure a continuous income. Another branch of the business which is very profitable is running a "boarding-house and hospital" for dogs, cats and birds. Most people in go- ing away for the summer do not know wKat to do with their household pets and are fearful to leave them in the house lest they come to harm. It seems also an imposition to ask a neighbor or a relative to care for the pet, and the "boarding-house" forms an easy way to shift the responsibility. The animal should be well fed, bathed, its coat taken care of, and given any slight dog's or cat's medicine which may be needed to restore it to good health. When Home Work for Women 31 the customer returns, it should be sent back to him, bearing the looks of having been well treated and being in splendid condition. The boarding-house fea- ture will have a wonderful advertisement which will mean more and more business all of the time. It is possible for almost anyone interested in pets to learn a litde about ailments and how to treat such ailments. Doge and cats have much the same internal troubles that we ourselves do and it is wonderful how a little simple medicine will soon set them right. Obtain some good veterinary books from the public library, or from your loceJ veterinary surgeon and post yourself up on the diseases one is apt to meet. To establish a pet shop is often a great deal easier than you think. The first thing to do would be to go to the nearest city where there is an established institution of this kind and become familiar with their methods. Also, if pos- sible, make arrangements that you be notified of any surplus stock which they might have, and which they would be willing to allow you to handle for them upon a commission basis. Then inquire around your home town, plac- ing small advertisements also in your home papers, for those people who have pets to dispose of, to place them with you upon a commission basis. Until you become skilled in the business, it would be very foolish for you to deal upon your own money; so I would therefore advise you to act only as a commis- sion merchant cmd take your commission from the sale of the pet in question. Later, as you become more conversant with the value of the different animals, you can afford to offer a price for outright sale, and take your chances of making this much money and a substantial profit besides. Keep the strong, lusty animals for breeding purposes, as in this way you can make the bulk of your money. A litter of puppies will often yield more money than a hundred sales on a commission basis, eq>ecially if they be of good blood and well developed. The poultry business is a Ime in itself, but there are numerous ways of raising blooded stock, fancy and fighting strains, as well as selling the eggs from such stock. A large business has been built up recently by men and women who handle day-old chicks, providing their own incubators, eggs, selling the chickens when they come out of the shell and shipping them to any part of the country at a set price. Consult the city papers, send for the circular matter of such people as you see advertising therein and you will find that this feature alone will mean an attractive. income, providing it is properly worked out. Keep in touch with all supply people in your line, knowing the different pet shops and securing permission to act as their agent. If you have the reputation of always being able to supply anything whether you have it on hand or not, you will find that this is more valuable to you, even than the commission which you will make from the sale, and that is saying a good deal. 32 Home Work for Women REQUISITES FOR BUSINESS Every person in business, no matter how small the business is, should have attractive stationery. A business card is absolutely essential. Have it neat, attractive, yet being sure to tell your name, your business, your firm and your principal special- ties. When you call upon a person in a business way, you will wish to leave a card. When you meet any ol your acquaintances on the street, give them a card to show what you are doing. When a customer calls at your place, but you do not do any business with him or her, give him or her a card. You vtdll find that such cards are passed from one person to another and turn up under the most extraordinary circumstances. They are bound to help you, no matter where they go. By all means have em attractive letter head. Nothing looks so cheap as poor stationery. You may be sure that the average business person and the average person, too, judges you largely by the stationery which you use, so have your letter heads printed upon good paper, in an attractive, simple, yet dignified style. Have the envelopes to match and use business size envelopes, or at least large enough that the letter will not have to be folded too often. Have bill heads, by w'hich you can send your customers their statement, and make sure that the thing will be done in a business-'like way. In most Jsusinesses it pays to have a typewriting machine, even though you write only a few letters a week. The typewriter has become the synonym of business progress and for you to be without one. indicates that your business is' small and of lessening importance. Have your office — even though it be in your own home — fitted up in a business-like manner with all of die equipment necessary to properly conduct business. Remember that if you wish to do a lot of sewing, quickly, prompdy and well, you buy a. sewing machine, therefore do not hesitate to properly equip your office in order that you may do your business quickly, promptly iuid well. To be sure, the fact that you are a woman, will count somewhat, but if you are dealing every day with men, you must learn to adopt their methods of business. Little brusquenesses, little slights, little bluntnesses must pass un- noticed. Don't expect anything more them business-like courtesy and give that same thing to the people with whom you are dealing. A woman in business is not handicapped by her sex nowadays, but this same yielding by the man to woman's invasion of his favorite strongholds has led to a withdrawal of at least a portion of the consideration with which he formerly regarded her. Now she is a comrade in arms, a soldier of the business army, and naturally entitled "to no more favors than would any other comrade regardless of sex. TABL& QF CONTENTS PAGE Fart I. Acting as Pictography .... -fM-^jc- . v. . V ; . . . . . 2 Part II. Procal Crecfit Bureau ............... 22 Part XIV. Teaching ... ...... .V. 23 Part XV. Home Decorating and Plannmg ;C. . ; . ........ . 24 Part XVI. Kindergarten . . . ........... .V* ., 1 ....... . .> 25 Part XVIL CliKung Burew , v.. . .iMj^^ .......... . 26 Part XVIII. Manicuring^ and HairdreMing .>':> . . i . i . .... 27 Part XIX. EdfiUies .„.,...»..".,.... ,> 29 Part XX. Pet Shop ,..,:...,................. 3Q "WHAT SHALL I DO?'^ There it one mental quali^ which women usutJly have m profuioii, and that u patience. This quali^ is very necessary in any «prt of a business. Therefore do not choose the thing which seems &oSa th£ most for a start, but take the one which has a future. Choose among diese opportunities which l^ive been offered you something which wU be permanent, something winch will perhaps start small, but con- tinually increase, something which will provide you first wth a smdU income, then with a living and finally with a nice fat bank account.