300. Dressers.
The business of a barber was performed
by females among the Romans, about the time of the Christian
era. I have read that there are now women barbers in Paris,
Normandy, England, and Western Africa. In the reign of Louis
XIV. it was not unusual for ladies of rank and wealth to dress
the whiskers of their favorite friends. Both men and women are
engaged in the United States in the business of dressing ladies'
hair. We think women most suitable for it, and should be patronized
to the exclusion of men. The business requires practice
and taste. Some ladies of wealth have their dressing maids to
learn the art and perform that office of the toilet. Most hair
dressers charge 50 cents to $1.50 for dressing the hair. The
price is regulated by the style in which it is done and the reputation
of the dresser. The demands for a hair dresser are sometimes
such, in a fashionable season, that a lady must have her
hair dressed as early as noon, to wear to the opera at 8, or to a
party at 10
P. M. Mrs. W., New York, charges 50 cents for
dressing hair, 75 for shampooing and dressing, and $1 if she
sends out. She never sends any one out to dress hair where she
is not acquainted. She thinks there are about 200 hair dressers
in New York. At an establishment in Broadway they give instruction
in hair dressing—price, $1 a lesson. A person of ordinary
abilities can learn to dress hair plainly in three or four
lessons. C. says he thinks more women could find employment
as hair dressers in New York; but I think, from the number of
signs I saw, no demand can exist. He thinks it strange that they
do not make engagements by the week, as they do in the cities of
the old countries, where there are 200 or 300 in every large city
that go out daily to the houses of their customers. I have since
learned that there are some in New York that do. Mrs. G. goes
out by the week, and receives $3 per week. She makes such engagements
for the morning only, as she is likely to be called in
the afternoon to prepare ladies for parties. From the middle of
June until September she is at Saratoga. C. had a woman four
years learning the styles of dressing and making up hair. The
third year he paid her $4 a week, and the fourth year $5 a week.
He says it requires so long to learn it that women generally get
discouraged and go at something else. Women employed by the
week to dress hair receive from $4 to $5. A lady told me she
charges 50 cents a lesson, and a person can learn in from fourteen
to twenty lessons. Two years' time is generally given to learn
hair work in all its branches, weaving, mounting, &c. It takes
time and capital to establish a business for one's self, as hair is a
costly article. I saw one lady who teaches hair dressing for $10.
A young woman told me it requires two weeks of constant practice
to become a hair dresser. Nearly everything at it is done in
winter. Practice makes perfect. The best plan is to get regular
customers, and go to their houses every day, including Sunday,
for which it is usual to charge from $1.50 a week up, for
one head. She charges 50 cents a lesson. Some chambermaids
at hotels take a few lessons, to enable them to dress hair plainly.
For shampooing, most of which is done in summer, she charges
50 cents; for braiding front hair, 50 cents; and with the back
hair, 75 cents. Miss S. told me many female hair dressers board
with the family of the employer, because of being up late at night,
and receive their board and $10 a month and up. For weaving
hair her mother pays 6 cents per yard; for the finer kind, 12
cents per yard. Her mother earns from $1.75 to $2 per day.
A person that can weave and make front pieces can get work at
any time. There are only three months dull time in a city—June,
July, and August. Some ladies pay a hair dresser $10 a month
for dressing the hair every day but Sunday, when a separate and
higher charge is made. For dressing a bride entirely, $5 is
charged. One needs taste and ability to please; at any rate, one
must be civil and obliging. Fashionable watering places present
the best openings. Saratoga and Newport present favorable ones,
at the first of which there is but one permanent hair dresser. D.,
hair dresser and wig maker, requires learners to be bound for four
years. The first year he gives a girl her board, lodging, washing,
and $4 a month. The next year he gives the same, with an
increase of $1 a month; and so continues that increase each succeeding
year until the apprenticeship expires. He gives to
journeywomen their dinner, supper, and $4 a week. The business
is not confined to regular hours, on account of hair dressing,
which is done mostly in the evening. He charges 50 cents for
dressing a lady's hair at his rooms, and $1 at her house. A
Frenchman, under Fifth Avenue Hotel, pays $5 a week to a girl
who receives the pay of his customers. She is there at 8, and
can leave at dark. He charges 75 cents a head at the saloon,
and at the ladies' residences the same. He has rooms fitted up,
and has many customers from the hotel. He employs three girls,
paying them one half of what they earn. He keeps but one
there constantly. The other two live near, and when he needs
their services he sends for them. He is going to teach hair
dressing, and charge $1 a lesson; forty or fifty (?) lessons are
usually taken, according to the extent it is learned. Mrs. B. told
me men teach ladies wig making, but ladies give instruction mostly
in hair dressing to those of their own sex. It is usual to pay
learners something after a few months' or a year's practice. Those
that work for others get most to do in winter. Those that have
establishments of their own can of course work all the time.
Most employers pay by the week. Mrs. Dall has the following
sentence in her "Woman's Right to Labor:" "I think there is
room in Boston for an establishment from which a woman could
come to a sickroom, to shave the heated head or cut the beard
of the dying; a place where women's and children's wants could
be attended to, without necessary contact with men."
301. Dyers.
B. will want some nice women to dye ladies'
hair. Now he has it done by men. He wants but one at first—one
who has worked with hair—for instance, a lady's maid
would be most suitable. She must not be afraid to color her
hands, or to work. When not working at that, she will spend
her time making wigs. He will teach her how to do both, and,
if she proves herself competent, he will give her fair wages.
For two or three weeks he will board her and pay all her expenses.
Then he will pay her $5 a week. He will take another
when needed, and so increase the number as he has occasion.
He employs some women to put up hair dye and perfumery, and
pays $3 a week.
302. Growers.
Dr. Gardner says: "At Caen, in France,
there is a market, whither young girls resort, and stand hour
after hour, with their flowing hair, rich and glossy, deriving
additional lustre from the contrast with their naked shoulders.
This is the resort of the merchant barbers, some of whom come
even from England. The merchants pass along among them, examine
the color, texture, evenness, and other qualities of the
beautiful fleece, haggle for a sou, and finally buy. The hair
then, after being cut as closely as possible to the head, is weighed
and paid for, and the girl goes home to let another suit grow out
for shearing time."
303. Manufacturers.
The woman at S.'s says they have
constant application to receive hands, and have to turn a great
many away. They have trouble to get good workers. The
girls will not take time to learn to do their work perfectly.
They ought to spend some years learning. At C.'s, they employ
a number of women in making wigs, scalps, and toupees, who can
earn from $4 to $5 a week. It requires six months to learn that
branch. At another place I was told it requires but a few weeks
to learn to make wigs only. Workers at it earn from $3 to $5.
This branch of work is profitable. Mrs. R. told me that those
who make wigs can be at work all the year, but hair dressing is
mostly confined to seasons. In different stores, the wages of employées
vary. It is well for a person to learn all the branches,
if she has time, so that if one fails her, she can take up another.
Her work is mostly done in the country—no doubt because she
can get it done more cheaply. Weaving hair pays best. It is
paid for by the yard, and generally done at the home of the
worker. If done in the house, it is most likely to be paid for by
the week, and ten—the usual number of working hours—spent at
it. American women form a majority in the business. It is a
good business, for a small capital, when living near the importers.
It is extending West and South. A hair manufacturer in
Rochester writes: "The occupation is permanent, and my employées
have work at all seasons. There is a demand in many
places for workers in this line." A hair manufacturer in Newburyport,
Massachusetts, who has three women braiding hair for
jewelry, and making wigs, pays by the day, of ten hours. They
receive from $3 to $8 per week, and work the same at all seasons.
304. Merchants.
Most of the hair made up in this
country is bought in France and Italy. The price paid for each
head of hair ranges from one to five francs, according to its weight
and beauty. From one of the cyclopædias we learn, that 200,000
pounds of women's hair is annually sold in France; that the price
paid for it is usually six cents an ounce." "Whether dark or
light, the hair purchased by the dealer is so closely scrutinized,
that he can discriminate between the German and French article
by the smell alone; nay, he even claims the power, 'when his
nose is in,' of distinguishing accurately between the English,
the Welsh, the Irish, and the Scotch commodities."
305. Willow Ware.
Great quantities of willow ware
have been imported from France, but of late years some attention
has been paid to the growing of it near Philadelphia. Our
climate is said to be well adapted to its growth, and the willow
raised to be of a superior quality. Willow grows in damp
places. Most basket makers buy the willow, and split it themselves.
All the most tasteful and elegant baskets used in this
country are imported from France. Basket making is one of the
principal employments engaged in by the blind. It requires
some strength, but more skill and practice. A basket maker's
tools can be bought for $5, and last a lifetime. On looking for
women basket makers in Philadelphia, we found a German widow,
who could not make herself understood in English, but my companion
conversed with her in German, and learned that she had
supported herself and son for six years, by making baskets for
the trade. She buys the willow ready for use at seven cents a
pound. She sells small round baskets, with covers and handles,
at $2.25 a dozen. She looked very poor, but clean, and had
evidently a room to sleep in besides the one we saw, where she
works and cooks. A German woman, in New York, making
small fancy baskets on blocks, told me she could earn from fifty
cents to $1 per day. Her husband dyes the willow. A German
woman asked me $1.50 for a basket she had paid fifty cents for
making—at that rate her profits were considerable. I met a
German boy with baskets, who said he could make from seventy-five
cents to $1 a day by his work. His father, mother, and
sisters also work at the trade. I saw a woman who merely colors
willow. She could make a comfortable living at it, if she could
give all her time to it; but she cannot, as she has two small children,
and must give part of her time to them. In Williamsburg, I
had a long talk with a basket maker. He says it is best for an
apprentice to learn basket making of a practical worker who has
not many hands, and who will give instruction himself. He can
give the more time to his learners. He spent seven years learning
the trade in England. It requires knowledge of form to
make the baskets of a handsome shape. He showed me a book
giving directions how to proportion baskets. He thinks a right
smart person might learn the business in two years, when they
could earn from $10 to $15 a week. The basket makers have a
society in New York that discourages the work of women in that
line, by not allowing its members to sell to any store for which a
woman works. The excuse is, it throws men out of work. Yet
the man told me that there are probably not more than two
hundred basket makers in the United States, and that it is a
good business. He has more work than he can do. (Oh, what
injustice to woman!) The Dutch, he says, make baskets at a
lower price than the members of the society, and consequently
they are discountenanced by the members. Inexperienced or
careless workers are apt to cut their hands with the willow while
at work. A woman who sells baskets told me that basket making
is a poor business now. A man that worked for her during the
summer said that, working from early in the morning till late at
night, he could not make more than $4.50 a week, and if his wife
had not worked out, they could not have made a living. She
says the duty on willow is high, and transporters ask any price
they please, as it occupies considerable room, and does not pay
very well as freight. When American supplies are brought in, it is
cheaper. The women that supply her do the lighter parts of the
work; and their husbands, the heavier. A willow ware manufacturer
in Waterbury, Vermont, writes: "The work is light and
healthy. It is paid for by the piece. Women are paid less, because
they are not so strong, and can live cheaper. It requires
about one year to learn the business. Learners are paid by the
week, about $2. Ingenuity and some taste are needed for a basket
maker. A great many women might advantageously learn
the trade, if they would. They can work at it all the year. We
should like to employ a few girls to learn the trade and make
baskets, but have been unable to do so yet, as it is very difficult
finding help enough to do housework in this vicinity." A German,
who learned his trade with the basket maker of his Majesty,
in Dresden, replies to a circular asking information on willow
work: "Women are employed at this trade at several places in
Germany. They are paid by the piece. In this country, if they
are able to finish the work as well as men, they are usually paid
the same wages. Coarse work can be learned in much less time
than fine. It is in some places the custom to have five persons
to make a basket, each doing a separate part. I think the prospects
for work good. Women can make the finer work quicker
than men, but men succeed best in making coarse work."
306. Carvers.
The word "carver" is rather extensive in
its application, being applied alike to one who cuts stone, wood, or
metal. Carvers of stone and metal we treat of elsewhere. The
art of carving is quite ancient. There are five kinds of wood
carving: house, ship, toy, furniture, and pattern making; to
these we may add the cutting of wooden letters for ornamental
signs. Pattern making is the reverse of architectural carving:
the first being in bas relief; the other, alto. Architectural
carving is mostly done in pine, occasionally in oak. Ship carvers
cut figure heads for vessels; some of this carving is done in
oak, some in pine. For some kinds of carving the design is
drawn on paper and cut out; then it is placed on the block,
which is prepared of a proper thickness, and the outline drawn
with a pencil. The portions of wood outside the design are then
cut off with carving implements. The plan of marking the wood
is not practised by all carvers. It may be that it is used for
beginners only. Ingenuity in planning and skilful drawing are
desirable qualifications for a carver. The tools used by carvers
are very simple, being merely a hammer, and gouges of different
sizes. When the wood is carved, it is smoothed with sand paper,
then gilded or painted and varnished. During an apprenticeship,
the usual sum paid a boy is $2.50 a week the first year, and more
afterward. A journeyman can usually earn $1.50 or $1.75 a
day of ten hours. It requires three years to learn the trade. "In
wood sculpture, all that belongs to its simple ornament might receive
a special grace from the inspiration of women." We have
seen architectural and ship carving done by women; and it is
our belief that almost any and every kind of carving could be
done by them, if the wood were properly prepared, and they were
carefully instructed. Some kinds of carving require considerable
muscular strength. An architectural carver writes: "Our employment
is healthy. Part of our business is suitable for women,
but there is not enough in our establishment to keep one constantly
employed." A carver told me that furniture carving is
sometimes done by women. Though it is done in harder wood
than most other kinds, it does not involve the lifting of heavy
blocks, like architectural carving. The widow of a ship carver
carries on the business in New York. Her son told me that
eight persons could do all the work necessary for that city. There
are a few ship carvers in Boston and Philadelphia, but none in
the South or West. (Would not New Orleans present a good
opening?) A. told me, a boy in learning ship carving is apprenticed
for five or six years. He receives $1.50 a week for the first
year, then $2, and after that $2.50, but no more. A carver told
me that he had an Englishman working for him, that showed him
some work done by his daughter, which was superior. He knows
the wives of some carvers who finish the work of their husbands
by rubbing it with sand paper. "Louisa Raldan, of Seville, was
known as an excellent sculptor in wood." "Anna Maria Schurmann,
of Sweden, carved busts in wood." "Anna Tessala, an
artist of the Dutch school, was eminent as a skilful carver in
wood." "Properzia di Rossi, an Italian sculptress, carved on a
peachstone the crucifixion of our Saviour." Many toys are
made in Germany by women and children. They are purchased
very cheaply, we know, from their low prices in this country.
Mrs. Dall says: "I would direct the attention of young women
to the Swiss carving of paper knives, bread plates, salad spoons,
ornamental figures, jewel boxes, and so on. On account of the
care required in the transportation, these articles bring large
prices; and I feel quite sure that many an idle girl might win a
pleasant fame through such trifles." Articles might be cut of
wood, as mementos of some great event or pleasant association.
The small wooden cages, in which we see canaries for sale, were
made by women in Germany. There labor is cheaper, and they
probably receive only two or three cents for a cage, while in this
country they could not be made for less than a shilling. I saw
some pretty wooden toys, made in Switzerland by the shepherds
while watching their flocks, and some which were made by
women. It is a favorite pastime with them in the evening, when
the family is gathered around the hearthstone. The small
carved boards, used for the support of music in pianos, are carved
by a delicate saw, moving perpendicularly and driven by steam.
The carver has the pattern marked on the board, and moves it
under the saw, as the workman does the back of shell combs.
One species of carving common in Europe is that of saints and
virgins for small churches.
307. Kindling Wood.
Some little boys putting kindling
wood into bundles told me they are paid fifteen cents a
hundred bundles, and can do from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred in a day of ten hours. Most of them take the strings
home at night and tie them, to save time in the day. Girls could
do it, but they would be liable to accident from the carelessness
of those at work.
308. Pattern Makers.
The wife of a pattern maker
told me it requires ingenuity, patience, and a knowledge of drawing
to become a pattern maker. C. thought general pattern making
would not do for a woman, as it would require planing, cutting,
and turning wood. He said some of the finer parts of pattern
making, as forming models on a small scale for the patent
office, could be done by a woman who is qualified. It would require
a knowledge of arithmetical proportions, ability to turn a
lathe properly, and aptness at catching the ideas of others. A
gentleman who makes models for the patent office, patterns for
machinery, steam and gas fittings, &c., writes: "The varnishing
might be done by women, but in most shops there would not be
enough to keep one at work all the time." S. told me that a part
of the work of pattern making could be done by women, but it
would be advisable they should have a separate apartment in
founderies. The variety of ornamental iron work is so great that
it affords scope for inventive talent. We suppose the business of
pattern making is not more laborious and is very similar to block
cutting. If women were prepared for some branches of this business,
we doubt not it would prove remunerative and furnish
steady employment. A pattern maker writes from Hartford:
"We do our own draughting, but there is considerable done independent
of a shop. For such work we pay $2 a day. A knowledge
of geometry and mathematics is a prerequisite."
309. Rattan Splitters.
Formerly, rattan was thrown
from the ships that landed in New York, as something useless;
now it sells at from four to nine cents a pound. The centre of
the rattan is used for hoop skirts. The outside is split off by a
strange-looking machine. The strips are then shaved thin by
another machine, for making chair seats and ornamenting buggies.
They are bleached in a close room with ignited sulphur. The
refuse is used in some way in the manufacture of gas—also for
making coarse mats and filling beds. At N.'s factory, I saw girls
shaving rattan. The work was dusty—one sat, but the others
stood. The girls had merely to attend to the strips as they ran
through small machines moved by steam. Each girl received
fifty cents a day of ten hours, for her services. In Fitchburg,
Mass., fifty girls are so employed.
310. Segar Boxes.
I called in a segar-box factory where
the man had four boys at work. The trade requires care, and some
ability to calculate proportions. The work consists in driving
small nails, gluing on tape, planing the edges, and similar labor.
Women could do it, and I expect do in Germany. If boys from
ten to fifteen years of age can, why cannot girls? After two
months, a boy earns something. Two of the boys had been working
at the trade two years, and were earning each $3 a week.
The wood is cedar, and so easily managed.
311. Turners.
I saw the process of wood turning. The
flying of the chips I thought disagreeable. The trade can be
learned in three years very well. A boy learning is paid $2.50
a week, the first year; the next year, $3; the next, increased fifty
cents more, and so on. A good hand can earn from $1.75 to $2
a day. Some women do the turning of small wooden articles in
France, and quite a number are employed in bone and horn turning
in the old country, which is not so hard. Turning is more
nearly perfect than most mechanical operations, and consequently
is employed in all those branches susceptible of its use. In most
work of this nature the article operated on is stationary, and the
machinery in motion; but in turning, the article is kept in motion,
the tool merely pressed upon it by the hand. "There is said to
be but little difference in the management of turning different
substances. The principal thing to be attended to is to adapt
the velocity of the motion to the nature of the material." Rosa
Bonheur, when a girl, was apprenticed to a dress maker, whose
husband was a turner. His lathe stood in an adjoining room.
Rosa delighted to slip away from her work and employ herself at
the turner's lathe. The making of bone and wooden handles for
canes and umbrellas could be done by women. Removing the
surface of the bone is dirty work, and requires some strength.
The polishing could be done by a girl. The bones are bought at
glue factories, slaughter houses, &c. In New York, for a small
new bone, two and a half cents is paid; for a large one, five cents.
312. Express and other Conveyances.
We saw a
description, a short time ago, by some traveller in Scotland, of ladies
acting in the capacity of railroad officials; that is, one sold tickets,
another collected them, and a third was telegraphing at a station.
I have been told that some of the ticket agents in Boston are
women. Women are also employed at some of the railway stations
in France and Germany, not only to sell tickets, but to
guard the stations and crossings. I have heard that on those
roads where women are switch tenders no accident has ever occurred.
"In Paris, omnibus conductors submit their way bills
at the transfer offices to women for inspection and ratification.
Women book you for a seat in the diligence. Women let donkeys
for rides at Montmorency, and saddle them too." The St.
Louis
Republican mentions that there is one feature about the
steamer
Illinois Belle, of peculiar attractiveness—a lady clerk.
"Look at her bills of lading, and 'Mary J. Patterson, Clerk,' will
be seen traced in a delicate and very neat style of chirography.
A lady clerk on a Western steamer! It speaks strongly of our
moral progress."
313. General Agents.
"The walks of business become
more manifold and extended as the luxuries of civilization and
the skill of human inventions become more multiplied and more
widely displayed. Every description of commercial, mechanical,
and executive business excited and created by the new wants and
new imaginations of advancing society, will call for the creation
and extension of new agencies to accomplish the labor which
they must demand. Thus the variety and number of business
agencies of every kind must spread out in a constant increase."
We think there is great imposition practised by some people who
secure lady agents, and we would advise ladies who can undertake
an agency to learn something of the parties who would employ,
and the character of the article, before they engage in any
undertaking of the kind. A conscientious agent is likely to have
her interests suffer by a want of honor in those whom she represents.
With a liberal discount on the retail price of most goods,
agents might be enabled to make a handsome return for their
services. I saw a man that manufactures indelible ink, and
employs agents to sell it and stencil plates. He allows them
half they receive. One lady in Boston, he said, made $20 one
day. I think it probable it was in a large school. Ladies, he
says, will not stay long at it, because it tires them very much to
go up stairs a great deal. An agent should be one that can talk
well and has tact and judgment. She should select those parts
of a city where she will be most likely to meet with success. If
her article is something for ladies' use, let her go where the best
dwellings are. If it is something for universal use, if she selects
but part of a city, the largest quantity will probably be sold in
those parts most densely populated. A manufacturer of fancy
soaps and perfumery told me he has employed ladies as agents to
go around selling those articles. Some have cleared $2 a day.
He allows one hundred percentage. C., of Boston, manufacturer
of needle threaders, wick pullers, and pencil sharpeners,
offers a liberal discount to agents; but we presume it would re
quire
some Yankee tact to make the sales amount to much. He
states that some of their agents make from $200 to $300 a month.
A stencil cutter in New Haven writes: "I have made tools for
ladies to do the work of making embroidery stencils. It is necessary
to travel to sell them. One lady may make the work at
home, and another sell it. One young man, whom I furnished
with tools, told me that he sold $14 worth of plates in five hours."
Dr. B. employs twenty ladies making shoulder braces, and pays
them from $3 to $4 a week. The sewing is done by hand. He
allows lady agents to have the braces at $1 a pair, which can be
retailed at $2 a pair. Boarding agencies have become common
in some of the large cities. Some agents charge the keepers of
boarding houses a percentage for every boarder sent them, but
do not charge the applicant. In some offices a person records his
name and pays $2, for which he has the privileges of the office
one year. The boarding-house keeper pays a percentage to the
agent in proportion to the rate of board, without regard to the
length of time the boarders remain. One agency charges $2 for
registering a name, and fifty cents for each boarder it secures.
Some agents in New York have purchased articles of every kind
on commission for Southerners, receiving a commission from both
parties. Southern ladies have always preferred New York goods,
but we suppose they will now wish to patronize their own people.
314. Literary, Book, and Newspaper Agents.
By literary agents we mean those that are willing to take the compositions
of others, review, correct, prune, polish, mend, and present
them for publication. We suppose there are not a great many
ladies, in our country, of sufficient experience in this way to be
prepared for the business, and probably a smaller number that
would wish to undertake it. Yet, we think, to a competent and
reliable lady, it might yield a handsome profit. We know there
are a few gentlemen so engaged. Proof readers are sometimes
employed by authors for this purpose, or some literary friend of
ability does it as an accommodation. Ladies have been agents
more for magazines than standard works. Indeed, only new
books claim the privilege of having their merits set forth by
agents. In towns and cities, ladies could act as agents without
any difficulty. The business, of course, requires one to be on
her feet a great deal. In sparsely settled portions of the country,
it could not be so easily done. Yet we were told in New
York of an educated lady that wished to earn a livelihood, and,
not seeing any other way open, she became a book agent. She
got a horse and buggy, and rode through the country, and was
very successful. She met with a young lady who was very
anxious to join her. They made a great deal of money, and
wrote a book of their travels. There are said to be many book
and paper agents in New York city—both men and women—and
they are paid the same percentage. The time of work is confined
to daylight. If newspaper advertisements for book agents
can be relied on, we suppose the business would pay well. We
can scarcely glance over the columns of a newspaper without finding
a call for agents to present the merits of some new work, with
the promise that, if active and diligent, the individual will clear
from $30 to $100 per month. It requires judgment, taste, and
a knowledge of what is popular in the book market. I was told
by the editor of a ladies' magazine, that he pays his agents fifty
cents on the dollar, and would be glad to secure the services of
more lady agents. He stated that one of his lady agents in
Brooklyn obtained in two weeks twenty subscribers, so making
$12.50. Some sell books on subscription, but if the books are
printed, the surest and most speedy way is to deliver the book
and receive the money, when the individual decides to buy. A
lady who earns her living as a book and newspaper agent, told
me that she gets a percentage for the agency of books and
papers. She has been an agent eight years in New York. Her
health is poor, and she thinks it is from being out in all kinds of
weather. She does not go to every house, but calls on one friend,
who recommends her to another—so that she has as many to
visit as she can. She says the qualifications needed are health,
tact, judgment, courage, pleasing address, perseverance, with
faith in the work, and in God. Ladies are more likely to be well
received than men, but cannot walk as much. She prefers the
agency of books, because she then gets the money, gives the
book, and that is the last of it. But there is a responsibility
attending the agency of papers. The editor may require pre-payment
for his magazine. If he is not an honorable man, he
may discontinue his magazine during the year, and not refund
what is due to his subscribers. The agent is then blamed, as
well as the editor, when it may be totally out of her power to
remedy the matter, or to have prevented it. A lady news agent,
that has a good location and a small circulating library, told me
she has occupied the place for several years, and so has regular
customers. She does it to aid her husband in supporting and
educating their children, but thinks an individual could earn for
self alone a comfortable living by keeping a news depot. In the
large cities of the North are newspaper agents (men) who solicit
advertisements, for which they receive a commission from editors.
There is a Miss S. in New York, who makes a very good living
by obtaining advertisements for the principal city papers. She
goes to stores and offices, and solicits advertisements of business
men, for which she receives a percentage from the conductors of
the papers.
315. Mercantile Agents.
At the office of a mercantile
agency on Broadway, New York, one hundred young men
are employed in writing. Why could not women do it? An
agent who travels for C.'s paper-hanging manufactory, exhibiting
specimens and getting orders, and has a commission also from
another house for another kind of business, makes $4,000 a year.
Ladies were employed writing for one mercantile agency in Boston
one winter.
316. Pens.
The inventor of Prince's Protean pen thinks
a lady would do well to act as agent for the sale of his pens. A
man who was agent made $3,000 a year, but he could not stand
such exertion over a year. His pen is so constructed as to furnish
a flow of ink for ten consecutive hours. It is very convenient in
travelling, on account of the ink being in the case. Physicians
would find it very convenient. An agent would receive a very
good allowance; for instance, a $5 pen she would receive for $3;
one style of $4 pen for $2.50, and another style for $2.25. Mr.
Snow, of Hartford, an importer of steel pens, offers to pay $2 a
day to all agents who sell five gross of pens per day, at the list
of prices furnished, and at the same rate for any larger quantity.
317. Sewing Machines.
H., manufacturer of low-priced
sewing machines in Newburyport, Massachusetts, desires
to secure some local and travelling agents. In his circular he
says: "In order to ascertain who would prove an efficient and
reliable agent, we have concluded that each applicant shall sell
thirty days on commission; and after that time, if he proves as
before stated, and prefers it to a commission, we will pay him a
salary of from $30 to $80 a month, according to capabilities, and
travelling expenses. The commission allowed will be thirty-three
and one third per cent, on the machines sold." We know nothing
of the merits or demerits of the machine, but give it as a
criterion by which to judge what sewing-machine agents may expect
in the way of remuneration. The manufacturer of the
universal hemmer, which can be attached to any sewing machine,
retails them at $2.50, but to agents a deduction is made of
seventy-five cents. (It probably costs ten cents apiece to make
them.) They require agents to buy what they wish to sell. It
being a cash business, they have few lady agents. Their agents
confine themselves to towns, on account of the time that would
be consumed in travelling through the country. At a manufactory
of children's spring horses, I saw a lady employed to sell
the horses and make saddles for them. Some she stitched by
hand, and some quilted and stitched by machine. She got $6 a
week.
318. School Agents.
A lady properly qualified might,
we think, conduct a school agency. As there are few school agencies
in New York, we suppose it must be a business that pays.
The prejudice that will probably be created by the difficulties in
our country, will no doubt open the way for the preparation and
employment of slave State ladies as teachers in their own States,
and consequently one or more agencies in the South will be
needed. The terms of one of the best agencies we know of, are
as follows: "To principals who have their schools registered for
the purpose of obtaining scholars by making known the terms,
locality, and advantages of their schools, a fee of $5 is charged;
and for each yearly renewal, $2; and for the introduction of
each pupil into a registered school, where the board and tuition
does not amount to $120 per annum, the fee is $5. When over
that amount and under $160, $7, &c. For the registration of a
teacher, in advance, $2. When the situation is obtained, and the
remuneration is under $1,000, three per cent. If $1,000 and
over, five per cent. When desired to examine and personally
assume the responsibility of selecting teachers for important positions,
an additional fee of from $3 to $5 will be charged."
319. Telegraph Instruments.
A manufacturer of telegraphic
instruments in Boston writes: "We do not employ women
in the mechanical part of our business, but we employ them
as agents to sell our instruments for medical use. They fit themselves
as lecturers by studying the science, and travel about lecturing,
giving instruction, selling machines, &c. A very handsome
income is derived therefrom."
320. Washing Machines.
At a washing machine
establishment, I was told they make a deduction of twenty per
cent. to agents who sell for them; but to agents who sell for
themselves and buy six or more, they make a deduction of thirty
per cent.
321. Artificial Flowers.
As in everything else, the
price for making artificial flowers is very much regulated by the
quality and taste displayed. Many flowers made in the United
States are equal in beauty and delicacy of finish to genuine Paris
flowers, but they are mostly made by French women, and so are
in reality French flowers. In France, the preparation of the
materials used in the manufacture, forms several distinct branches
of trade, and the quality of the flowers depends in a great measure
upon the care used in the getting up of these materials. The
modes of coloring flowers are exceedingly various. The materials
used in the United States are mostly imported from Paris. Some
stores in New York are confined to the sale of materials for artificial
florists. There are said to be between sixty and seventy
flower manufacturers in New York, and about a dozen in Philadelphia.
I have been told there are probably 10,000 women and
children employed in making flowers in New York: I know there
is great competition in the business. The work is mostly done
by women and children, who receive as wages from $1 to $6 per
week. It requires care and patience, united with good taste and
much experience, to succeed in this pretty art. There are said to
be about twenty processes in the making of artificial flowers. The
employment is one easily affected, consequently fluctuating. The
New York manufacturers have sold large quantities of American
flowers to Southern merchants, but have had no orders lately.
In New York, flower peps are made by men and boys. A man
at the work said it requires some time to learn to do all the parts.
Boys, he said, do some parts that girls cannot well do; but from
my observation, girls and women could as well do it all as workers
of the other sex. One maker of flower peps told me that at
one time he employed girls, but found they had not strength
enough to cut the wires. To cut the wires might be hard, but
they could get accustomed to it; at any rate, they could dip the
pistils and stamens into the coloring matter and place them in
the frames to dry. H. told me he employs about 600 women
and 400 men in his business, that of making flowers and dressing
ornamental feathers. The women earn from $4 to $12 a week;
the average is from $6 to $7. They only work eight hours in
winter. There are several distinct branches, and it requires
longer to learn some than others. The washing and dyeing of
feathers is done by men, the curling and dressing by women. A
few of his women are French. He thinks it a business that must
increase as the country grows older. T. imports all his flowers,
but employs one girl to mount them, that is, make them into
clusters, wreaths, &c. Not more than one in eight or ten of
those employed in the city in making artificial flowers devotes
herself to mounting them. It requires excellent taste and some
ingenuity. He pays by the week, from $8 to $10. I called on a
German lady who makes artificial flowers of paper and coarse
muslin. She arranges them in wreaths, and sells them to decorate
small stores, particularly German book stores. She and her
daughter make a comfortable living at it. It requires long prac
tice
in the artificial flower business to earn good wages, and very
good wages are earned at only a small number of establishments.
The trickery of mean people in every occupation, it is desirable
to avoid. In this business much is said to be practised. One of
the unprincipled acts referred to is this: Learners are told they
must spend six months acquiring the trade, and during that time
will receive nothing, but after that get fair wages. One branch
is learned in a week or ten days, but the apprentices remain, according
to agreement, six months doing the same kind of work,
when they are dismissed on the plea there is no work to give
them, and new apprentices are taken. Some will keep their apprentices
at but one branch of work for a year or two, so reaping
the benefit of their work, without giving the instruction they
promise. Girls who have served several years at artificial flower
making can seldom earn over $3.50 or $4 a week. G. & K.,
one of the oldest and most extensive firms in New York, prefer
to take girls from thirteen to fifteen years of age. Older girls
are not satisfied with such wages as learners receive. While
learning, for the first month, they are paid $2; after that, by the
week, according to what they can do. They teach their girls all
the different parts, and they make the finest French flowers.
They give their girls work all the year, and they earn from $1 to
$6 a week. In summer, they work ten hours; in winter, nine and
a half. In this, as in every business, the best hands are most
sure to obtain employment. Mrs. P. thinks only little girls
should learn it, as it takes a great while to acquire proficiency.
She and her partner pay fifty cents a week for two months to a
learner, then $1 a week for a time, and then increase according
to what is done. They usually give employment all the year.
They pay altogether by the week, wages running from $2 to $5.
At another manufactory, I found the arrangements the same, the
girls working nine and a half hours in winter, and ten hours in
summer. At another place I was told that it was best for a
learner to begin at ten years of age. By the time she is eighteen,
she will be able to make $4 or $5 a week. In some of the first-class
houses for the sale of fine French flowers, a few superior
hands may earn $6 and $7 per week; but for common flowers,
particularly in the cheap establishments, the prices paid are very
low. It is said to be common among some manufacturers of
flowers to mix in a few imported ones with their own, and sell
them all as foreign flowers. At another place, I found the same
arrangement, fifty cents a week for a learner; $4 a week is the
price paid for a very good hand. At an importer and manufacturer
of flower materials, I was told their season commences about
the first of February. It requires but two or three weeks' prac
tice
to earn something—then learners are paid by the piece.
Their girls make centres. They manufacture stamps and veins.
At a clean-looking place, where the flowers were of a superior
quality, I was told their girls earn from $2 to $7. At a Frenchman's,
I was told, in two months a smart girl could begin to make
fine French flowers. He pays nothing for two months; after that,
seventy-five cents a week, and increases that as the worker
acquires speed and proficiency. A good worker, he said, can earn
$9 (?) a week. His girls work nine hours a day. They make all
parts and different kinds of flowers. Some girls never learn to
make flowers. At another place, the girls, I was told, are paid
nothing for three months, but at the end of that time are paid $5.
They learn all the branches. Workers are paid by the piece,
earning from seventy-five cents to $6 a week. It requires taste
and a peculiar aptitude.
322. Belts.
B. & H. have ladies' and children's belts
made, dolls dressed, fans trimmed, &c. Their business is wholesale.
They manufacture for houses here that sell to the Southern
trade. They have employed at some seasons from twenty-five to
fifty girls. The belt trade is merely making the goods into
belts. A person that can sew neatly can learn belt making in a
day. The girls earn from $3 to $4 per week, and are paid by
the piece. The belt room is superintended by a man. The
busiest time for belt making and for trimming in the wholesale
business, is in July and August, January, February and March.
Spring work begins in January and ends the first of June, and
fall work the first of August and ends the first of December.
Their hands have work most of the year. They have a variety
of work done; so if there is not enough of one kind for their
hands, they put them to doing something else. They pay by the
gross. The sewing must be done by hand. The business is confined
mostly to New York. When business is good, the foreman
will allow those he knows to take work home, and get their
mothers and sisters to help them. The factory is in Newark.
It is difficult to get girls to go there from New York.
323. Bonnet Ruches.
At some factories, ruches are
made entirely by machinery. They are not as well nor as neatly
put together, and do not sell as high as those made by hand. It
does not require long for a girl with any brains to learn, but she
should commence when young, and gradually rise to the more
difficult processes. A manufacturer told me girls must be at it a
year before they are good pressers. For making ruches he pays
by the week, from $1 to $4.50. Ruche makers are not apt to be
out of employment more than from two to four weeks. P., New
York, told us his workers are of all nations. Some work by the
week, sewing ten hours a day. Girls sit in his factory while at
work, but stand in most places. Standing is thought to be the
easiest position, as it allows of change. He told us that some
girls earn as high as $6 a week. It is piece work. Joining, sewing,
and pressing are done by females, fluting by men and boys.
It is best for females that wish to learn the business to commence
quite early, say when twelve or fourteen years of age. P. thinks
it would not be advisable to introduce more workers into the
occupation but I would advise any one desiring to learn the trade
to make further inquiries into the condition of the business. T.,
of Philadelphia, who has been in the business a great many years,
employs over one hundred females.
