46. Miscellaneous Designers.
Designing is a peculiar,
and more a natural than a cultivated talent. A few years
ago, Miss M. drew on stone for the New England Glass Company.
She received $10 a page, which she could generally do in four
days, working only four hours per day. Two men had at differ
ent
times done the work for the company, one receiving less, and
the other more than she. Misses L. and R. drew and designed
in the carpet factory at Lowell. They received $1.25 per day.
A young lady who designed at the Pacific Mills, in Lawrence,
was said to receive $3 per day. Miss S., who had given but
eighteen months' practice to drawing, designed for ground and
painted glass, and received $6 per week. Designs for toys, dissected
pictures, games, puzzles, &c., are an appropriate filling up
of spare moments for a designer. I was told by an English
seller of embroideries, that, in England, designing and making
patterns for embroideries is a distinct business. He has been at
it many years, and does not feel himself perfect yet. It is not
made a distinct branch in this country yet, because there is not
enough of it done. Here a few primary patterns can be arranged
and rearranged so as to answer all the demands of trade. A great
deal of money is expended on monuments, but there is a want of
variety in the designs. A wide field is here opened to operators
in this department. Some designers in Boston write me: "Only
a few ladies are employed in our business, for there are not many
who are willing to devote the time necessary to become proficient.
Some are employed in Europe. The employment is not more
unhealthy than sewing. Women are paid according to their proficiency,
and earn from $3 to $15 per week. Women receive the
same compensation as men, if they do the work as well and as
fast, but they ordinarily cannot do either. They are not paid
until they have spent two or three years learning. A combination
of artistic and mechanical talent is required. The prospect
for employment is good. There is not much variation in the
seasons for work. Ten hours is the average time required.
There are now as many in the business as can find lucrative or
constant employment. It requires not less than five years, generally
more, to be a fair general workman in this business. Boston,
New York, and Philadelphia are about the only places
where there is a demand for designers. A first-class education
and cultivated taste are absolutely necessary to success."
47. Designers for Calico Prints.
This employment
is well adapted to women. It requires taste and ingenuity. Its
labors are light, but rather confining. A person of lively fancy
and nice powers of discrimination succeeds best. The gay, rich,
dark colors of winter clothing are not suitable for summer; nor
are the light, delicate ones of summer suitable for winter clothing.
This inviting field of labor, now that it is unbarred to woman, we
hope will be well improved. Let her enter, and she will find
sufficient to "reward a careful gleaner with a valuable sheaf or
two." We do not speak of inventing and preparing designs for
calico prints particularly, but of the general field for designers.
Some proprietors engage a designer (here and there a lady)
to stay at their establishments, and devote all their time to the
preparing of designs—paying a fixed salary for the month, year,
or any time specified. Some adopt the same plan in wall-paper
establishments. The price generally paid for a design pattern
for calicoes is from $1 to $3.
48. Designers for Wall Paper.
One of the most
important branches of designing is that of preparing patterns for
wall paper, fire screens, &c. In the report of the Philadelphia
School of Design it is stated that one of the ladies of that school
received $60 for a design some time ago. They seldom bring
that much, and all designs prepared will not sell. The usual
price for a good hall design is from $12 to $20; and of paper for
a room, from $12 to $16. We fear it will be long before the
beautiful designs of the French are equalled by Americans.
Their taste must be more highly cultivated before such is the
case. Mr. C., of New York, employs a designer (Frenchman),
paying him $1,000 a year, who receives in another manufactory
a salary of $3,000 a year. N. C. & Co. get some of their patterns
from the school of design in Paris, because the French
have more taste in designing, or, rather, that taste has been more
cultivated. Brande gives the merits of designing as follows:
"Every work of design is to be considered either in relation to
the art that produced it, to the nature of its adaptation to the
end sought, or to the nature of the end it is destined to serve;
thus its beauty is dependent on the wisdom or excellence displayed
in the design, in the fitness or propriety of the adaptation,
and upon the utility of the end."
49. Draughtswomen.
There are several kinds of
draughting, or drawing on stone: architectural, mechanical,
letter, figure, and landscape. Very few women have undertaken
draughting in any of its branches. But we do not see why it
should be confined to men. We suppose the minds of some
women are as well adapted to the business as those of some men.
Our ideas of the fitness of women for architectural drawing are
given under the article Architects.
50. Employés in the United States Mint.
A
very interesting description of the employment of ladies in the
United States Mint at Philadelphia will be found in
Godey's
Lady's Book, of August, 1852. Col. Snowden, Director of the
Mint, writes to me as follows: "Women are employed to adjust
the weight of the blanks or planchets, preparatory to the coinage—each
piece for the gold coinage being separately weighed and adjusted.
So also are the larger coins of silver; namely, the dollar
and the half dollar. They are also employed in feeding the coining
presses. There are about fifty women at present employed.
This force is amply sufficient for our present operations, and for
any additional amount of work that the mint may be called on
to perform. The employments in which they are engaged are
healthy and pleasant. Some years ago the women received
seventy-five cents a day in the adjusting room, and eighty-five
cents for those employed in the coining room. Since that time
I have increased their per diem compensation to $1.10 in both departments.
They are paid monthly. Men employed in labor of
a similar character secure about $2.20 per day. A day's work
is about ten hours; ordinarily the women do not work more than
seven or eight hours; sometimes more, sometimes less, but never
beyond ten hours. There are no other occupations in the mint,
than where they are now employed, suitable for women. I am
greatly in favor of employing women, and I have extended the
employment of them as far as it is practicable. For adjusting the
weight of coins, and attending or feeding the coining presses, I
consider women as not inferior to men, except that they cannot
endure work for as great a number of hours." The adjusting
room is kept very close, as even the breath of a person may affect
the gold dust. The windows are kept closed on that account all
the year. Visitors are not permitted to enter this room. I have
been told that the adjusters wear chamois dresses, which they
change before leaving the mint. They are required to wash their
hands and clean their nails before leaving the premises, lest gold
dust should be in them. A great many applications are made
for situations in the mint. None but a thoroughly honest person
should occupy so responsible a place."
51. Engravers and Chasers of Gold and Silver.
I was told by a lady in Philadelphia, that had been engaged with
her husband for some years in chasing the backs of gold watches,
and had laid by quite a snug little fortune, that from $5 to $6 is
paid for engraving a watch case. It requires many years to
render one a competent gold or silver chaser—I think about five
years. A general engraver told me he thought women could very
well engrave jewelry, silver, and card plates. The superior taste
of women could be exercised to advantage. He thinks a woman
of good abilities could obtain sufficient practice to earn good
wages at the expiration of six months. It is a very confining
business, but one that pays well. It requires more skill in drawing
than beauty of penmanship, though the last is a desirable
item. A good engraver calculates to earn $1 an hour. The kinds
most suitable for a lady are so clean that she need not have
her clothes soiled by her work. Mr. C. knew a lady once in
New York who was a beautiful engraver. She learned the
business with her father. A watchmaker can soon learn to engrave,
because he uses similar tools, and knows how to handle
them. A person that can engrave watches could easily engrave
coarser work. Engravers, when employed by the week, earn from
$12 to $25; and $15 a week is a fair average of an engraver's
wages. An engraver cannot well work more than nine hours a
day. Ornamental engraving is done in some jewelry manufactories
by women. Engraving is done with gravers, but chasing
is executed with punches and a small hammer. Engraving is
more on the surface than chasing. An article chased is indented
on the inner side, one engraved is not. It requires some time to
excel in chasing and engraving. There are two kinds of watch
engraving—that of landscape and that of borders. I was told by an
Englishman that some silver-plate chasing is done in England by
women. A jeweler writes: "We occasionally employ women in
engraving—on brass, and we do not find any difficulty. In this
branch of business, we believe, they are more suitable than men."
Mr. S., who engraves on gold, silver, and other bright metals,
told me that a long time back all the engraving in his branch
was done in England by women. It is light work. The designing
is like a lawyer's work—hard on the brain. Most engravers
in this country do their own designing. His father was the first
engraver in New York. He takes apprentices for five years, not
paying anything the first year, the second, $2 a week and clothing,
and increases according to the attainments of the learner. There
are two kinds of engraving in his branch: the line engraving
can be done with one tool, the other kind requires several. He
can obtain foreigners who can do both kinds (usually called mongrel
engraving), and who would be glad to get work. Chasing
and polishing are about as good mechanical pursuits as a woman
can follow. Some silver chasing is done by filling the article
with sand, and striking with proper tools; some is pressed with
heavy machinery. Soft chasing is done on metals, but the chasing
of plated ware requires some strength in the wrists, and is
done before being plated. The patterns are placed before the
workers. It requires a long time and application to acquire proficiency.
More women could find employment as chasers, if they
would apply themselves long and closely enough. A chaser, who
employs eight girls in Providence in making and chasing jewelry,
writes: "They earn from $4 to $5 per week, but men from $15
to $18. Women cannot do their work as well as men. Men
spend from two to three years learning, women from one to two
months. Spring and fall are the best seasons. The prospect
of employment for women in this branch is good. There are
other parts of the jewelry business in which women could be employed,
and I think they will be. I prefer to employ women,
because they are cheaper." A jewelry engraver writes: "In
some branches of our style of engraving, women are employed in
France and Germany. The occupation is sedentary. The
average rate of workmen is $12. I think women could command
the same prices as men. It requires about one year to learn.
There are but few first-class engravers. A bold and steady
hand, a ready and quick ingenuity, which would qualify a person
to be a good draughtsman and designer, are the qualifications
most needed for an engraver. About fifteen years ago there was
no demand for engraving, but it is now on the increase, and considered
a necessary finish to jewelry. About the Christmas
holidays are the best seasons for work. Ten hours a day are
required. In the Western and Southern States are openings—in
large cities a surplus. I think, women are peculiarly adapted
to engraving, but they would be likely to marry, and then we
would have our trouble to repeat in teaching new learners."
52. Equestrians and Gymnasts.
In equestrian entertainments,
much depends on the accessories. Without music, artificial
light, and paintings, they would be rather tame. The
principal requisites for a circus rider I take to be agility, grace,
and fearlessness. Size and form have not so much to do in
making a successful rider and gymnast as one would suppose.
The athletic exercises require vigor and firmness of muscle.
One should be trained from the earliest childhood. Children
usually begin as early as three years old. In former times, these
children were, many of them, picked up in the streets, and there
is no doubt that these human waifs had a hard time of it; but
now many of the professionals bring up their own children to the
business. All the performers, in addition to their several "star"
or "single" acts in the ring, are required to appear in any capacity
assigned them in the scenic pieces and spectacles, and to attend
the rehearsals of the same; also, to appear and remain on the
stage in proper dresses, for the purpose of filling the scene, and
giving a gay and animated appearance to the stage. Mr. Nixon's
establishment, New York, being the most complete in the country,
and being thoroughly systematized in every department, will
serve as the best source from which to derive information concerning
the routine duties required, and the weekly moneys paid
there to circus performers. "The principal performers in Mr.
Nixon's company are paid as follows: Ella Zoyara, equestrian,
in addition to first-class passage from England and back for
self and two servants, medical attendance for self and servants,
carriage and horses whenever required, and a benefit every two
weeks, receives per week $500; Mr. William Cooke, equestrian,
manager, passages for self and wife from England and return,
and per week, $500; James Robinson, equestrian, for self and three
horses, $305; the Hanlon brothers, six persons, gymnasts, per week
$300; Mr. Charlton, stilt walker, passage, &c., $125; Mr. Duverey,
contortionist, passage, &c., $125; Mlle. Heloise, equestrienne,
$100; Mlle. Clementine, equestrienne, $100; M. and Mad. Du
Boch, equestrians, $100; Master Barclay, equestrian, ten years
old, $75; Mr. Whitby, ringmaster and equestrian, $100; Mr. S.
Stikney, equestrian and general performer, $100; Mr. J. Pentland,
clown, $100; Mr. Ellingham, ringmaster and general performer,
$40; Mr. Armstrong, equestrian and general performer,
$40; W. Kincaid, do., $40; W. Pastor, do., $30; W. Bertine,
do., $30; Brennan, do., $25; Niel, do., $25; F. Sylvester, do.,
$20; A. Sylvester, do., $20; W. Ward, slack rope and clown,
$30; Prof. Yates, ballet master, $25; Mr. Stark, general performer,
$25; S. Ruggles, $20; Davenport, $20; Foster, $20;
Peterson, $20; four lady equestrians, per week, each $20; and
twenty ballet girls and twenty supernumeraries." We extract
from an English paper the following statement: "In Paris, no
less than 15,000 persons were admitted yesterday, although the
prices were doubled for the occasion, to witness the performance
on the tight rope of a woman—Madame Blanche Saqui—who is
entering her eighty-fifth year."
53. Etchers and Stamp Cutters.
In England, in the
seventeenth century, Anna and Susannah Lister were regarded as
having much skill in the noble art of etching. They illustrated a
work on natural history written by their father. A century later,
the Countess Lavinia Spencer and a Miss Hartley became noted
for their skill in etching. Rosa Elizabeth Schwindel, of Leipsic,
worked at the business of a stamp cutter in the beginning of the
eighteenth century; and two Frenchwomen during the same century—M.
A. de St. Urbin and E. Lesueur.
54. Herbarium Makers.
Herbariums are collections
of dried plants. They are formed by gluing to sheets of paper
the flowers and leaves of plants, after they have been pressed and
dried. To botanists, they are useful; and a choice collection is
a frail, but pretty ornament, for a centre table. The largest
public herbaria are at Berlin, Paris, and London. It is supposed
that some of them may contain as many as 60,000 species. There
is not much of beauty or interest in such a collection, but for
scientific purposes they may be valuable. It is not unusual to see
them made of the plants and weeds of the sea; and a very pretty
collection do they make, if got up with taste. A book has been
lately printed containing plates, with explanations for making
them into pictures and other fanciful arrangements. The making
of herbariums of both earth and marine plants, would furnish
a pleasant pastime to ladies of leisure, and a source of revenue,
perhaps, to those who might wish to make it a matter of profit.
55. Lapidaries.
A skilful manipulation is necessary to
the business of a lapidary. If woman has sufficient firmness of
nerve to perform the duties of surgeon, we see not why she would
not have for the cutting of precious stones. It is a business
conducted on a limited scale and by few persons in this country.
Mr. R., of New York, told me that a lady in Birmingham, England,
had a large establishment, and employed women and girls
to work for her. He knew of no lady that worked at the business
in the United States, except one that used to be in an establishment
on Broadway. The employment, he thinks, is not unhealthy.
After a lady has learned, she would probably earn from $4 to $5
a week, working for others. He received $12 a week when working
as a journeyman. He spent seven years as an apprentice in
England, but he learned the manufacture of jewelry in connection.
The prospect of employment depends much on the condition of
the money market, but there is reason to think the business will
increase as the country grows older. All seasons of the year are
alike. Money matters only make a change. He says there are
many books written on the precious stones and the art of cutting
and polishing them. He mentioned a book by a lady of London
on the subject. Mr. H., an importer and manufacturer of cornelian
and other fancy goods, told me that grinding precious stones
is very hard work. Men lie across wooden benches to apply the
agate, cornelian, or whatever it may be, to the grindstone. There
are eight grindstones, weighing twenty tons each, on one axle.
The polishing is done by boys, who sit at small wooden wheels,
some of which are covered with leather. Sometimes women do
this work. As this method of grinding stones is done by water
power, it is done more cheaply than by steam. In Germany, a
man who works at precious stones or makes up jewelry at home,
has his wife and daughters to assist him, and hires a peasant girl
to do his housework. The women and girls make the fastenings
for earrings, and file and polish the rings. He pays seventy cents
a gross in Germany for them. He says, in the country and villages
of northern Germany daughters are considered treasures,
for they remain at home, and by their handiwork maintain themselves;
but in the south of Germany, where there are no manufactures,
girls are a burden on their parents. B., of Philadelphia,
used to employ girls to set up jet, garnet, and turquoise for grinding;
but those stones are now out of fashion, and so girls are not
employed. He says an old lady, whose daughter is connected
with the Home Mission, wished them to give instruction to her
daughter in cutting stones, that she might, as a pastime, cut those
brought by members of the family from the seashore and watering
places. He thought it likely she would also teach the art in
the Mission School. Cutting facets he thought pretty work for
women. They can either sit or stand at the tables. There is
nothing unhealthy in the grinding, as the stones are kept wet all
the time. But the dust used in nipping glass and stones is injurious
to the lungs. When a man has been nipping all day, his
nostrils are nearly closed. The amount of work depends on
fashion. There are seven establishments in Providence, and the
work is done by steam. Some stones cannot be cut by steam
machinery, as the wheel must every few seconds be graduated in
motion. In hard times, the jewelry business and employments
connected therewith are dull, as people dispense with superfluities.
Southerners buy most jewelry, but now they do not indulge in
such purchases.
56. Landscape Gardeners.
Mrs. R. often goes and
looks at gardens, directs how to lay them out, and what to buy
for them. She then orders the plants of others, and sells on commission,
having them arranged according to her own taste, influenced
by that of the purchaser. Her purchases are made of a
German, living some distance from town, who can raise them
cheaper than she could in the city. Her compensation, of course,
varies greatly. A landscape gardener writes: "What a lady
could do as landscape gardener at the West, I do not know.
I am rather inclined to doubt her success at the East. It would
require too much time and space to enter here into the details of
what are required to constitute a landscape gardener: First, one
must have a decided love for it, and a willingness to sacrifice
much to the pleasure of the occupation. Nor can I say a great
deal in favor of the profits. I have never been able to make a
living by the profession, although I have often thought if I had
gone to New York, or farther West, the case might have been
different. In pages 381 and 382 of 'Country Life,' and in
many other parts of the book, you will see what I consider essential
to the making up and preparation of a landscape gardener,
and better expressed than I can condense into a letter." Mr.
C., of Massachusetts, writes: "I have never known a lady
to undertake the profession of landscape gardening; and much
of the labor which I find it necessary to perform, would be
impossible for a lady. Still, there is much in which female taste
would find abundant field for exertion, if the labor could be so
divided as to make it profitable. My first work on any estate is
to make an accurate topographical survey of the ground, and
draw a plan of it in its natural state, and then proceed to make
my designs for its arrangement; and when that is done, if required,
I undertake the superintendence of the work at the
ground. A lady would have to employ a surveyor, in the first
place, and would labor under many disadvantages in directing
the operations upon grounds; and, to judge from my own experience,
the business could not be made profitable under such circumstances.
Loudon's 'Encyclopædia of Gardening' will give the
best directions I know of for the necessary operations of designing
and executing plans, and Downing's work, with Sargent's
appendix, comprises enough suggestions, on matters of taste, for
the use of any person who is possessed of innate natural taste,
without which I would advise no one to attempt to be a landscape
gardener."
57. Lithographers.
The impression for chalk drawings
is made by delicate manipulations with crayon pencils; for ink
drawings, with steel pens and camel-hair brushes. It requires
one skilled in the use of her pencil, for every stroke of the pencil
or pen on the stone remains, and cannot be erased. Consequently,
any defect on the stone is conveyed to every copy of the
paper. In answer to a letter of inquiry, respecting the time
necessary for preparation, the writer says: "A person who
draws well upon paper would, I should think, with six months'
practice on stone, become proficient. The process differs little
from crayon drawing on paper; and the progress of pupils depends
entirely on their previous attainments in drawing. The
different kinds of lithography are black, chromo, and gold illuminated;
also, lithography combined, or uncombined, with embossing.
In a report of a British school of design, it is stated that
the chromo-lithographic class for females "exhibit the commencement
of a series of useful labors." An immense number of cheap
lithographs are colored by women; such as are hung in taverns,
country houses, sailors' homes, servants' rooms, &c. At Mr. C.'s
establishment, I was told that in France the females are quite as
successful as the male artists in lithography. He says lithographs
require to be more highly colored than the colors we see in
nature. Mr. C. thinks of sending to France for lithographers,
as he cannot get enough in New York well qualified. A correct
eye, skilful manipulation, and an appreciation of art are required
to make one skilful in lithography. Germans excel, because
they have so much patience. An American would become nervous
at the slow work that they prosecute with the greatest pleasure.
At Mr. C.'s they have a forewoman, who superintends the
girls, who are paid by the quantity and kind of work they do.
He finds that small girls are usually the best workers. Their
fingers are more nimble, and they enter into it with more zeal.
He thinks it best for them to commence at ten or twelve years of
age. Prospect good for employment in that branch. The coloring
of all the finest pictures is done by men. It requires some time to
become sufficiently expert to earn much. Their girls earn from
$3 to $7 a week. The work requires care, and is wearisome,
because of sitting long and steadily. Mrs. P., Brooklyn, an
English lady, learned to draw when eight years old, and studied
lithography with a distinguished artist of London, who executed
entirely with his left hand, having lost three fingers on his right
when he was a child. She has spent twenty-two years in lithographing—seventeen
of them in this country. She is probably the
only lady professionally engaged in this business in the United
States. She has earned almost constantly, I was told, from $12 to
$30 a week. Lithographing is very lucrative to a skilful artist.
The remuneration is better than women often receive for their
handiwork. We believe some women could find employment in
it, if they were prepared. Mrs. P. excels in architectural drawing.
She thinks one must have the talent of an artist, and great
practice with the pencil, to succeed. She has given instruction
to several youths, but never to one of her own sex. One must
be articled, and pass through a regular course of advancement,
to follow it advantageously. To an apprentice, after two or three
years' practice, a small premium is paid. She had one youth to
learn of her, who, after four years' time, received $7 a week from
her for his work. She thinks there will be employment to a few
well qualified. She has always been kept busy. The employment
is not more unhealthy than any other of a sedentary kind.
Mr. M. says they have no difficulty in finding enough of crayon
lithographers, but that there is more lithographic engraving done
than crayon lithographing. It is done on stone with instruments,
very much as engraving is done on copper. We have read "that
an improved method of transferring copies of delicate copper and
steel plate engravings to the surface of lithographic stone has
been invented. One copy taken from the steel or copper plate,
after being transferred to the stone, is capable of producing 3,000
prints." "Lithography, engraving, and especially engraving on
wood, would gain in quality by passing from men's hands to the
hands of women." "Lithographic works are produced which
rival the finest engravings, and even surpass them, in the expression
of certain subjects." The first lithography executed in the
United States was in Boston, 1826. W. & S. used to employ
girls to color lithographs, but found it did not pay. They paid
from $4 to $5 a week to women, who did the common part of the
work. Men did the finer parts, and earned from $12 to $25 a
week; but only those who are expert, have artistic taste, and
understand the business, can earn so much. French lithographs
are prepared and the coloring done so much cheaper in Europe,
they have ceased to have it done in New York. B., lithographer,
Philadelphia, employs many ladies—about twenty—in the house.
Some associate in companies, and take their work to the house
of one of their number; but the greater part are educated women,
who do not wish it known that they earn money by their labor:
these carry the plates to their own homes (and even have them
sent to the fashionable places of resort in summer), so that many
a fair damsel trips along Chestnut street with a roll of something,
which seems to be music, but is, in fact, work. The coarse
handed take no part in this employment. Very few have ever
attained the highest degree of proficiency in it. The most delicate
work is done by men. Americans have most aptness for
coloring, although the Germans excel in drawing on stone.
Women seldom attempt the latter art. It requires long practice
for girls to excel in coloring. Many grades of skill are required
to color lithographs, and there is much difficulty in making all
the copies exactly like the first. Some need a treatment so
nearly approaching the artistic, that scarcely any one who has
the skill can be found to give his labor for the price, which is
necessarily limited. We gained no information as to the amount
of wages paid to the colorists, but, judging from the price of a
very beautiful specimen (29 cents), it must be sadly inadequate.
The scientific societies are the main support of this business.
The Government, indeed, gives very extensive orders, but there
is always so much competition to obtain them, that the profit is
small. Audubon was the greatest encourager of this branch of
industry. This employment is very desirable in every respect
for educated women; and although machinery for printing in
colors is fast encroaching on it, yet it will long offer a field for
female enterprise. Our informant employs from 100 to 300
hands, according to the prosperity of the times. A commercial
crisis affects this as well as all other trades. One of the firm
of the best lithographic establishment in New York, told me
they pay their men for drawing on stone from $25 to $30 a week.
The time required to learn lithography, he thought, would depend
much on natural talent. A good knowledge of drawing is necessary.
He thought men would soon get over the opposition of
women entering the business; but they did not like the restraint
of working where women are. They would soon become accustomed
to it; and if they were women of the right kind, it
might be a very beneficial restraint. But, as to that, women
could do the work at home. Many Germans, well acquainted
with the art, are engaged in crayoning. When they first come
to this country, they work for lower wages than Americans, but
after a while learn their value, and ask as much as any one else.
On account of the low wages for which foreigners can usually be
had, but few Americans have prepared themselves for this occupation.
But when work is plenty, and the individual industrious
and skilful, he can earn good wages. Seven eighths of the work
done for this country is executed in New York. The agent of a
lithographic company writes: "Drawing on stone could be done
by women as well as men; and would open to them a very genteel
and remunerative branch of business. The drawing is now
done mostly by Germans and Frenchmen; but ladies who have
a taste for drawing could soon learn this art. The usual price
for such artists now is from $12 to $35 per week." Prof. P., of
New York, gives instruction in lithography, charging $12 per
quarter of eleven weeks—two lessons per week. Special arrangements
are made with pupils who intend to devote themselves to the
profession as artists or teachers. A gentleman remarked to me
that Mr. S., a certain distinguished lithographer of this city
(New York), would make an excellent teacher in that art. His
forte is heads. A few strokes from his pencil always give a
beautiful finish to a piece of work.
58. Map Makers.
Women could not well travel about
to obtain information of localities for the making of maps, but
nearly all the manual labor connected with the business would be
very suitable for them. Lithographing maps is said to be a profitable
branch of the art, and opens a field to competent women.
Attending the machines for making impressions from the stones
might very well be performed by women. "In Philadelphia,
map coloring gives employment to about 175 females, some of
whom display exquisite taste in this delicate art." There used
to be 150 girls in New York painting maps, but there are very
few now. Freedley tells of a map-manufacturing establishment
in Philadelphia that "turns out 1,200 maps weekly. Connected
with it are two lithographic printing offices, having twenty presses,
and coloring rooms, in which 35 females are employed." I was
told by a lady who had colored maps, that it is trying on the eyes
and poorly compensated. A map maker said he was always most
busy in the fall, and then employed from 12 to 16 women. In
winter he employed about half that number, and they principally
married women, who have worked for them several years. Mr.
W. pays two of his best and most experienced lady workers a certain
sum by the week, and they hire girls and women to work for
them. The profits of these forewomen, aside from their own
work, amount to $1.50 to $2 a week the year round. Girls receive
$1.50 a week while learning. It requires from six months to one
year to become proficient. Neatness, a steady hand, knowledge of
colors, and fineness of touch, are the principal requisites for a
good map colorist. It requires no artistic knowledge. An expeditious
and experienced hand can earn $1 a day. There is
at present a need of hands in New York, and a surplus in Philadelphia.
All seasons are alike in this business, except as monetary
affairs are concerned. All Mr. W.'s hands work in the
house. They work about nine hours a day all the year, and
never take maps home with them, as they are mostly large and
heavy maps. Map making is mostly confined to Philadelphia
and New York. None are made in the South and West. There
is one map publisher reported in Richmond, but he has his
maps made in New York. Mr. C. gives his maps to a map
mounter, who employs a girl to sew the bindings on with a sewing
machine. She is paid at the same rate as any other operator.
The paper bindings are of course pasted on. Mr. C. employs one
girl to paint the outlines, but all the other painting is done by
stencil plates. Map coloring formerly gave employment to many
females, but now it is very rare that a map is colored by hand.
The stencilling process introduced by the Germans has superseded
it, as they are thereby rendered cheaper. Girls used to earn
75 cents to $1 a day for painting maps. If girls would learn
stencilling and work on their own responsibility, they might compete
with the Germans. The process is very simple and soon
learned. At Mr. H.'s, I saw a large room full of Germans stencilling.
Men earn $8 or $9 a week, and do it faster and better
than girls, as they have more strength. I saw one girl shading,
who earned $1 a day. A map manufacturer writes me: "In map
coloring I am compelled to employ men to a large extent. A curious
fact is, that respectable middle-aged women, who have been
coloring for years on piecework, make from $4 to $5 per week; while
young men, comparatively unpractised, earn at the same prices, say
from $9 to $10." A manufacturer who employs about 80 females,
writes: "I employ women in pasting and putting down maps,
who receive from $3 to $4 a week, being paid by the week, and
working ten hours a day. The difference in prices of male and
female labor is about one half. One can learn the business in a few
weeks; the only qualifications requisite are sobriety and strength.
The prospect for work in this branch is good. There is no difference
in the seasons. Some parts of the work can be done more
cheaply by women. A supply of hands can always be had. The
women do their work less carefully than men." A map publisher
in New Hampshire writes: "I employ 28 women and girls in
binding, mounting, stitching, and coloring maps, and pay from
$3 to $6 per week, working eight hours a day. The engraving is
done by men, who receive from $6 to $20 per week. Women's
labor can be learned in a few weeks, and is not so hard or difficult
as men's. Engravers spend three years learning. I employ
women to color, because they have better taste than men. Draughting
surveys, engraving, and lithographing have never been attempted
by women. New York is preferable as a locality." A
gentleman in Boston writes: "We employ from four to eight
women in our map-mounting department. They could not be
employed in any other branch, which is varnishing and polishing
all kinds of hard wood. There are a large number employed
in New York, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. Pay varies from $3
to $5 per week—ten hours a day. We employ no men in this
branch. There is something new to learn every day. Business
is the same all the year. We pay our girls nothing while learning."
A lithographer in Boston writes: "I employ women to
color maps and pictures, paying by the piece, the workers earning
from $3 to $6 per week. The employment is not unhealthy."
59. Medallists.
"Beatrice Hamerani worked at medallions,
and in 1700 elaborated a large medallion of Pope Innocent
XII., highly praised by Goethe." "Toward the end of the
seventeenth century we hear of Madame Ravemann, who executed
a beautiful medal, an exquisite specimen of cutting." In the
school of design in New York, we saw two very creditable medallions,
executed by one of the members of the school.
60. Modellers.
An ornamental designer and modeller
writes me: "In England I attended my lady pupils at their own
residences, except one to whom I gave instruction at my residence.
One was the daughter of the Lord Mayor of the city,
another the daughter-in-law of the Earl of H. Very few ladies
learn any of the higher branches of art, except those that do so
for recreation. A person that has some skill in drawing would,
without the slightest doubt, soon acquire a knowledge of this
beautiful art. Some persons have a natural gift for modelling,
while others would not learn it with all the cultivation arising
from education and good society. Probably the best source of
employment in New York would be to design and model for the
silversmiths—such as Ball & Black, Tiffany, &c. One of the
most fertile departments in Europe to lady modellers is not carried
on to any extent in this country—the making of fine pottery.
The fingers, of course, must be soiled in modelling; but such an
inconvenience is trifling compared with the pleasure of forming
fruit, flowers, and foliage, or modelling the medallions of friends."
The modelling of gas fixtures might afford employment to a small
number of qualified women. We know of one establishment in
Philadelphia where part of the designing for fixtures, lamps, and
chandeliers, is done by a lady, and all the copying done for illustrated
catalogues of those which are finished. She receives $6 a
week, and goes about 9 o'clock
A. M. and remains until 4
P. M.
Mr P., at his school of art in New York, has a very large collection
of casts. He gives instruction to boys and young men in
modelling and drawing, charging 25 cents a lesson of 3 hours in
the day or 2 in the evening. They are instructed in classes.
Some of his casts are gigantic. In one of his rooms is a beautiful,
but small model, in wax, for $300, representing a hunting
scene. We have been told that some ladies in Germany model
wax patterns for the ornamental work on china. Few tools are
used by a modeller—the only ones are for the sharp and delicate
parts that cannot be formed by the fingers. As clay does not
shrink uniformly in drying it is moulded before drying in plaster
of Paris, and a cast of the same material taken from that, which
serves as a model for the workman. Some artists model in wax.
Women might be employed in modelling ornamental and scroll
work for brass founderies, &c., and get good wages.
61. Modellers of Wax Figures.
Catharine Questier,
who lived in Amsterdam about 200 years ago, besides possessing
many other accomplishments, was a modeller in wax. Joanna
Sabina Preu, who lived in Germany not long after, was noted in
the same way. A daughter of a Danish king also modelled in
wax. "Professor Anna Manzalius, an Italian lady, modelled excellent
portraits in the beginning of the eighteenth century." In
England, in the early part of the eighteenth century, Mrs. Samore
modelled figures and historical groups in wax. Mrs. Patience
Wright, born in Bordentown, New Jersey, 1725, made a
great many likenesses in wax. Some were full length and some
were busts. They were mostly of the statesmen that were conspicuous
in the American colonies at that time—yet some were
of Englishmen, as she resided in London, after she became a
widow, and supported her family by her handiwork. Her daughter,
Mrs. Platt, modelled in wax in New York in 1787. I saw a
maker of wax figures who said he had supported his family by his
work, and thought a few others might make a living at it. One
must be able to draw a model before undertaking wax figures.
It requires good perceptive powers, ability to distinguish colors,
and a peculiar taste. One must be able to work from life, and
it is well to know how to do so from pictures. Mr. G., interested
in Barnum's museum, told me that it was impossible to get
such wax figures made in this country as they want. He spoke of
the miserable imitations that are made, and thought a person well
qualified would be patronized. Most of the groups in Barnum's
museum were made by Mrs. Pelby, of Boston. Mr. Barnum
wrote to Mr. Tussaud, whose mother made those so famous in
London (and who is living now), to know if he would instruct
some one to send to America; but he is not willing to give any
one instruction. He employs persons to make the different parts;
one set of workers make the bodies, another the heads, another
the feet, &c. The world-famed group of his mother, Madame
Tussaud, was first opened in Paris about 1770. After being
exhibited in the large towns of Great Britain, it was taken to
London, where it still remains. The figures are so life-like that
now and then one is mistaken for a living person, while a person
is as often mistaken in the group for one of the figures. More
than forty persons are kept in charge of the exhibition.
62. Mineral Labellers and Arrangers.
A lady
could not easily make collections of minerals, but she might find
it an absorbing occupation to arrange and label them. Few ladies
in our country have given any study to mineralogy, and very
few would be competent to form cabinets. Yet, for those that
are, we doubt not employment of that kind could be found. The
individual wealth of our country has not been sufficient to enable
many to make extensive collections. The most that exist are
connected with universities and other institutions of learning.
They have been collected at different times—in fact, mostly formed
by single specimens, added now and then. Individual collections
have been formed in the same way. Individuals add to
the cabinets of their friends, as they have it in their power. The
most extensive collections in the United States are at the Patent
Office, Washington, and in the National Academy of Science,
Philadelphia. Mr. H., a mineralogist from Berlin, says: "In
Berne, Switzerland, a man and his wife are mineralogists. On
the husband's death the wife will continue the business." It must
require many years' study and an extensive knowledge of chemistry
to become a superior mineralogist. I would think considerable
time and capital were requisite for a mineralogist to establish
himself. Mr. H. makes exchanges of minerals for others,
receiving, I suppose, a commission for doing so. A geologist
writes me: "No women are employed in my business. It requires
one half of a lifetime to become fitted for the duties of a
geologist. A knowledge of engineering, and most of the natural
sciences, is needed. Draughting in the office is the only part
suitable for women."
63. Musicians.
Madame Romeau says: "Few women
have been engaged in musical compositions, and they have rarely
undertaken important works. In painting and literature one is
pre-occupied only with the work of the author. In music, it re
quires
the coöperation of two persons—the composer, and the
performer. Books and paintings act upon us without any intermediate
objects, while the piece of the composer, to be understood,
needs the flow of harmony noted on the paper in hieroglyphic
signs, and must escape under the fingers from the instrument.
It is necessary to animate the inert matter—to make it
yield to the wish of the performer and reproduce the inspirations
of the composer. Few women compose songs. A musician
leads a different life from an artist, who lives in her studio and
has few expenses. A musician must face the crowd, and hear its
dissatisfaction, and smile at its applause. A cantatrice, or songstress,
often travels from town to town like an actress." Some
persons think none of the arts can be purely religious except music.
"Mozart in music, and Raphael in colors, have taught us
the spiritual ministry of the senses." A comparatively small
quantity of music has been composed in the United States. The
study of a lifetime is bestowed by very few on music. Some
American ladies have gone to Europe to perfect their musical
taste, and a few have acquired distinction. With musicians, as
with vocalists—those who, in this country, have reaped the greatest
profits in the shortest time were foreigners. Some were pianists,
some flutists, some violinists—some one thing, and some
another. The composition of music for soirées, fancy balls,
masquerades, tableaux vivants, private theatricals, operas, dramas,
musical farces, ballets, &c., might occupy all the spare time
of musicians capable of composing. There is a circulating library
in London of 42,000 volumes. There is, also, one in New
York and one in Brooklyn. Subscribers to the one in Brooklyn
pay in advance for one year $12, with the privilege of selecting
from the catalogue $6 worth of music at the termination of the
subscription; for six months, $6; for three months, $3; for a
single piece worth less than $1, 6 cents per week; less than $2,
9 cents per week. Mr. G. thinks a lady can never become a
good violinist, because it requires great strength in the right arm.
The muscles of violinists are as rigid as a blacksmith's. I have
heard that occasionally a pianist acquires such strength in his
hands that he could almost prostrate you with one of his fingers.
A gentleman told me, ladies could not become superior organists;
that they cannot have sufficient power developed. It requires
much strength of hands and feet. He remarked, the organist, at
the church he attended, was a lady, but made no comments on
her qualifications. I have known two lady organists, who were
considered superior performers, and received as good salaries as
gentlemen would have done. One received $500 for playing
twice on Sabbath. On week days she gave instruction. I was
told that she supported her whole family for years by her musical
talents, and laid by money with which she purchased a comfortable
dwelling in a city in New York State. The salaries of
organists are small considering the amount of talent and practice
required; but most organists teach music, or stand in music stores,
or act as agents for manufacturers of musical instruments. "In
the summer of 1860, among the Marblehead band of female shoe
strikers in the procession at Lynn, Mass., was Miss Margaret
Hammond, fifteen years old, who beat the drum in martial style
the whole line of march." "In Ohio they have a lady drummer,
who has received a diploma for her skill. Her name is Minerva
Patterson, a daughter of Major Elisha Patterson, a wealthy farmer
of Jersey, Licking Co." The French papers have given
some insight to the prices paid great musicians, Malibran received
in London, for every performance at Drury Lane, $750;
Lablache, for singing twice, $750, and for a single lesson to
Queen Victoria, $200. At a soirée in London Grisi received
$1,200. Paganini charged $400 a lesson. "Herz and Thalberg
each made about $60,000 in this country." There is a female
musical society in London which gives concerts for benevolent
objects.
