Plan No. 139. Woman in Business
There are clipping bureaus, big and little, in all the cities and towns in America, but a short time ago there was one town of 6,000 people, in a western state, where there was no clipping bureau, so an enterprising citizen of the place started one.
He was on a friendly basis with the newspaper men of the town and was allowed the use of exchange papers.
Next he interviewed a number of contractors, builders, architects, supply houses, manufacturers, men prominent socially and politically, and many others and arranged to furnish them with all the news items of interest within a radius of 200 miles, for $3.00 a month and up, depending upon the character and number of subjects clipped.
Then he rented a small office in a quiet street, hired a girl for $35 a month to do the reading, clipping, pasting and classifying. He solicited the business. His receipts for the first month were $100, the second month $150, the third month $200, and on up until it reached $300 a month, with no additional expense. He also read, marking the articles to be clipped and mailed by the girl assistant.
His bureau is still running and is making him a good living.
The wife of a young man who had been incapacitated for heavy work by injuries received in an automobile accident assumed the duties of bread-winner for the family by carrying out a number of plans which she had always regarded as “life-savers” in case of emergencies. Each of these in itself would prove a means of earning a livelihood by any one other woman similarly situated.
This couple lived in a small western city of about 25,000 inhabitants, some of whom were well-to-do, and it occurred to her that by utilizing her large front room and opening a little store in which all the articles offered for sale were made at home, she could keep it stocked with many articles which she could make herself, and soon build up a profitable business.
Possessing extraordinary taste and skill, by odd jobs she earned some money to be used as working capital for the store. First, she bought a ham, sliced it thin, laid some sprigs of parsley around it on a number of plates, and set this in her front window. She also made some artificial honey from a recipe she found in an old cook book, and arranged this display so tastefully that her supply was soon sold. Then she displayed a variety of vegetables, fresh from her garden, and these also sold readily, at good prices. To this display she added plants of many kinds, then delicious pastry of her own cooking, preserves, sweetmeats, fresh laid eggs from her own hens, and finally branched out into a complete line of home-made goods, for which she found a steady demand the year round.
With the little help her husband could give, she was soon earning more money than the family ever had before.
Never before had she realized the immense profit to be derived from a well-kept flower bed, but the insistent call for plants and cut flowers of all kinds gave her a new idea, and she turned this also to excellent account. Her own personal care of the flower bed was the only capital she found it necessary to invest, and she was pleased to learn that the large returns she received from this source represented just that much clear profit.
The more common plants, such as pansies, geraniums, etc., were always in demand by those who had failed to plant flowers of their own, while the rarer kinds, such as orchids, etc., were wanted, at fancy prices.
She possessed the artistic taste necessary to arrange her flowers and plants to the best possible advantage, and this arrangement no doubt brought many patrons.
To keep her flowers fresh, she wet them thoroughly, put them in a damp box and covered them with wet raw cotton or wet newspapers, then placed them in a cool place. To preserve bouquets, she put a little saltpetre in the water.
During her spare time she made a great variety of Christmas presents, such as sofa pillows, pin cushions and trays, jewel trays, lamp shades, chair cushions, tidies, book-marks, catch-bags, and work-baskets. The latter she made of a few cents’ worth of light drilling covered with ruffled net, and when made they were fully equipped with the necessary needles, thread, etc. Some cheap yet substantial material was used as a base for these baskets, and when tastefully adorned, as she so well knew how, they, as well as all the other holiday articles she made, sold quickly.
The prices which home-made lace commands in the cities would surprise those not familiar with this rare industry, but when it is known that $15 is considered cheap for a simple point lace handkerchief, some idea may be gained as to its possibilities. Of course, many cheaper articles can be made of lace, and sold readily at good profits, and procuring a book that gave complete instructions for the making of lace of all kinds, this lady devoted considerable time to making many things which she sold at good prices.
As her little home store was near a school, she decided to make up a number of needed articles for the use of the pupils, and had no trouble in selling them. These articles consisted mainly of school-book bags made of stout linen, with fancy stitching and a strong linen strap; also pen-wipers, sleeve-protectors, school aprons, etc. These she made in pretty colors, with neat stitching, and they were very handsome as well as useful.
Sometimes she arranged with a bright boy or girl to sell these in school, paying a small commission for such services, either in cash or goods selected from her store.
That she made a success of her venture may be judged when it is stated that her profits are larger each year than those of some of the regular merchants of her city.
The following plan was adopted by a farmers’ grocer who had located in a southern state for his wife’s health and it proved more profitable than had his former big store in a northern city. His plan was the making of artificial maple syrup, a healthful staple product that cost but little and brought excellent returns. He made the syrup as follows:
Take one bushel of clean, fresh corn-cobs, place them in a large kettle, pour in five gallons of clear water and boil for two hours, or until it boils down to about two gallons. Then remove the cobs and strain the water. Then add five pounds of New Orleans sugar and boil for thirty minutes, and strain and seal in glass or tin cans, with proper labels. The corn-cobs give it the maple flavor, which makes it very palatable, though it can be sold at very much less than the genuine article.
By increasing the quantities of the ingredients, he was soon able to make forty to fifty gallons a day, at a cost of about 12 cents per gallon. The cans cost him 20 to 30 cents per dozen, and the labels about $2 per 1,000, the entire cost of one dozen gallon cans being about $1.75, while he retailed it at $1.00 per gallon. At first he sold it through agents, paying a commission of 25 per cent, and his net profit on one dozen gallon cans was therefore $7.25. Later, however, he wholesaled it to grocers at 50 cents per gallon, and this netted him $4.25 per dozen cans.
It was so good an imitation that it could not be detected from genuine maple syrup, and those who bought it once insisted upon having it again, and the maker soon had a long list of regular customers which insured him a good living.
A young woman in Vancouver, B. C., who had noticed that most ladies gladly pay from 25 cents to $1.50 for a two-ounce jar or bottle of widely-heralded “face cream,” decided that she could make some just as good as the best of these, and realize a profit of 700 per cent. She took ten pounds of oatmeal and boiled it thoroughly in clear water, afterward straining it through a cheese cloth, squeezing the meal through the cloth with a motion like that of milking a cow. When well strained, she diluted three ounces of carbolic acid with a quart of water, then mixed it well with the meal, adding enough water, where it was too thick, to make the consistency of cream. She put this in two-ounce jars, attractively, and sold it readily at 25 cents per jar.
This made enough to fill 500 jars of the cream, which sold for $125, while the total cost of the same, including materials, jars and labels, was not over $15, so that from this one “batch” of cream her profits were $110.
It became a very popular product, as the oatmeal softens the skin and the carbolic acid removes blemishes, and these results, coupled with a fancy name on an artistic label, sold the cream as fast as she could make it.
The directions for use were as follows: After bathing the face thoroughly in tepid water, dry well, dip tips of fingers in cream, and rub on face until dry, which helps to efface all impurities of the skin. Bathe the face again, and dry with a soft towel.
How much money do you suppose that girl made out of this simple face cream during the first year? Exactly $2,500.
A preacher’s daughter, thrown upon her own resources, and feeling that she could not enter any of the ordinary occupations, owing to the unreasonable opposition of her late father’s parishioners, decided to adopt the novel profession of toilet adviser to her lady friends.
Having excellent taste in such matters, and having long been looked to for counsel in the matter of dress, she had no difficulty in securing a very considerable list of permanent patrons, who paid her reasonably well for the services she rendered.
She opened a little “office” in her home, and those who came for consultation concerning matters of dress or personal adornment she charged $1.00 an hour, while her rate for accompanying her patrons on shopping expeditions was 50 cents an hour.
She advised her customers how to dress their hair becomingly, the colors they could wear to the best advantage, the style of gown appropriate to each occasion, the propriety of neckwear, hat, bonnet, etc., and as her taste in these matters was faultless, her services were so thoroughly appreciated that her time was taken up with these duties. She had the firmness to insist upon her decision being accepted as final, and yet possessed the delicacy to do so without injuring their feelings, and made a much better living for the family than had her father.
It isn’t every girl who is qualified to render this service, but every town and city offers a great field for its performance.
A middle-aged widow in St. Louis, who owned a large house and grounds in a good residential district, but who was short of ready money, evolved a plan for establishing a nurses’ bureau in her own home.
From physicians, hospitals, city directories and friends, she obtained the names of nearly two hundred nurses, and from the greater part of these she secured permission to place their names upon her list, with their addresses, telephone numbers, wages asked per week, etc., and with the understanding that they were to pay her a certain amount as commission for obtaining positions for them at any time they were not engaged. They were to keep her informed when they were engaged, with the length of time so employed, and the means of reaching them quickly when necessary.
She then advertised in the classified columns of the city papers to the effect that she was prepared at all times to supply nurses at any time, and notified the doctors and the hospitals of this fact.
She further utilized several of the unoccupied rooms in her home, as well as the aid of one servant, by taking a number of the nurses to board with her, so as to have them ready for sudden calls, and in this way offered facilities not theretofore enjoyed by either the nurses or those needing their services. Within a few months she was enjoying a living income from her novel venture, and rendered excellent service to nurses and patients alike.
Almost any woman who wants to learn dress-cutting can do so by using one of the numerous systems now on the market, and it is an easy matter to get one of the charts that give complete instructions.
Some women learn quickly, while others are slow. But here is one who made a good living out of it. Having thoroughly mastered the chart, and being naturally gifted in matters pertaining to the fitting of garments, she proceeded to open a school for teaching the dress-cutting art to others who wished to learn.
To each pupil one of the charts is supplied, together with personal instructions needed in most cases, and for these services and supplies she makes a moderate charge. The first lesson she gives is on garments belonging to the pupils themselves, and as others come in with dresses to make she names a reasonable charge for making these, and even then her prices are much less than those of regular dress-makers. The pupils do the main part of the work on these dresses, as part of their instructions, while the lady gets the pay for the finished dress.
She not only gets paid for the tuition of the girls and the dresses they make but also a commission on each chart sold to her pupils, and in this way makes a very comfortable living. After she became well established, she also gave employment to some of the more apt and dextrous of her finished pupils, and thus enabled them to make good wages for themselves.
A young society woman in a western city had recently been reduced to comparative poverty by sudden reverses which overtook her father, and being of an energetic and resourceful nature, she started a class in dancing and deportment, to earn something with which to assist her now almost dependent father and mother.
She sent out circulars to a long list of her acquaintances, announcing that her class would begin on a certain evening, and invited their patronage. She was so well known that she had no difficulty in securing a large class from the very beginning, as even those mothers who did not favor dancing were anxious to have their daughters properly instructed in social laws and customs from so competent and trustworthy a teacher.
She also gave private lessons in both dancing and deportment for the benefit of a number of families whose early advantages had not been such as to fit them for the places in society to which they now aspired. These lessons paid well.
Women’s exchanges, as usually conducted, consist of a number of women who form a sort of syndicate, have a board of managers, rent a suitable building, employ the necessary help to carry on the work, and pay annual dues of a stated amount each.
But an Omaha woman, who had only a very few dollars, and had a taste for that kind of work, concluded to start one all her own, and she made it a success.
Lacking the capital with which to rent a store room she used her parlor for that purpose, and succeeded so well that in a short time she was able to move to larger quarters, more centrally located.
She issued some neat circulars, inviting the women of her own and other neighborhoods to bring any articles they had for sale, and she would make an effort to dispose of them, or exchange them for other articles they desired, on the basis of a 10 per cent commission on all sales or exchanges made. As nearly every woman has certain belongings which she wishes to sell, or exchange for something else, there was a hearty response to the invitation, and her parlor was soon filled with a motley array of miscellaneous merchandise.
Every article was labeled with the name, address and telephone number of the owner, the price asked for it, or the goods for which it would be exchanged, and the parlor was thronged every day and evening with women patrons, who nearly always found something they were glad to buy at the marked price, so that the lady’s commissions began almost at once to assume very good proportions. Later she served lunches in her dining room, and these also were liberally patronized, so that she made a very good living from her exchange idea, and finally became the owner of a regular store.
A San Francisco woman who had excellent taste and judgment, and large experience in buying, decided to adopt shopping as a regular profession, and found it a most pleasant and profitable occupation.
After making arrangements with several large stores in the city, carrying different lines of goods, for a straight commission of 10 per cent on all purchases she should make, she asked and obtained the consent of a number of well-known business men of her acquaintance to use their names as references in launching her enterprise.
She had several thousand circulars printed, stating that she would carefully and satisfactorily attend to orders she received from outside parties for doing all kinds of shopping, and that she would make no charge whatever for the services so rendered. These circulars contained the names of her references, and stated the experience she had had in buying merchandise of various kinds.
Then she advertised in a number of papers that circulated largely throughout the rural districts and country towns, asking inquiries regarding her method of free shopping. These ads. brought hundreds of letters asking for complete information, and in answer to these she sent her circulars. She also obtained many names of people in small communities from seed dealers, agricultural implement men, and others having a large country trade, and sent circulars to these also.
The fairness of the offer, and the standing of the lady herself, as evidenced by her references, brought many orders, and, as she had announced that where cash did not accompany the order the goods would be sent C. O. D., she sustained no losses. The idea of having a competent and reliable person do all their shopping, without charge, appealed to them and they became her permanent patrons.
A western man who was strongly opposed to the use of drugs, and who had cured himself of prolonged constipation by a process of self-massaging of the abdomen, was anxious that other sufferers might also receive the benefit of his experience, and felt that the information given them was worth paying for. He therefore had some circular letters printed, fully explaining the method, and advertised in a large number of papers, offering this drugless treatment upon receipt of 50 cents.
The advertisements seemed to have created a decidedly favorable impression, for hundreds of answers, with enclosures, were received, and to each of these he sent a copy of his circular letter, as follows:
“The causes of constipation are many. Often it is an insufficient supply of bile, or may be due to digestive troubles, and always follows sedentary habits.
“Cathartics are injurious, and make the bowels dependent upon artificial means for their movement, and this in time may lead to paralysis, with consequent loss of control.
“To teach the muscles of the abdomen to bring on a natural peristaltic movement, at least twice a day, is the purpose of these instructions.
“Once each day or night always at the same hour stand erect and place the palms of both hands directly over your intestines. Then, with no clothing over the abdomen, with a circular motion from right to left, begin gently to massage the same, not rapidly, but slowly and with a gentle pressure, giving your hands a rotary motion over the flesh. Continue this for five or ten minutes.
“Starting in at the right side of your abdomen, work your hands in a circling motion, from right to left, gradually taking in all parts of the abdomen, but do not pound or strike yourself.
“If satisfactory results do not come the first day, or even the first week, do not give up, but keep at it until they do, and go through with it at the same hour each day or night, as you choose.
“Within a few days you will find your bowels beginning to move more regularly and freely, but do not stop the massaging, though you may reduce the time given to it. In a few weeks the massage will require but one minute a day.
“Many kinds of food tend to produce constipation. Crackers, cheese and too much white bread are particularly bad, so that less rich food, but more coarse foods, as meats, potatoes, vegetables, light puddings, etc., are necessary. A raw apple once a day is highly beneficial and so are oranges. Eat regularly, and take plenty of time to thoroughly chew your food before swallowing.
“Constipation causes the waste to ferment in the intestines, producing dangerous poisons that are absorbed in the blood, and waste gas in the stomach and bowels.
“Give the abdominal muscles plenty of exercise, especially through deep breathing while lying on your back, also by bending over, swinging from side to side, and other simple exercises that give stamina to the muscles of the abdominal tract. Take no cathartics, but where artificial aid is needed, use an enema of a quart of warm water, in which you have placed at least an ounce of glycerine. But even this will not be necessary after you have established regular habits through the continued use of this natural, drugless treatment, which costs you nothing, no matter how long you keep it up.”
This course of treatment produced the best results, and thousands of them were mailed out to persons remitting the 50 cents each required for the instructions. Many of these people afterwards sent in unsolicited testimonials as to the benefits they had received from it, and these, as well as the financial returns brought by this plan, afforded its originator a great deal of satisfaction and profit.
A city man who had inherited a 40-acre tract of pasture land from his father’s estate, and whose failing health rendered it necessary for him to get out into the country, concluded that about the only use he could make of this land was to raise a few sheep.
He therefore built a cabin on the tract, together with a shed for sheltering the sheep, and bought twenty head of well-bred animals, which he placed in the pasture. This pasture was well seeded in grass, was all fenced and had a fine stream of water running through it from a spring that came out of a small hill upon which the cabin was built. It also contained several shade trees.
He had a few hundred dollars in cash, but the living expenses of himself and wife were light, so that his small savings were sufficient for a year or two, especially as they had planted a fine garden with berry bushes, besides plants and shrubs of various kinds, and had also bought a cow and a few dozen chickens, so that the greater part of their living was taken care of.
In the meantime their flock of sheep increased rapidly, and the cost of raising them was small in money and labor. This man and his wife were agreeably surprised at the end of the third year to find that their little flock had earned for them over $1,500. That amount has been greatly increased with each succeeding year, and has brought them a larger yearly income than would the highest salaried position in the city. And their health has also been completely restored through the out-door life they have led.
Not one woman in ten thousand would ever have thought of the plan which this talented woman living in an eastern city thought out and adopted as a means of earning a very comfortable living, when confronted with the necessity for doing so.
Possessing artistic tastes and tendencies, she began by arranging delightful cozy corners for people who were able to pay good prices for the charming effects she designed and produced, yet who lacked the originality to plan them with the delicacy and harmony that characterized her designs.
Many of these she originated, while others were taken from the homes of her friends.
These she photographed, arranged them in a large album, and carried them from house to house. In most of the homes visited, these designs created a profound impression, owing to their originality and beauty, and when she submitted estimates of the cost of duplicating these, or where desired, of making a special design, which of course included her own services, she usually received an order at once, and soon found she had all the work she could possibly do, at prices that in the aggregate brought her a revenue of several thousand dollars a year.
When the cozy corner was finished, she would impress upon the lady of the house the satisfaction it would afford her to have the same photographed, so she could send pictures of it to her friends, and as she was herself an expert with the camera, she earned many extra dollars by making these photos.
A middle-aged man in a western city, who had practiced law for some years in the middle west, but later drifted into the newspaper business, for the double reason that he liked it better and was more adapted to it, finally took up general publicity work as a profession and soon became recognized as a leader in his line.
Although he wrote a great many advertisements for commercial houses, medical specialists, dentists, etc., all of which were rendered usually attractive through their originality of design and their concise and forceful style, he later began to specialize on booklets, prospectuses, etc. He was engaged to prepare the matter for a number of books about to be published, in which field his ability to extract all the salient points from subjects that are often laboriously and voluminously treated, and to condense a long tiresome story into a short and interesting one, found full scope.
One day a lawyer friend of his suggested to him that he could find a fertile field for his talents in re-writing the long and tedious briefs which most attorneys submit to the supreme court for review when taking cases before that tribunal on appeal; that lawyers, as a rule, are poor writers and waste much time and effort in the preparation of their briefs, with the result that they are not apt to receive the consideration from supreme court justices that would be accorded a condensed yet accurate statement of the facts, with properly arranged citations of authorities, etc.
Profiting by this suggestion, the publicity man called upon many of the lawyers in the city and, after explaining why he believed he could greatly improve their briefs, was given a number to remodel and prepare according to his own ideas both as a lawyer and as a newspaper man. These proved so satisfactory, that he was given much work in that line by several of the leading law firms, and found his time profitably occupied.
Several rising young lawyers with political aspirations also engaged his services in the writing of newspaper articles through which their names were brought and kept prominently before the public, with the result that their progress toward a coveted goal was rendered much more rapid, and a number of them are now holding important public positions as a consequence of this well-directed publicity.
A lady in a western state who had considerable literary ability, yet who had not been successful in having very many of her magazine articles accepted for publication on a cash basis, concluded to try another way of making a little money out of these same periodicals.
She offered several of her manuscripts to various publishers in payment for subscription to their magazines, and these offers were as a rule gladly accepted, so that she was constantly in receipt of the latest publications. She had many neighbors who also liked to read magazines, but did not feel able to subscribe for as many as they wanted, and most of them would not borrow them from her.
This afforded her an opening to launch her pet scheme of starting a circulating library with her surplus stock of magazines. So she had a number of circular letters typewritten, announcing that for a small monthly rate she would loan all her periodicals to the members, rotating them so that each would have an opportunity to read them all during the month. As the charge was very reasonable, and the benefits to be derived from the plan so great, practically every family within a radius of twenty miles promptly subscribed.
The enterprising originator of the plan was thus able not only to bring pleasure to her neighbors, but considerable profit to herself as well, besides the satisfaction of having her neighbors read her own contribution to a number of magazines.
Capable seamstresses suffering for the lack of work are to be found almost anywhere, yet if they would do as these four western girls did, they could have all the work they wanted, and be well paid for it, too.
Plan No. 158. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
All these girls were fine needlewomen, who could do all kinds of sewing and mending, on all classes of wearing apparel, yet each of them specialized in some particular line. One made a specialty of putting new facings and bindings on dress skirts; another did the mending on underwear; another coats, suits, cloaks, dresses and men’s wear, while the fourth mended laces, gloves, fine table linen and dainty things that women usually throw away when torn, because no one seems able to mend them.
The girls roomed together, and they had cards printed, setting forth the class of work they did, and these they took turns in distributing in various parts of the city, often bringing back considerable work as a result of these expeditions. They were not only polite, pleasant and obliging in their manner, but they did the mending so skillfully, and yet so reasonably, that work came to them quite rapidly, so that they soon had all they could do, and in time they set up a regular dressmaking and mending establishment, which grew into such proportions that they were obliged to hire other girls to help them do their work.
A lady who knew how to make a simple, cheap yet very effective beauty bag, advertised in a number of papers that for 25 cents she would send complete information for making the same, and also send one of the beauty bags free. She received hundreds of answers, enclosing 25 cents each, and to these people she sent the following formula, together with one of the bags complete:
Get a package of Quaker oats and a yard of cheesecloth; cut the cloth into pieces, 21⁄2x5 inches, and with each of these make a little flat pad, by doubling, once, and overcasting or loosely button-holing two of the three open sides. Fill with the Quaker oats, then overcast the remaining side. On going to bed, fill a basin with warm water and allow the bag to soak a few seconds, or until you see a little milky substance ooze forth. Then use this beauty bag, thus made, as a wash cloth, thoroughly rubbing the face and into every little crevice or wrinkle. Keep moistening the bag as you use it. The effect produced will be surprising, as it leaves the skin soft and clear. But do not use soap, unless you wish to ruin your complexion. The bag will cleanse your face much quicker and much better.
The orders continued to come, and the enterprising lady was many hundreds of dollars ahead at the end of the first three months. And still the orders came, for the offer is one that appeals to every woman who wants to improve her looks—and where is the woman who doesn’t?
A Seattle young woman built up a business of her own by making and selling dustless dusters, in two different styles both made of cheesecloth, as follows:
One formula: White paraffin oil, 4 pints; cottonseed oil, 1 pint; a little oil of citronella to give it an agreeable odor. Saturate the cloths in this solution, and pass through a clothes wringer to take out the excess of the oil. Put in envelopes to fit.
The other formula: One quart of gasoline; 8 ounces of whiting, or, what is better, cilica, 8 ounces; oxalic acid, 1⁄8 of an ounce. Thoroughly mix and immerse the cloths, and hang up out doors to dry. Then place in envelope for mailing.
Dusters made in this way do not soil the hands, and the dust will stick to the cloth instead of flying everywhere. They do not have to be washed out, but simply shaken.
Use the dustless duster the same way as any other duster. It does not injure the finest surface.
A few small ads. in the city and other papers offering to send the dustless duster complete for 25 cents, brought answers, and as they gave satisfaction, almost every one sent out brought in from two to half a dozen orders, so that in a short time the young lady was doing a splendid business.
The following directions for making a copying pad were sent out for 10 cents each by a young man in Chicago, to those remitting that amount to him, in answer to an ad. he inserted in a number of newspapers covering wide territory:
Take white gelatine, 4 ounces; glycerine 20 ounces. Melt the gelatine in water, then add the glycerine, after warming it, and stir until well mixed. Pour into a pan 10x12 inches square and 1⁄2 inch deep. Write your copy on a sheet of paper with ink made of methyl violet, 1 ounce; water, 7 ounces. Put on the stove and heat until dissolved, stirring often. Add hot water, to replace that which evaporates. When dissolved, add 2 ounces of glycerine. Use a new pen in writing. Lay copy face down on the pad, and let it remain two minutes, then take it off. From 50 to 100 copies may be taken by laying blank paper on the impression, and repeating the operation until as many copies as desired have been made. Clean the pad with a wet sponge as soon as you are through copying, and keep it in a dry place.
He sold several thousand copies of these instructions, at 10 cents each, and most of this, of course, was clear profit.
A compound that will thoroughly clean clothing, gloves, carpets, etc., and that can be sold at a profit for 10 cents a package, is something that everyone wants and that anyone can sell.
A young man in Spokane, Washington, who had an excellent formula for a compound of this kind, tried it and found it successful. He put it up with the following ingredients, when making a small amount, and simply increased the amounts of each in proportion as larger quantities were required:
Powdered castile soap, 2 pounds; borax powder, 2 ounces; powdered saltpetre, 4 ounces. Mix thoroughly and put up dry in small envelopes, holding about one teaspoonful each.
Directions for use: Dissolve the contents of package in hot water, leave stand until cool, and apply a small quantity to affected spot, whether of dirt or grease, then clean with a dry cloth. This compound will not explode, but is harmless and safe to use.
Placing a rubber band around either twelve or twenty-four of the packages, he put 500 packages in a small hand-bag, and made a house to house canvass. At each house he would ask the lady if she had any boys or girls. If so, wouldn’t they like to make some money or earn a valuable premium? The answer usually was yes, and he would then leave with the lady as many of the packages as she thought her children could sell at 10 cents each, taking her receipt therefor. He would then go on to the next house, and make the same arrangement. In less than half a day he placed the entire 500 packages in homes for sale, and a week later called and collected for those sold, allowing a cash commission of 2 cents a package, or giving some small, inexpensive premium, whichever was preferred. In most cases the mother would have tried the compound herself, and finding it excellent for cleaning goods of all kinds, she would usually order several more packages.
He also placed considerable quantities of the compound in general stores, where it sold readily, and later made it a mail order proposition by advertising it in a list of good papers.
Why shouldn’t the little girls begin to learn dressmaking as soon as they are able to use a needle and thread? That is what a Seattle lady thought, and she advertises in the daily papers that she will teach dressmaking to children on certain afternoons of each week for 25 cents a lesson.
She already has a large number of pupils, is rapidly enrolling more, and says it is surprising the way the little misses show an interest in the work.
A young Irishman, who had a wife and two children, was working as a motorman, at $2.00 a day, and his entire future seemed to be limited to that $14 a week, with no holidays or Sundays off, to allow him to get acquainted with his family.
One particular locality on his route impressed him as an ideal place for raising cucumbers to supply the market a few miles away. The prospect looked good to him, but as he had only about $500 in cash, and it would require at least $1,000 to build a greenhouse, the outlook was not especially inviting.
Finally, after many efforts, he succeeded in borrowing $1,000, built a greenhouse, and began the culture of cucumbers. He was apt at the business, and the first year he made enough to pay back the $1,000, live well, and have a neat little sum saved besides.
Then he borrowed $1,700 more, built another greenhouse, leased more land and at the end of eighteen months was again free from debt.
He increased his acreage, enlarged his greenhouses, and began to grow two crops a year, instead of one.
He now has thirteen acres of ground all under glass, and owns an establishment free from debt, conservatively valued at $50,000.
He made a specialty of cucumber and the marketing of this crop.
There are thousands of people who don’t believe—or at least pretend they don’t—in palmistry as a means of learning what the future has in store, but almost anyone is willing to pay for having the palm of the hand read, either through confidence or curiosity, for “there may be something in it, after all.”
Anyway, a lady in a southern city decided it was worth trying, so she sent 50 cents to a New York publisher for a book that revealed about all there is to be known of that science, and made a careful study of this book.
She first obtained an electrotype of a very pretty woman’s head,—not her own—and used it on her letter heads, which also bore an assumed but rather fancy name suggestive of the mysterious. She inserted an ad. in several papers, offering to read people’s palms for 50 cents each, and received many answers to this.
She had provided herself with a box of carbon impression paper, and to each person replying she mailed a piece of this about 4x8 inches, with instructions to lay the carbon paper on a sheet of plain white paper, on a hard, smooth surface, such as a table, the carbon side next to the white paper, and press the hand firmly down on the back of the carbon paper, so as to get a clean impression of the palm on the white paper, and, when this was done to send the impression, with 50 cents for a reading.
She was surprised at the large proportion of those who sent the money, but she gave a very good reading of each palm, and no one seemed to be dissatisfied, for she received no complaints. She had previously sent each one a letter, explaining how the ancient philosophers and others had recognized palmistry as a well established science, and this no doubt had impressed the recipients with the fact that it had much value as a means forecasting the future, as well as relating the past.
The journalistic graveyards are full of monuments to the misdirected energy and zeal of aspiring “newspaper men” who had plenty of enthusiasm but lacked experience, or resourcefulness in the matter of ideas.
The young fellow, however, of whom we are going to speak had ideas and knew how to put them to practical use. He knew very well that a new weekly newspaper that did not have something besides its own merits to amuse and keep up a local interest would be but a short-lived affair in any community, so he devised a method which he felt sure would create that interest.
He employed a thoroughly competent publicity specialist to write him a small book with a catchy title, which he could offer as a premium with each subscription to his paper. The publicity man turned out an interesting piece of work, which he completed in four days, and for which he charged the prospective young publisher $75.
A printer charged him $250 for 5,000 copies of these little books, and after giving one of each to 500 new subscribers of his paper, he advertised them in his own and other papers, and sold the remainder at 10 cents each. When the supply was exhausted, he had more of the books printed and continued to sell them until he had realized a profit of $2,000 from them.
By this time his weekly newspaper had grown in circulation and advertising value so that it was bringing in a good revenue every year, but he kept on advertising and selling books with good titles, as he found this source of income was well worth the additional effort.
By a carefully considered plan of furnishing a number of drug stores with free wrappers for their bottles, boxes, combs, brushes, and a host of other articles which every druggist sells, an enterprising young man who had the formula for a preparation of unusual merit, but with no money with which to push the sale of it, succeeded in getting it so thoroughly advertised in his home city that he was soon able to open a handsomely furnished office and employ a number of assistants to put it up. The preparation was exceptionally good or it would not have brought the “repeat” orders it did.
He began his plan by offering free to each druggist 1,000 circulars setting forth the superior qualities of his preparation, these circulars being the proper size for wrapping all ordinary packages that come from drug stores, that is, about 9x9 inches, but with the printed matter set in a space 51⁄2x71⁄2 inches, and at the bottom of each set of circulars the words, “For Sale by,” followed by the name of the druggist using the wrappers and having the preparation for sale. The man who owned the formula thus got his preparation well advertised at practically no expense, while the druggists realized much benefit from it.
You would hardly think that cracking various kinds of nuts and selling the meats would be much of a business, yet a young lady found that it paid her very well, and brought in many dollars during certain seasons of the year.
She lived in a section of country where nuts of all varieties were very plentiful, and had noticed the waste in shipping unshelled nuts in bulk to the market. She believed it would save considerable in the way of transportation costs if only the meats were shipped. Besides, the difference in the prices would mean a neat profit to anyone doing the work.
Walnuts and hickory nuts were the principal kinds growing in her neighborhood, and these she gathered in great quantities when ripe, removing the outside hulls by pounding them lightly with a stout stick.
Providing herself with a good nut cracker and set of picks, besides a dozen or so glass jars, she began cracking the nuts, aiming to extract the meats in halves or as large pieces as possible, and placing them in the jars which, when full, she covered tightly with tops so as to exclude air and dampness, and found that in this way they brought the highest prices in the market.
She previously had arranged with a number of bakers and confectioners in the city to take all the nut meats she could supply, and could have sold many more had they been available. To help meet the demand, however, she purchased a few barrels of English walnuts with the shells cracked and packed them as she had done with the others and sold them at profit over their original cost.
Living near a large motion picture studio, a young married woman originated what she called a luncheon club for the purpose of serving the members of the company with a dainty luncheon every day at a moderate cost, yet one that yielded a fair profit to herself.
Having obtained the names of the various players from the manager of the studio, she wrote a note to each of them, announcing her plans and inviting them to join her club. The members were to pay a stated price as weekly dues payable in advance, and each could bring a friend at so much per luncheon.
Having a good supply of linen, silver, and all the little accessories for personal comfort, she made her purchases with much care, selecting only such materials as were necessary, and writing out a menu each week, which was varied by many combinations that prevented any appearance of sameness from day to day. She soon learned the little whims and preferences of each guest, and made it a point to serve each one with what she liked best.
A large number of the girls from the studio joined her club at the very beginning, and each of these members she greeted personally, as a guest, upon her arrival thereby creating a feeling of home-coming that had an excellent effect.
She did all the cooking herself, setting out the lunches on small tables intended to accommodate only two guests at a time, and everything about the place she kept scrupulously neat, clean and inviting.
Her club became very popular and she soon had all the members she could serve during the luncheon hour.
Though she could have charged more, she maintained the reasonable charges established at the beginning and found that the venture paid her a very satisfactory profit.
Two sisters, both stenographers in down-town offices, were having their vacation, and being desirous of making some money at the same time they were resting from their regular work, they were induced, through the advice of a well-informed friend, to take up the selling of spectacles, especially after he had assured them that this was a line in which the receipts were practically all profit.
Their friend informed them where they could buy spectacles for about 18 cents a pair, which they could readily sell for $1.00 per pair, and they bought several gross of these, of different magnifying strength, and various styles of frames, together with a black carrying case and a few testing cards, all of which came with the spectacles. These they set upon a high tripod for making an attractive display of their wares, while one of the girls sat upon a high stool behind the tastefully arranged stock of goods. They had secured a good street location, on the inside of a well shaded sidewalk, and began explaining the merits of their spectacles in a quiet, ladylike way, to all who stopped to inquire about them. Their sales averaged about ten pairs a day, or $8.20 clear profit.
“Even $50 to $90 seems a rather big price to pay for a single brood sow,” said an old farmer who had made a success of hog raising, “but let me tell you a little story:
“One spring two of my sows farrowed twelve pigs each, and we raised twenty-three of the twenty-four. When they were eight months old, those shoats brought $494.71, but at war-time prices they would have brought a very large sum.
“Suppose a young sow produces seventy-five pigs during her life-time, and she may do even better than that. If this sow were owned by a small farmer, he could raise the pigs for almost nothing, and after he has saved out twelve of the best ones as the foundation of a superior herd, he can sell the remaining sixty-three, when they are eight or ten months old, for enough to make a good-sized payment on his farm, and to pay the cost of raising 500 more pigs, besides.
“The good breeder must be a good feeder, and he will find that, with ordinary intelligence in the selection and care of his pure-bred stock, he can make more money, and have better meat products, many times over, then he can ever hope for from the ordinary scrub stock.
“If farmers will pay more attention to the raising of pure-bred hogs, they will be better off, and be at much less labor and expense, than from any other branch of farming. Let every farmer encourage his boy to have a few blooded pigs of his own, so that he may have the benefit of all the profit they will bring, and boys will not be so anxious to leave the farm as they are now.
“I’ve tried it, and I know.”
Unlike most farmers’ wives, this woman had plenty of time to devote to various ways of making money, and put a dozen plans into practice, all of which proved productive of good results.
Her first plan was to pick arbutus, which she sent to the store of a friend in the city, fresh each day, where it sold readily for 5 or 10 cents a bunch, nearly all profit.
Early in December she made up a lot of nice candy at home, which sold as fast as she could make it for 25 cents a pound, delivered. She made many kinds, and realized a good profit on all of them.
This she found to be a profitable source of income. She raised the plants from seed, starting to plant about the middle of March, and each 4-cent package of seed produced plants that sold for $4.00.
Most farm women are very busy, and often find it convenient to have some one do their baking, especially when they have company. This lady would either go to different houses, and do the baking for the families, who furnished their own material, for which she charged 35 cents per hour, or would do the baking at home, using her own materials, and sell the bread, cakes and pies she baked, at good prices to those too busy to do their own baking.
She arranged with reliable firms in the city to send her samples of all the new dress goods they received each season, and she showed these to the various women in the neighborhood, taking a great many orders for different patterns, on all of which she was paid a commission that amounted to a considerable sum each year.
She makes considerable money each year taking orders for various kinds of extracts, as well as for a popular summer drink, which comes in boxes selling at 25 cents each. The drink is made by dissolving the preparation in water and adding a little sugar. It is a delicious drink, made in a minute.
As she lives in the country where cranberries grow in great quantities, she earns many dollars each season by picking cranberries on shares, and her share always sells readily at good prices.
In the fall of the year she gathers chestnuts, which are plentiful in that vicinity, and these she sells at surprisingly high prices, for everybody wants them.
Along with her other accomplishments she is a good pianist. She plays for dances and other gatherings, and gives music lessons to a number of pupils.
Flagroot preserves bring high prices in the cities, and she adds many dollars to her income by gathering, preserving and selling this.
Although May Day “comes but once a year,” she manages to turn this anniversary to good account by making and selling the baskets that are a requisite for its observance.
But her greatest source of pleasure and profit is poultry raising, her selection and care of birds enabling her to keep only those that produce the most money.
The wife of a farmer living in the middle west has worked out several plans for making money at home, and finds that they all pay her very well.
One plan is to make shades for lamps and electric light globes, of rice and crepe paper, decorating them with water colors, pressed leaves, flowers, holly, etc., and these she sells to her neighbors for 10 cents each as they are very pretty and quite durable, with care.
She designs pretty patterns in crochet edgings, insertions, medallions and initials, and these she sells at six for 50 cents, through ads. in the local and city papers, delivering them by mail in most cases.
These she makes with rolled hem and crochet edge, and sells them at 25 cents to $1 each. Pop-corn balls rolled in clear syrup she sells at two for 5 cents, while her potato chips bring 5 cents for a small bag. She makes braided or woven rag rugs, white or in colors, with woven or stenciled borders, and sells them for $1.25 and up, while hand-made place cards, favors, etc., bring $1 per dozen.
Every year she holds sales in her front room and large hall, and sells pies, cakes, rolls, bread, cookies, doughnuts, plum puddings, fruit cakes, jams, jellies, canned fruits, vegetables, etc., besides her needle-work products, and always clears a handsome sum from these sales. She also takes orders for roast ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens and squabs, and finds a ready sale for all these from all classes of people, at special prices. Many of these are delivered by parcel post, and prove a good source of revenue.
A talented young woman, living in a small western city, wanted to open a beauty parlor, but realizing that she was not familiar with the necessary details of the business, went to a city some distance away and took a course of lessons from a dermatologist in the approved methods of removing wrinkles, moles, birthmarks, freckles, tan, superfluous hair, etc. The course cost her $25.
Before leaving the city, however, she also paid $15 for instructions in manicuring, and $10 for the necessary instruments with which to do this class of work in a satisfactory manner.
Arriving at her home town she sent personal letters to all the prominent women of the place, inviting them to visit the neat and attractively-fitted-up parlors she had opened in her home, and stating her qualifications for doing the work required.
Responses to these letters were numerous, and as the lady did exceptionally good work, her reputation spread rapidly throughout the community, and inside of the first year the net profits she realized from her small-town parlors were greater than those of many similar institutions in the large city. She was both capable and careful in the treatment of her patrons, who became permanent customers and made her plan an unqualified success.
A man who had some experience in a steam laundry in a city moved to a small town of 2,500 inhabitants and established a hand laundry that in a short time became a paying concern.
He had but a few hundred dollars in cash, but found he did not need a great deal. Before leaving the city, he had bought a light collar-and-cuff ironing machine that cost him $50, while $25 more paid for a few little accessories he knew he would need.
He rented a store room some distance from the business center, hired a couple of experienced women, and advertised that he would do better work than the steam laundries of the city could do, and at lower prices, calling particular attention to the fact that the machinery in the big laundries tear the clothes to pieces. He also offered to do mending of men’s articles free, and by turning out high-class work from the very first he soon had all the business he could handle.
Everybody uses ink, and most people need mucilage at one time or another, so that the making and selling of these necessary articles afforded a man in a small western town a very good money-making opportunity, which he improved with considerable profit.
Books of formulas for making these things can be procured from a number of sources, but the formula for preparing indelible marking ink proved to be one of the most profitable of them all. This ink is made by taking equal parts of green vitriol and cinnabar, powdered as finely as possible, and mixing them with unboiled linseed oil. When strained through a cloth this makes a fine indelible ink, and he found a good demand for it from laundries, department stores and various other places.
He employed salesmen to canvass near-by towns, and in a few months had established a permanent and profitable business of his own. The ingredients for these articles cost but little, the labels and bottles being the principal items of expense, and the margin was sufficiently large to justify him in paying a liberal commission to agents.
In every town, large or small, there are always news items of more or less interest, mainly local, but often of national importance, and the man or woman who can collect these items, put them in readable shape, and send them to the newspapers in the neighborhood cities, or larger towns, can always derive something of an income from this source. The editor of one of the largest and most influential of western dailies thus relates how he began his newspaper career in this manner:
“I lived in a town of about 1,000 inhabitants, which did not boast of a weekly newspaper, and yet there were many local happenings that would have been of great interest if published in the city paper, which had a rather extensive circulation in the town.
“I wrote to the editor of this paper and offered my services as correspondent from my town. He was glad to secure my services, and offered me a very fair rate of compensation, based upon a certain amount per column.
“I made it a point to write only actual and dependable items of news, to clothe them in proper and dignified language, with an occasional dash of humor in those cases where it was not only permissible but added to the force and interest of the article, and my letters were all published just as they were written.
“I added other daily newspapers to my list from time to time, and, as these were all sent to me free, I began to absorb the world’s news and soon became well informed on current events. Besides, my income grew until I was doing very well indeed, but when I was offered a position as reporter on this paper I accepted the offer, and have risen steadily until I am now managing editor, a position assured to me as long as I care to hold it.”