Chapter XVIII: Section 1754: applies to all branches of the service, in Washington, D (9)

Hundreds of photos, with the requested enclosures, were received as a result of her first ad. and she was soon in receipt of a steady income of $150 to $200 a month. The secret of it was that she could do just what she said she could, and by honestly performing what she promised, she gained the confidence and the patronage of those who answered her ads.

PLAN No. 328. SELLING ICE CREAM, BANANAS, ETC., IN THE COUNTRY

A city man, who had formerly lived in the country realized how welcome would be the sight of a covered express wagon, containing a sign, “Ice Cream, Pop Corn and Bananas,” coming up the road toward a farm house on a long lonesome Sunday afternoon. Why, everybody would be customers, and that gave him an idea.

He owned just the kind of rig that would serve this purpose, and all he needed was a neatly printed canvas sign tacked on each side of the frame that supported the cover. A sign painter soon turned these out at a small cost, and he next visited the headquarters of a large dairy company noted for the excellence of its products. Here he made arrangements to be supplied with from ten to twenty gallons of their best ice cream, of different flavors, each Sunday, at wholesale rates.

A corn-popper, operated by a kerosene lamp that kept the pop-corn warm as well as fresh, was his next purchase, then a few bushels of popcorn, while a wholesale fruit house was glad to supply several hundred nice ripe bananas at the regular prices to dealers.

The next Sunday was a beautiful day--just warm enough to make one wish for ice cream--and he started out in his rig for a long drive into the country. His coming created a sensation and the further he drove the more he sold of his goods, until, just before sundown, the very last of the ice cream, popcorn and bananas were sold. That night after supper he figured up the results, and found his net profits amounted to just $18.75 for that one day’s work. But that was only the beginning of a profitable business.

HOME-MADE CANDY MAKING THAT PAID

A man in Seattle, who had never made an ounce of candy in his life, bought a book on candy making at a stationer’s, then worked in a candy factory for almost nothing for two months, and came out a skilled confectioner. The following are some of the candies that proved to be the best sellers and biggest money-makers, and he gives the formulas below, with the statement that the making of any one of them will provide a good living for any person who will work and stick to it. Each is therefore submitted as a separate plan for making a living.

PLAN No. 329. MOLASSES CANDY

White sugar, 2 pounds; sugarhouse syrup, 1 pint; best molasses, 1 pint. Boil until a little of it hardens when dropped into cold water, then work in the usual manner.

This enjoyed a tremendous popularity, and yielded an immense profit.

PLAN No. 330. PEPPERMINT CREAMS

White sugar, 1 pound; essence of peppermint, 1 teaspoonful; add sufficient water to work into a stiff paste, roll into thick sheets, and cut out with a round stamp of the required size.

Profit enough in this to support an entire family.

PLAN No. 331. CHOCOLATE CARAMELS

Boil a quart of best molasses until it darkens, then put in water. Before removing from the fire, add 4 ounces of fine chocolate. Pour a thin layer into tin trays slightly greased, and when it hardens a little cut into small squares.

His customers never seemed to get enough of these.

PLAN No. 332. A FINE NUT CANDY

Nut candies are always in demand, and those he made as follows were particularly delicious:

Put the meats of walnuts, hickory nuts, peanuts, or any other kind desired, to the depth of half an inch, on the bottom of tins previously greased. Boil together 2 pounds of brown sugar, 1 pint of water, and 1 gill of molasses, until a portion of it hardens when cool. Pour the hot syrup on the meats, and allow it to remain until hard, then break it into small chunks.

This was one of his biggest money-makers.

PLAN No. 333. FIG PASTE

Chop a pound of figs fine, and boil in a pint of water until reduced to a soft pulp. Strain through a fine sieve, add 8 pounds of sugar, and evaporate over boiling water until the paste becomes quite stiff. Form the paste into thick sheets, and divide into small pieces with a thin-bladed knife. Roll the pieces in powdered sugar, and pack in wooden boxes.

A delicious and healthful confection that proved its popularity all the year round.

PLAN No. 334. SUPERB CHEWING GUM

No matter how great the supply of chewing gum becomes, the demand for it always exceeds the supply. There is none better than the following, which was one of his biggest sellers:

Chicle, 7 pounds; paraffin wax, 2 pounds, Tolu balsam, 4 ounces; Peru balsam, 2 ounces. Dissolve the gum in as much water as it will take up, melt the paraffine and mix all together. Now take finely granulated sugar, 20 pounds; glucose, 8 pounds; water 6 pints. Put the sugar and glucose into the water, dissolve and boil them to a “crack” degree (confectioners’ term), pour the syrup over an oiled slab and turn into it sufficient of the gum mixture to make it tough and plastic, adding any of the following flavors, if desired: Cinnamon, chocolate, sandalwood, wintergreen, myrrh, galangal, ginger and cardamon. When completely mixed, remove to a cold slab previously dusted with powdered sugar, roll out into sheets and cut into sticks.

PLAN No. 335. SPRUCE CHEWING GUM

Spruce gum, 20 parts; chicle, 20 parts; powdered sugar, 20 parts. Melt the gum separately, mix while hot, and immediately add the sugar, a small portion at a time, kneading it thoroughly on a hot slab. When thoroughly mixed, roll and cut into sticks.

One of the most popular and profitable chewing gums made.

PLAN No. 336. CLERKS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT. SEE PLAN No. 217

PLAN No. 337. DISTRIBUTING CIRCULARS

Even in a large city, where bill-board and distributing agencies are already operating, there is still room for an energetic man to make a good living by working independently.

A man in a western city did this:

By giving honest service at reasonable prices, he worked up a nice, paying business, all his own, inside of a year’s time.

He not only obtained work by personal solicitation among the home merchants, but mailed neat circular letters to large advertisers in other towns, and advertised occasionally in the local papers, guaranteeing the prompt delivery of printed matter anywhere at any time; and, as those who employed him once found the service satisfactory, he was able to enroll many of the large advertisers among his regular customers.

PLAN No. 338. GENERAL HOUSE-REPAIRING

When an Omaha man had lost all his property, and began to think he was “down and out,” he suddenly remembered that he was a regular “jack of all trades”; that he could do almost anything around a house, and that there was a good living for him in making use of his talents.

With a few dollars he had left after the collapse of his business, he rented a small shop in a central location, and had some circulars printed stating that he would do all sorts of repair work needed around residences, such as fall to the lot of a bell-hanger, locksmith, carpenter, plumber, gas-fitter, painter, paper-hanger, glazier, carpet cleaner and layer, etc., on short notice and at reasonable rates.

He received many calls to do work in these various lines, and did it so skillfully, quickly and reasonably that many housewives engaged him permanently, at a stated sum per month, to look after such repairs as became necessary to make around their homes.

His earnings the first year were nearly $1,500 and his income increased.

PLAN No. 339. BUYING OLD BARRELS

An old man in a western city makes a profit of $25 or more a week by buying used barrels from grocers and others and selling them to manufacturers for about twice what he pays for them.

There are several firms in his city that buy all the barrels they can get, and those that have been used answer the purpose just as well as new ones. He first makes contracts with these firms to deliver so many barrels per week at a certain price. Then he drives around in a little wagon to all the groceries and other places where there are empty barrels, and buys them cheaply, as most people are glad to get them out of the way. With these he fills his contracts and makes a good living from it.

PLAN No. 340. SELLING POPPED WILD RICE

Selling popped corn is an old story, but selling popped wild rice is decidedly new. A man in San Francisco has done this for some time, and made good money out of it. Wild rice is a complete food in itself, is used largely by Northwestern Indians, and costs about 20 cents a pound, in 100-pound lots, while it retails readily at 60 to 75 cents a pound, as it is put in smaller packages than popcorn. When popped, it swells and breaks open, and is very brittle and delicious. He also sells the whole rice at a very good profit.

PLAN No. 341. RENEWING TYPEWRITER RIBBONS

A Chicago man paid $6.50 for a machine for making, renewing and re-inking typewriter ribbons, and built up a good, paying business in a very few months. With this machine new ribbons can be made for about one-fourth the present prices, and it renews worn ones at a cost of one cent each. It is very simple and easily operated.

He had 1,000 cards printed, saying: “Don’t throw away your worn typewriter ribbons. I will pay you 2 cents each for them.” These cards he distributed in business offices, and soon had so many calls that he was obliged to hire a man to collect the old ribbons for him.

Most of the ribbons were as good as new, needing only to be re-inked, and when he had done this he sold them at 25 cents each, as the demand exceeded the supply.

He also advertised to re-ink ribbons for 25 cents each, and got enough of these to keep him busy his extra time. He soon discovered that he had a business of his own that paid him better than any salaried position he could hope to obtain.

PLAN No. 342. RAN A PADDLE-WHEEL

Two boys at a popular eastern resort made a living by operating a paddle-wheel--one of the simplest yet most profitable enterprises one could find.

The wheel was a small wooden affair, something like the wheel of an old-style baby carriage, and in the front side of the rim were driven twelve wire nails, an equal distance apart, which stuck out about an inch and a half, and the spaces between the nails were numbered from one to twelve, with about 1-inch figures (clipped from a calendar, pasted on cardboard and tacked on the wheel). The hub of the wheel was set on a round peg fastened in a wooden pole about two inches thick and about seven feet high; the bottom of the pole being propped in a foot-stand like those that are used to hold up Christmas trees, and the rim of the wheel was brought up to within about two inches of the top of the pole. To the top of the pole was fastened an extension finger that came out about two inches beyond the front of the wheel, and to this finger was fastened a strip of thick leather about three and a half inches long. This strip of leather was set so as to drop into the space between two of the nails, so that when the wheel was spun around the leather was struck by each nail every time the wheel went round.

Twelve paddles were used in connection with the wheel. These paddles were merely flat pieces of wood in the shape of a broom with a small handle, or, to be more exact, shaped like the back of a hair brush and of about the same size. The paddles were numbered from one to twelve, to correspond with the numbers on the wheel.

Chewing gum was sold at 5 cents a package, and a half pound of chocolates was given away each time the wheel was twirled, each purchaser of the gum being given a paddle to hold, with a number, and when twelve sales were made, the wheel was spun around. Whoever held the paddle with the number corresponding to that of the space between the nails designated by the leather finger, when the wheel stopped, got the chocolates.

Sales were many and the profits large--the cost of the gum and candy being 27 cents, while the receipts from every turn of the wheel were 60 cents, a profit of 33 cents. And that wheel turned several hundred times a day.

PLAN No. 343. MONEY IN POTATO CHIPS

An Illinois woman who wanted to help out in meeting the insurance premium on her husband’s life policy, realized a good profit from making and selling potato chips, which in nine weeks netted her $80, besides selling $100 worth of home-baked doughnuts at a good profit.

Make the chips slice very thin, with a slicer. Have ready a pot or two of real boiling hot grease. After the slices have soaked about two hours in real cold water, fill a wire basket full of sliced potato and let drain a short time and put them into the hot grease. You can purchase a wire basket for this purpose for a very small sum.

One peck of potatoes with sufficient grease usually makes about six gallons of chips. She sells a measure, one-half gallon scant, for 25 cents. This was easily handled in her home and it was possible to make a good living and not neglect the family.

PLAN No. 344. BLIND MAN MAKES MONEY

A blind soldier, at a soldiers’ home in Illinois, earns money by making fancy articles and ornaments of different colored beads. The number of notches on each box designated the color of the beads therein, and he very seldom makes a mistake. These ornaments are very pretty, and visitors, as well as people in the town, buy many of them at good prices. That poor old blind soldier is not complaining of hard times, no matter how many younger people with good eyesight complain.

PLAN No. 345. ASSAYER-ASSISTANT. SEE PLAN No. 217

PLAN No. 346. SUPPLYING HOUSE NUMBERS

Making and placing house numbers is the kind of work a Washington man follows with profit.

His method is to first determine on the height of the figure--3 inches high being about right. Then cut a set of plain block figure stencils, from 0 to 9, and mark the outline of the figure on a plate of zinc of suitable size. Then trace the figure with white enamel and, when dry, scrape off any enamel that overlaps the outline of the figures. The background is then painted with bicycle enamel. When dry, punch a small hole in each of the four corners and put up with round-headed nails.

The prices charged for the numbers put up, is usually 25 cents for a 3-figure number, 20 cents for a 2-figure number and 15 cents for a 1-figure number.

The making of the stencils is about the only difficulty connected with the work, for after they are made the printing of the figures is purely mechanical.

PLAN No. 347. POST CARD SERIES

A New York lady who had accompanied her husband on his vacation in the mountains became, by accident, the originator of a pleasing and profitable idea. She had promised several friends to write them often concerning the many experiences of the trip, but found her time so taken up that all she could find time to write was a few post cards. Even then, she was interrupted while writing the first one by her husband calling her to hurry up, as they were to go to a certain lake at a certain hour, so she added to what she had already written the words, “To be continued,” and mailed the card. The next day she wrote another, with the same ending, and before long had made of them a regular series, which delighted her friends, while they anxiously waited for the next installment.

When she returned and they showed her the cards, all fastened together in book form, making a complete story of the series, she decided upon a plan:

Selecting a good, short love story from a popular magazine, she first obtained the consent of the publishers to use it as she wished; then she divided it into ten chapters, and had each chapter illustrated with an appropriate cut, printed on a post card, and fastening them all together, took them to the stores making a specialty of post cards, and offered them for sale. She received many orders for the series, and they sold well, so that she made an excellent profit on them, while engaging in a delightfully agreeable work.

PLAN No. 348. GETTING MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS BY MAIL

An eastern lady of considerable literary talent and business ability, who could not canvass figured out the following plan:

Securing the agency for several of the most popular magazines, she made a list of her friends, and at odd hours she wrote them, mentioning the fact that she was agent for certain magazines, and calling particular attention to some special feature in which she knew each lady to be interested. She concluded by assuring them that she should regard it as a personal favor if they would subscribe; and, to make sure of a reply, she enclosed a stamped, self-addressed envelope in each letter. The number of those who sent their subscriptions in answer to these personal letters was surprisingly large, and in acknowledging the receipt of remittances she would ask if they would not favor her with the names of some of their friends. This they did in most cases, and by writing these friends’ friends, and referring to the former, by permission, as having already subscribed, she built up a list of regular patrons that paid her very well.

PLAN No. 349. MAKING RUBBER STAMPS

That there is good money in the making of rubber stamps, is proven by the experience of a 20-year-old youngster who started in business for himself in a western town of 8,000 inhabitants.

He bought a complete outfit, consisting of a vulcanizer, screw-press, assorted type, etc., for $25, and as he had learned to set type in the office of the local weekly paper, the business was easily learned. Here is the way he started:

Set up the desired name and address in common type, oil the type and place a paper guard about half an inch high around the form; now mix plaster of paris to the proper consistency, pour on the type and allow it to set. Have your vulcanized rubber all ready prepared in long strips the proper width, and about ¹⁄₈ of an inch thick, and cut off the size of the intended stamp. Remove the plaster cast from the type, and place both the cast and the rubber in a screw-press; apply sufficient heat to thoroughly soften the rubber, then turn down the screw hard and let it remain until the rubber receives the exact impression of the cast and becomes cold, when it is removed, neatly trimmed with a sharp knife, and cemented to the handle ready for use.

The inks to be used with rubber stamps, he made as follows:

Aniline blue, water sol., 1 B. 3 parts; distilled water, 10 parts; pyroligneous acid, 10 parts; alcohol, 10 parts; glycerine, 70 parts. The blue should be well rubbed with the water, and the glycerine gradually added; when the blue is dissolved, the other ingredients are added. This makes a fine blue ink. Other colors may be produced by substituting for the blue any one of the following: Methyl violet, 3 B. 3 parts. Nigrosin W (for blue black), 4 parts. Vesuvius B (for brown), 5 parts. To make a superior red ink, dissolve ¹⁄₄ oz. of carmine in 2 ozs. of strong water of ammonia, and add 1 dram of glycerine and ³⁄₄ oz. of dextrin.

He not only supplied rubber stamps to his home town but a little ad. in the local paper brought orders from other towns, and he soon had all the business he could handle.

PLAN No. 350. PICTURE FRAMING

In a small Illinois town, where there was no competition from the big city concerns that claim to do this work for practically nothing, an elderly gentleman who had formerly been employed by a big picture-framing house in Chicago built up a nice little business by framing pictures and doing his work reasonably.

He rented space in the rear of a news depot, and bought a well selected assortment of mouldings from his old firm at wholesale prices. He purchased a mitre box, saw, hammer, glue-pot and some small brads, in the use of which he was very skillful, and arranged with a dealer to have glass cut any desired size at a reasonable rate.

Having done a little quiet soliciting among the people of the town and surrounding country, aided by a modest but tasty display of mouldings and finished frames in the show window of the place, he secured a large number of orders. His work was skillfully done and his charges were reasonable, which brought him a steady business.

It made him an excellent living, and he had no fears of losing his position, a fate which often falls to a man as soon as his hair begins to turn grey. He had a business of his own.

PLAN No. 351. SELLING POPCORN

While some people, who do not know any better, may smile at the man engaged in so small a business as selling popcorn and peanuts, the persons who do the selling know there is money in it if properly conducted.

A man in an eastern city spent his last few dollars in buying a two-wheeled cart, fitted with a glass case on top, bought a gasoline lamp, a popper and a few pounds of popcorn and started out to make a living.

His profits the first day were $2.25, but that was the smallest day’s business he ever did, for his sales increased rapidly and in two years he was the owner of a large bakery, running several delivery wagons to supply his trade.

His success was partly due to his methods of preparing his popcorn for sale which was as follows:

Popcorn Balls. To 4 quarts of the popcorn, take ¹⁄₂ cup of molasses and ¹⁄₄ cup of sugar. Do not add water. Boil the syrup until it will harden in water (not brittle); then add ¹⁄₄ teaspoon of soda to improve the color. Pour over the corn, mix well, and make into balls. Wet your hands in cold water when molding the balls, so the corn will not stick to them. To make the popcorn bricks, use the same process, but have molds made the size required, but without a bottom. Set the molds on a smooth surface and fill with the prepared corn; then have a block the size of the inside of the mold, and about 1 inch thick; place on top of the corn in mold and hammer down until the top surface of the block is level with the edge of the mold, then lift up the mold, leaving the corn and block on the table. Remove the block from the corn, and your popcorn brick is ready to wrap in wax paper.

Sugared Corn in Bulk. Take 1 cup of best white sugar, three tablespoonfuls of water, and one teaspoonful of butter. Pour all into an iron kettle, and boil until ready to candy; then throw into the mass 3 quarts of freshly popped corn. Stir continually until the sugar is evenly distributed over the corn; then remove from the fire, and stir until it cools a little. You then have each kernel separate, and all nicely coated with sugar. It should be watched closely while on the fire to prevent scorching.

PLAN No. 352. DRESSING FOR CARRIAGE OR AUTOMOBILE TOPS

An automobile salesman in an eastern city experimented with various kinds of dressings for leather tops on carriages or automobiles, until he finally struck the right combination, and found such a demand for it that he resigned his position in order to manufacture it. Here are the ingredients used and their various proportions:

Orange shellac, 30 ounces; Venice turpentine, 1 ounce; castor oil, 1 ounce; gum sandrac, 1 ounce; nigrosin, 1 ounce; wood alcohol, 9 pints and 6 ounces. Mix all together and shake until dissolved. Directions for use: Carefully remove all dirt and dust from the leather with a damp cloth, after which apply the dressing with a soft camel hair brush. This preserves the leather, renders it waterproof, prevents all cracking, and imparts a beautiful glossy finish, making old, faded leather look like new.

He put this up in pint tin cans with screw tops, and retailed it at $1.00 per can.

He also took orders for dressing carriages and automobiles, one can being enough to use on the top, side curtains and rain apron. This could all be done in half an hour, and he charged $2 to $3 for each job. Livery stables and auto garages bought a dozen or more cans at a time, as it is the best dressing on the market. It can also be used for rubber and cloth tops, and will last for years. Water and mud do not affect its luster.

PLAN No. 353. OPENED A NEWS DEPOT

On a capital of $25, a 19-year-old boy in a western town of 1,000 people opened a news depot in a small way, yet made it pay him a profit of $900 the first year, and it now pays several times that amount. An eastern news bureau supplies him, through its agency in the nearest city, with all the paper-bound books, magazines, weekly and monthly periodicals for which there is a demand, and takes back the copies unsold. He also added a small line of cigars and tobacco, secured the agency for a steam laundry in the city and has built up a very thriving little business of his own.

PLAN No. 354. ATTORNEY FOR INTERSTATE COMMERCE. SEE PLAN No. 217

PLAN No. 355. HE SOLD BUTTERMILK

A young farmer lad who wanted to live in the city, found a way in which that could be done, without any danger of his going hungry, or of being obliged to look for a job.

Knowing the value of buttermilk as a food and a drink, he decided to go into the business of selling it. There was a large creamery near the city in which he had chosen to cast his fortune and he visited the manager to learn the lowest price at which he could be supplied with fresh buttermilk every day in quantities of not less than 100 gallons, and was surprised at the low price quoted. He then visited a large number of restaurants, hotels, saloons, etc., and offered to deliver to them the quantity required by each every day, for 12 cents per gallon, which was three times what it cost him.

Having a few hundred dollars, he purchased a rig especially adapted to this purpose, and began his deliveries at once. He had attractive showcards printed, “Fresh Buttermilk Sold Here,” and put up one of these in a conspicuous place wherever he was making deliveries. He also had the hotel keepers mention buttermilk on their menus, which they were glad to do, as it cost only about half the price of sweet milk.

He had a publicity man prepare for him a number of articles dealing with the healthfulness of buttermilk, and thus created an increased demand for it by publishing one of these in the city papers once a week.

PLAN No. 356. NEWSPAPER OBTAINED BUSINESS BY LONG DISTANCE PHONE

The owner of one of the leading papers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during the oil boom found that the Denver papers were obtaining all the advertising while his paper, which was in the oil district, was not receiving any business.

He knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to send a salesman to Denver and obtain this business. The matter was discussed pro and con in his office as to how this business could be obtained. He told his advertising man about a plan of getting business by day-letter--upon which this man proposed they secure this business by long distance telephone. This the owner thought impossible but decided to try it. All Denver papers running ads. were gone over carefully and his $35-a-week advertising man began work. The business of that paper increased $4,500 a month for over three months and the $35-a-week man became worth $150 a week. The plan provided a new and very direct method of reaching the man who had the giving of the business. The salesman in this way had the right of way. He got a quick decision. In talking to the prospective advertiser he stated his name and the newspaper he was representing, then complimented the advertiser on the excellent copy he was running in the Denver paper and suggested that this ad. should be run in the Cheyenne paper, stating his reason why it would be an advantage. He was tenacious and intelligent and got the business before he hung up the phone receiver. This plan brought more than $10,000 worth of business to the paper in four months. Many claim that it is impossible, but it has been successfully handled. It cost something like $300 a month for phone charge, but that expense was made up by adding to the cost of the advertising space. He did not lose 5 per cent in his collections.

PLAN No. 357. CLUB PLAN FOR HOUSEHOLD GOODS

A man who had been in several suit clubs, where each member pays in $1 a week for a certain number of weeks, and a suit is drawn every week, thus getting it for whatever he had paid in, be it $1, $10, or $40, wondered why the same plan wouldn’t work just as well with sewing machines, stoves, ranges, carpets, rugs, etc., as with suits. After thinking it over he concluded it would. Then he started to work out a plan.

Having about $500 of his own, he rented a small store on a side street, fitted it up with a desk, and a few chairs, and then going to a wholesale furnishing house, he bought one of each of the articles above mentioned, the retail price of which was $50. He paid $100 down, and the balance he agreed to pay in installments of $50 per month. His discount on the articles was 25%. These he had taken to his store room and displayed to the best possible advantage.

Then he proceeded to secure 100 members of the club, each to pay $1 per week for 52 weeks, one member to drop out each week. These payments met the installments on the goods as they became due, and left a comfortable balance besides, which was duly deposited in a bank. Each month one member was awarded his or her choice of the articles bought, and another was bought to replace it on the floor of the club room.

Many states now have statutes against drawing of any kind so the statutes of your state should be first considered.

PLAN No. 358. STREET CAR TIME CARD ON CLOCK

A wide-awake advertising man in the Middle West worked out a plan that was good, inasmuch as it gave accurate information every hour of the day or night as to the exact leaving time of all the street cars. He obtained a dozen good sized clocks, set up in different parts of the city, and the Clock Co. kept them in perfect time for 50 cents per week each.

A large board, neatly painted, and lettered, was made the background of the clock, and on this was shown the exact time at which all street cars left that corner, while generous spaces were left on the board for advertising purposes. As everybody looked at that clock several times per day, it was regarded as good advertising and the merchants in each locality purchased the available space.

PLAN No. 359. MAKING HAIR CHAINS

A lady in Illinois, has for years earned considerable money by making chains from human hair, and selling them to both men and women. Chains for men are from 9 to 10 inches long, and sell for $1 to $5 each. Those for women are about 22 inches in length and the charge for making these ranges from $3 to $10 each.

She has been at this work so long that she has developed great speed in making the chains, and she has no difficulty in finding a market for her products. She has a comfortable and steady income from her work.

PLAN No. 360. NEWSPAPER MAN OBTAINED BUSINESS WHEN SICK

He was the owner of a daily paper in a town, which had secured a stock convention. This convention was to take place in a week and here he was sick in bed and unable to secure business from his advertisers.

Thinking the situation over one day the idea came to him, why not prepare their advertisements from the copy they had previously used and then send a day letter and make a bid for their business.

This idea he acted on at once. He fortunately found a copy of a paper carrying advertisements for the desired companies--where the convention met the year before.

His day letter ran something like this: “Stock convention to open here on ---- (date). A large attendance certain. Your copy amounting to ¹⁄₂ page run in ------------ paper is before me and suggest this be run in my Sunday, Monday and Tuesday editions of ----. Cost for 3 times ¹⁄₂ page $------. Wire answer at my expense.”

Out of 15 day letters sent he received answers from 12 to run ads. as suggested.

He immediately put out the day letters to the remaining prospective advertisers with the result he obtained better than $1,200 worth of business. Some did not answer so he forwarded another wire for immediate reply at his expense.

This is an illustration that a proper plan is effective under adverse conditions.

PLAN No. 361. EYE SPECIALIST

Perhaps one of the neatest and best conducted businesses I ever visited was run by an eye specialist in a city of the Northwest. I have known personally many specialists but few could compare with this man. No matter how full the office was one received prompt attention when he entered.

As soon as I entered his office I was met by a good, wholesome looking girl, card in hand, asking my name, address, phone and business; stated the doctor was very busy but that she would make a preliminary inquiry, on which I said my eye was affected and gave her a brief statement as to what I thought was the cause of it and a few of its symptoms. She asked me to be seated, saying she would prepare me for the doctor’s examination which I had called to get, and that it would take about an hour and thirty minutes for the atropin to take effect, at which time the doctor would promptly make the examination, and thereupon she put the atropin in my eye. This girl was a real saleswoman--no one escaped her.

After I was located the doctor appeared in person with the card, shook my hand and made me welcome, and showed real sympathy for my condition. After my hour and a half had passed I was ushered into a neat little dark-room, and finally taken to a third room where the doctor made a very careful examination. He told me briefly the trouble, asked me a few questions and listened attentively to my statement and later informed me what my trouble was. He accompanied me to the desk, handed the card with my name on it to the girl, again showing real concern for my unfortunate condition, dictated to the girl a good statement of my trouble and had her make a record of it, not omitting to give her all the medical phraseology. He requested the name of my doctor and dictated a letter to him.

When I left that doctor’s office I was impressed with the thoroughness of his service, and the prompt and business-like method in which he carried it out gave me confidence in him.

If other specialists would handle their business on as efficient and business-like a basis as he did they would have very few bills that would be lost.

The above plan, I can safely say, would double the business of the average eye specialist; no one who entered the office would leave it without receiving service and would be satisfied with it. Through the card plan the doctor knows who you are, the business in which you are engaged, and your general trouble, before meeting you.

PLAN No. 362. OUTSIDE HOUSE-CLEANING

Everybody, of course, is more or less familiar with the ordinary kind of house-cleaning, but it remained for an enterprising young fellow in Nevada, to introduce an entirely new style of the industry. His work was the cleaning, not of the inside but of the outside of houses. There is plenty of it left for other men to do, in thousands of towns in this country.

In his town many of the houses are frame, and he had noticed many of the more pretentious ones showed coatings of soot and dirt that marred their beauty. Arming himself with a bucket of hot soapy water containing some laundry soap and washing powder, a ladder, a soft scrubbing brush and a sponge, he went to one of the houses, owned by a man he knew, and asked permission to try an experiment on a small section of the siding at the rear of the house. It was granted and he proceeded to scrub it well with the soapy solution, until the dirt was well removed and then he washed it with a sponge dipped in clear, cold water.

Calling the owner of the house, that gentleman was so amazed at the improved appearance of the cleaned spot that he asked our friend if he hadn’t given it a new coat of paint. Being answered in the negative, the house owner asked what he would charge to go over the entire exterior and treat it in the same manner. He named a sum that would amount to about $10 a day and was at once engaged to perform the work. The result was so surprising that a dozen other property owners in the same neighborhood gave him orders. His earnings from this method of house cleaning averaged $50 a week. If the paint is in good condition, washing is as good as re-painting, and much cheaper.

PLAN No. 363. ADVERTISING ON FLY PAPER

Most advertising men think they have brought out all possible forms of publicity, but one of them in San Francisco thought of an entirely new idea, and worked it to perfection. His plan was to make and distribute fly paper free, containing advertisements which were also printed upon it free of charge. You can’t see how he could make anything out of that? Well, he saw a way.

He cut thin manilla paper into sheets 10x16 inches, upon which he had printed six ads., each 4x4 inches, and covered these over with a sticky preparation made by melting two pounds of white rosin in a pot and stirring in a gallon of boiled linseed oil until it is of the proper sticky consistency. This he applied with a wide, stiff brush, leaving a margin of one inch all around the edge for handling. The ads. showed plainly through this.

In order to secure the necessary ads. he agreed to print them on 100,000 sheets of the fly paper free, and to distribute the fly paper to all the residences in the city, also free, but to charge each advertiser the regular price of distributing circulars, $3 per 1,000, so that for each 1,000 sheets distributed, the six advertisers paid him $18, and for every 100,000 sheets he collected $1,800 for distribution. The printing was but a small item, and the cost of hiring boys to do the distributing was not very heavy, so he received over $1,400 net profit for a few weeks’ work. He presented an affidavit that the sheets had all been distributed before presenting his bill to the advertisers, so he had no difficulty in collecting the money due under the contracts.

PLAN No. 364. THE APPLES AND THE PARCEL POST

A woman who lived in a section where there were but few good orchards, one of which was on the farm she and her husband owned, several miles from a city, made money from carefully selected apples, three dozen in a box, which she sent to the city by parcel post, and sold for 50 cents a box.

The apples, of a choice variety, were so plentiful in this particular orchard, that many of them would have gone to waste but for her foresight in advertising them to be delivered at that rate by parcel post, and orders came so fast it kept her busy filling them. The apples were good, and reached her city patrons in such excellent condition that repeat orders were a common occurrence and during the late summer and fall she realized a profit of several hundred dollars through utilizing a product that in many cases would have been just so much waste. Her motto was: “Give a good article, and get a good price for it.”

PLAN No. 365. FROM CHINA PAINTING TO SAUSAGE MAKING

Making sausage--even the very best of sausage--may not seem quite so romantic and “genteel” as china painting, but a very sensible and talented woman, who had tried both, concluded to stick to the sausage making, mainly for the greater revenues it produced.

To begin with, she had always been noted for the extra fine quality of her home-made sausage, so she was not obliged to learn the business. She informed her friends and neighbors that she was prepared to fill all orders, and the orders came quickly and permanently. Then she placed a small ad. in the local paper, which brought still more orders, and in a short time she had all she could possibly do to fill them. The children helped her in grinding and in delivering the sausage to her customers, and as she used only the best meats, and utilized every particle of the material, there was no waste, but a large and ever-increasing profit.

PLAN No. 366. WHAT A TEACHER DID “ON THE SIDE”

A teacher in Iowa improved her vacation by stenciling various designs, such as coats of arms, family crests, etc., on sofa pillows and various other articles of household and personal adornment. This occupation, while very fascinating, was so novel as to attract wide attention and create an unusual demand for that class of work, and the teacher who introduced it into society circles in her home town was soon in receipt of many orders. She later gave up her school work, to take up stenciling, as it paid her much better than teaching.

PLAN No. 367. MADE MONEY IN SALTED PEANUTS

Preparing salted peanuts is an art, yet one that is easily learned, and yields large profits. A young man in a western city of 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants learned how to do it, and made it a profitable business on a small capital.

The new method he employed was as follows:

Take a suitable amount of the shelled peanuts and boil in oil until well done, after which remove them from the oil and spread thinly over a tin-covered table; then sprinkle the desired quantity of fine salt over them immediately. Let them dry and put up in neat packages.

Peanut oil, beef suet, or unsalted butter may be used. A substance known as “Konut,” which may be had of the leading grocers, is in many respects more satisfactory than any of the oils mentioned.

Use an iron kettle, and place the nuts in a basket made of iron wire netting, so they may be easily lifted from the oil when cooked. Never, under any circumstances, use brass, copper, or zinc for either the kettle or the basket. The nuts should be stirred frequently, while cooking, with a wooden paddle.

The best shelled peanuts cost 4 to 5 cents a pound in small quantities, and this process of salting costs about one cent a pound, so that 5 or 6 cents a pound is the total cost. They easily bring 10 to 12 cents a pound or more so that the young man made at least 100 per cent profit. As peanut money is “turned over” very quickly, and doubled each time, he soon realized he had a very profitable undertaking--a good money-maker.

PLAN No. 368. SELLING POWDER WITH A PREMIUM

To offer a premium as a means of inducing people to buy even an inferior article sometimes succeeds, but here is the case of a Denver man who not only offered an article of superior merit, but also gave a useful premium with each sale, and it won him a patronage that was permanent and profitable.

The article he had for sale was a lustre powder for cleaning any kind of metal, paint or woodwork, and, although it consisted only of pure common whiting, with a little oil of lavender to perfume it, it produced excellent results as a cleaner, when used with a piece of clean flannel dipped in warm water, squeezed nearly dry, and then dipped into the powder, and briskly rubbed.

To induce sales, he put on a card three enameled knobs of various sizes, for coffee pots, teapots, teakettles, pot covers, stewpans, drawer or door pulls, which he bought for 60 cents per gross, and offered the three for a premium with each 10-cent package of the powder sold.

The sales under this system were excellent, and when he figured that the powder, printing, boxes, knobs, and all complete, cost him less than 2¹⁄₂ cents, and he sold them for 10 cents thus getting back $4 for $1, he was well satisfied, as he knew it would not only produce him a livelihood but a saving as well.

PLAN No. 369. LAWYER WHO ATTENDS TO BUSINESS

The average lawyer admittedly is a poor business man, because of his neglect to study the ordinary methods of business.

When he takes your case he often proceeds to handle many details you know nothing about which takes up his time and often much skill on his part. All these steps, as a matter of fact, should be known to you so that you may give him credit for his time and energy he has put in on your behalf. His failure to call such matter to your attention means if he charges you for the time he actually spent you think you have been overcharged and he loses you as a client. For example, after the lawyer appears for you a motion is made by the lawyer on the other side; this means he must appear at least once before the court and argue the matter which might take one-half to a whole day. Then a demurrer is filed which will take as much more time, and finally the case is set down for trial. As a rule you will see him only a few times before the trial and naturally think that he has put in but little work.

The lawyer I have in mind handled his work on a business basis. As soon as a case was placed in his hands he would immediately inform his client of every step, and the nature of it, taken in the case. If a motion was filed, he immediately on receipt of it dictated a letter to his client telling him of the motion and the nature of it. When he attended court to have the motion set down he informed his client of it. When the court heard the motion he wrote his client when it would come up and that it was not necessary for him to be present. If he was successful he immediately informed his client of that. In this way he kept his clients constantly informed of every detail. His stenographer was busy and he could charge a much larger fee for his service and his client felt everything possible had been done for his case. In the event that it was necessary to show the court the amount of service rendered by him, he could produce the correspondence which showed the amount of work and the time expended by him.

Ninety per cent of the lawyers could double their incomes by giving attention to the details of their business as herein suggested.

PLAN No. 370. WASHINGTON MAN GOES THROUGH EASTERN UNIVERSITY

He knew he must have the same opportunity to make good as other men and he also knew if he was to be a lawyer he must study law. He worked for one year but did not obtain one cent for his labor and during the summer of that year he decided to enter an eastern university. He felt somehow that he must go, and he decided that, money or no money, he would. For $15 he had a tailor friend of his fix up two old suits and a light top-coat of his brother’s, and with these clothes which would last him for a year he felt that he had accomplished something. A friend of his who was going to enter the university at that time wanted him to go also and offered to lend him $100. He had $70 saved, so he accepted his friend’s offer and made the attempt.

After arriving at the university, with entrance fee and books paid for, he had very little money but by doing some extra work he managed to get through the first year.

But how about the second year--what could he do now? Another friend pointed out how the summer before he had sold a book and had cleared about $300 in this way. There was hope, for if his friend could do it, why couldn’t he? His friend borrowed $25 and divided with him, and down into the country, armed with a prospectus they started in. That summer he cleared more than $400. He went to the World’s Fair, and found himself back in his class at college financed for another year. After that he had no worry about defraying expenses at the University. If he was short about Christmas vacation time he went out and made a vigorous sales campaign and came back with the money.

This man was nothing out of the ordinary; as a matter of fact he was only a medium salesman, but he must have his education and he did not hesitate to sacrifice a little of his energy.

Any man who thinks he can and will back up this desire by real work can do as well, if not better.

PLAN No. 371. THE WAY A BOY FROM INDIANA WENT THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

He was full of energy and not afraid to use it. He had no money, but he felt it was necessary for him to take an engineering course. How could this be done without money?