Chapter VII: Preface (6)

Take ripe cucumbers, cut in two, scrape out the seeds, cut into strips and soak over night in salt water. To every quart of vinegar add one pound of sugar; boil and skim. Boil the strips in vinegar until tender and quite transparent. Take out the pickles, strain the vinegar, put it over the fire with a small muslin bag of mixed spices, boil two hours, pour over the pickles, cover and put away.

She sold these pickles at a good profit.

PLAN No. 133. INDIAN CHUTNEY MAKE

This will be something new to many people, but it is so good that almost any woman could derive a good living from making and selling this and nothing else. Here is the way the Iowa lady made it:

Pare, core and chop in small squares pieces half a pound of sour apples, and to them add half a pound each of tomatoes, brown sugar, stoned raisins and salt, a quarter of a pound each of cayenne pepper and powdered ginger, two ounces each of onions and garlic, one quart of lemon juice and three quarts of vinegar. Mix all well together, and put in a closely covered jar. Keep in a warm place, and stir every day for a month, being careful to see that it is kept covered; strain through a sieve at the end of this time and bottle. The liquor may be used as a sauce for fish or meat, and imparts a flavor seldom equaled.

PLAN No. 134. SPICED CURRANTS

Any one should be able to obtain any quantity of currants desired in their season, and make extra money by spicing them as this Iowa lady did, as follows:

Three pounds of white sugar, five pounds of ripe currants, one tablespoonful each of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. Boil currants one hour, then add sugar, spices and one-half pint of vinegar and boil one-half hour longer.

This was one of the best sellers she put up.

PLAN No. 135. TOMATO PRESERVES

With tomatoes as plentiful and cheap as they are almost every year, and with so many people who like them, it is a wonder that thousands of women do not make a living by preserving, according to the following recipe, which this lady used:

Peel the tomatoes, and to each pound add a pound of sugar and let stand over night. Take the tomatoes out of the sugar, and boil the syrup, removing the scum. Put in the tomatoes and boil gently twenty minutes. Remove the fruit again, and boil until the syrup thickens. On cooling, put the fruit into jars and pour the syrup over. The round, yellow variety of tomatoes should be used, and as soon as ripe.

It is hard to imagine a more delicious preserve, or one that will bring a better price.

PLAN No. 136. CRAB APPLE JELLY

While thousands of bushels of crab apples are allowed to go to waste every year, and cost nothing but the picking, hundreds of women could be earning considerable money by gathering them, as they make the best jelly in the world, and it can be sold at almost any price one may ask. This Iowa lady used her surplus stock of crab apples as follows:

Wash the fruit clean, put in a kettle, cover with water, and boil until thoroughly cooked. Then pour into a sieve and let it drain. Do not press it through. For each pint of this liquor, allow one pound of sugar. Boil from twenty minutes to half an hour. Jellies can also be made from quinces, peaches and Porter apples in the same way.

Even with all of this she could make, the lady was unable to supply the demand.

She secured customers for her products through a few short ads in the city papers.

PLAN No. 137. GLASS POLISHING PASTE

Nothing affords the housewife more pleasure or pride than to have her glassware, mirrors, window panes, etc., show that brilliancy and lustre so universally admired, but it is difficult to obtain.

A young man in San Diego, California, who had the formula for one of the best of these polishes, but very little else, anchored his hopes of making a living on supplying all the homes he possibly could with the means of keeping their glass surfaces shiny and clean. Therefore he made up as much of the preparation as he could afford for a starter, from the following formula:

Prepared chalk, 9 ounces; jewelers’ rouge, ¹⁄₂ ounce; white bole, ¹⁄₂ ounce; alcohol, 3 ounces; water, 5 ounces. Mix into a stiff paste.

To use, moisten a cloth with alcohol, place a small quantity of the paste, not larger than a pea, on the glass, and rub over the surface with the cloth until dry, and until the powder is completely removed. The result was good.

Not having sufficient capital to advertise his preparation, or to make it in sufficient quantities to employ agents or supply it to the drug stores, he made up a small amount at first, and introduced it into various homes by asking permission to polish up some glassware or a window, and the lustre it left was so brilliant that he sold some of it at most every house in which he demonstrated, and as the profit was very large, he soon had enough capital to make it on a larger scale. Then he placed a crew of agents in the city and surrounding towns and thus created a demand for the product which the druggists were glad to supply from the stocks he had left with them for sale.

In a short time he was able to advertise it thoroughly, and in the course of a couple of years he had built up a business that is today netting him a very good income.

But his success need not exclude others from this field, and there is still room for hundreds of other young men who wish to follow his example.

PLAN No. 138. HAIR DRESSING AS A PROFESSION

A young lady in Denver, the possessor of a pleasing manner, neat and attractive, felt the need of making some money to help support her invalid mother. She had been employed in a hair-dressing establishment for some time, and had learned all the secrets of the business, so she put her knowledge of the business into practical form and made a success of it.

She was personally acquainted with a number of women in her section of the city, who, though not regular patrons of the leading hair-dressers, liked to have their hair done up in proper form, and could afford a reasonable price for such service. She therefore had some neat cards printed, announcing that she would do all kinds of hair-dressing for ladies at their homes, at very reasonable rates, and, calling upon these women, she left her cards, with a request that she be allowed to dress the hair of each one as a sort of demonstration of her ability, also asking the ladies interviewed to hand her card to some lady acquaintance.

She was surprised by the large number of “trial orders” she received, and she performed the service so well that practically all the women, after having her dress their hair once, insisted upon paying her rates, which were not considerably less than regular hair-dressers’ prices.

In a short time she had all the permanent patrons she could serve, and the reward of her tact and skill came in the form of a good living.

PLAN No. 139. CLIPPING BUREAU

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.

HOW A WIFE HELPED HER HUSBAND

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.

PLAN No. 140. STARTED A HOME STORE

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.

PLAN No. 141. HAS A FLOWER BED

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.

PLAN No. 142. HOME-MADE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

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.

PLAN No. 143. HOME-MADE LACE

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.

PLAN No. 144. SCHOOL CHILDREN’S NEEDS

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.

PLAN No. 145. ARTIFICIAL MAPLE SYRUP

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.

PLAN No. 146. CARBOLIC FACE CREAM

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.

PLAN No. 147. WOMAN DRESS AND STYLE ADVISER

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.

PLAN No. 148. NURSES’ BUREAU

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.

PLAN No. 149. DRESS-CUTTING SCHOOL

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.

PLAN No. 150. ETIQUETTE AND DANCING SCHOOL

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.

PLAN No. 151. WOMAN’S EXCHANGE

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.

PLAN No. 152. SHOPPING AS A PROFESSION

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.

PLAN No. 153. DRUGLESS TREATMENT FOR CONSTIPATION

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.

PLAN No. 154. RAISE A FEW SHEEP

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.

PLAN No. 155. MAKING COZY CORNERS

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.

PLAN No. 156. BRIEFING THE BRIEFS

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.

PLAN No. 157. MAGAZINE CIRCULATING LIBRARY

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.

PLAN No. 158. MADE MONEY FROM MENDING

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.

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.

PLAN No. 159. BEAUTY BAGS FREE

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?

PLAN No. 160. DUSTLESS DUSTERS

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.

PLAN No. 161. COPYING PAD

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.

PLAN No. 162. CLEANING COMPOUND POWDER

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.

PLAN No. 163. SEWING LESSONS FOR CHILDREN

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.

PLAN No. 164. CUCUMBER CULTURE

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.

PLAN No. 165. PALMISTRY BY MAIL

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.

PLAN No. 166. STARTING A WEEKLY PAPER

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.

PLAN No. 167. MARKETING A PREPARATION

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.

PLAN No. 168. DEALING IN NUT MEATS

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.