Having observed that of the thousands of dolls which are sold during the holidays very few of them are dressed to suit the tastes of buyers, this woman felt certain she could make a good living by dressing these dolls.
She therefore prepared a circular letter which she sent to hundreds of selected homes in her city, asking to be allowed the privilege of dressing the children’s dolls according to her own taste, or that of the mothers of the little girls, and received invitations to call at the homes of a large number of these people. She did so, and so well did she demonstrate her ability for the work that she received many orders. Her charges were reasonable, and she developed a regular and paying business.
PLAN No. 227. PAPER COVERS FOR SCHOOL BOOKS ASSIST IN PUTTING MAN THROUGH COLLEGE
A young man in an eastern Washington town, who was obliged to work his way through the agricultural college, adopted, as one of his numerous plans for making money, that of providing substantial yet inexpensive manilla covers for school books.
He bought from a wholesale paper store, a quantity of the best manilla paper at 4 cents a pound and, at a cost of 15 cents additional, had it cut into different sizes and the corners cut off on a regular paper cutter. The ends he cut off himself with a pair of shears, and pasted them down so they could be slipped on over any school book, to protect it. The cover, completed, cost him less than 2 cents each, yet he sold a large number of them for 5 cents each. Finally, he induced the school board to buy 5,000 of them, at 31⁄2 cents each. He made enough in this to put him through the greater part of his first year’s schooling. He operated the same plan in other school districts the second and third years, and completed his course with the money he thus earned.
PLAN No. 228. MAKING PAN-LIFTERS
A woman in Lincoln, Nebraska, who knew the difficulties and dangers involved in lifting hot pans that have to be handled often, figured out a plan to make this work both safe and convenient.
She made a belt to fasten around the waist, and on each side of the front she fastened a strip that came down nearly to the knees. On the ends of these strips she sewed small quilted pads about six inches square. These were always ready to use, and proved great time-savers and made the lifting easy.
She was so well pleased with the one she made for herself, that she made up a hundred of them and went from house to house, explaining their advantages, and readily sold them at 25 cents each.