207. Delicatessen Room.—Here is a paying business that is not overcrowded, but success depends upon the quality of the goods. Make yourself a specialist in cookery. Homemade pies, plum puddings, orange marmalade, salted almonds, fancy cakes, jellies and jams can be made and sold at a good profit. Bakers and grocers will be forced to keep them when once there is a demand for your goods. This is no speculative idea. Many a woman has not only made a living, but accumulated a snug little fortune by this means.
208. Miscellaneous Exchange.—Many people have no use for some of their possessions, but desire something else; others would be glad to get what these possess. Establish a place for the exchange of typewriters, sewing machines, bicycles, baby carriages, jewelry, bric-à-brac, etc. Charge both parties to the exchange a small commission. This plan has the advantage that it requires no capital, and hence has no risk.
209. Cap and Apron Plan.—Here is a plan available near any large hotel. Have a place for the sale of aprons, waiters’ jackets, cooks’ caps, etc. Get out a great quantity of circulars, stating your plan in an attractive form, and have a boy to distribute them—one upon whom you can rely to hand one to every employee of hotel shop and store. Repeat the circulars every week until your business is thoroughly known. Arrange to keep the articles in repair, and engage the agency of some laundry establishment for their washing; then with the work of selling, repairing and laundrying these goods you will have an established business.
210. Kitchen Utensils.—As a rule you can sell five kitchen utensils where you can sell one book. The former shows for itself; the latter must be exhibited and explained. Send to a large wholesaler for the most modern samples of labor-saving tools for the kitchen. Test them for a few days yourself. Then start out among your neighbors. A housewife will purchase anything that lightens labor if it is only cheap. An enthusiastic person can make many dollars a day selling useful articles for the kitchen. A woman for three months averaged $4 a day selling an improved coffee pot.
211. Wedding Manager.—How many brides shrink from the work of a large wedding, while at the same time feeling under obligations to have one! A lady who has an artistic taste and a knowledge of the best social customs may very properly undertake the management of a wedding. She should know what is proper for the bride’s outfit, and how to dress her, how to decorate the rooms, what style of invitations to issue, and in short, all the delightfully perplexing details of a wedding. For this work she has a right to charge a fair sum, and if the wedding proves to be a very pretty one, she is entitled to the credit of it. When once the office of a lady manager is recognized, and the relief afforded to the bride’s family appreciated, the fashion will quickly spread, and others will wish to avail themselves of your taste and skill.
212. Foreign Homes.—Here is an example of the pluck and enterprise of an American girl: Miss Mary Widdicomb went to Paris in company with a lady friend, and established a home for Americans in that capital. Her rooms accommodated thirty-five, and such was the success of her venture that she is about to open another apartment. Think of it! You can go to a French city and hear the American language, associate with American people, and have American surroundings the same as if in the United States. Here is an opportunity for young women with small capital to see a foreign country and make money at the same time.
213. Lady Barber.—There is a school in New York for the instruction of barbers. Three months’ apprenticeship will give you a knowledge of the trade. One lady who graduated a year ago from the school now has two assistants, and is earning from $6 to $10 a day.
214. Mineral Collections for Schools.—Dana’s Mineralogy gives fourteen hundred places in the United States where rare minerals are found. There are 240,968 public schools, and each one needs a mineral collection. Why has no one thought of gathering these rare stones and selling them to our public schools? At $1 a school, the sale should be $240,698, but many rare collections would bring $5, and even $10 each.
215. Turkish Bath.—One lady opened a place for Turkish and Russian baths. She went around among her lady friends and acquaintances and secured the promise of a paying patronage. Five promised their patronage every week, eight every two weeks, and twenty-four at least once a month. Thus the sum of $60 per month was assured at the start, and this paid for rent and assistants, with a good margin of profit.
216. Trained Nurses.—Trained nurses in our large cities command $25 a week. The duties are exacting, but not difficult. Assistant nurses receive $15. The latter have less responsibilities, and are not required to spend so long a time in training. This is an inviting field for ladies who have gifts and tastes for this work.