257. Physical Culture.—There are twelve million young women in the United States. The great majority of them have an ailment of some kind; in fact, it is almost impossible to find a perfectly healthy woman. Physical culture will add years to one’s life. An eminent physician has estimated that twenty-four million years, or an average of two years each, can be added to the lives of our young women by simple bodily exercise of one hour each day. Get a book, study a chart, employ a teacher; then, after a thorough course go about among your friends and form a class. Induce your pupils to bring other pupils. Advertise, lecture, give class exhibitions. Charge $5 a quarter for a class of twelve; $4 for one of fifteen; $3 for one of twenty. Mr. John D. Hoover, of Los Angeles, Cal., says: “When I entered a college of oratory, I was almost penniless. I took a special course in physical culture, with a view to teaching that art. It is now eighteen months since I left the college, and during that time I have earned in clear cash from teaching physical culture the sum of $20,960. I have 1,507 pupils. My sister also has been very successful in teaching since she graduated, and has made quite a large sum of money.”
258. House Cleaning.—Enterprising men have taken up the work of house cleaning with considerable success, but the business can be managed better by a woman than by a man. If your patrons are not too many, you can personally superintend the work in each house yourself to the great satisfaction of the lady, who would commonly prefer to have it managed by one of her own sex. If your business increases so as to require your presence in the office, you can send a lady assistant to superintend the work. Have a fixed price per room where there is no extra work, such as painting, kalsomining, and paper hanging. In the latter case it is better to take the work by the job.
259. Selling Oysters.—Here is the way a woman with five little children gets a living: She hires a boy to open the oysters, which she then puts up in little pint pails and takes from house to house. She has many customers whom she serves regularly on certain days. Sales per week, fifty pints, or twenty-five quarts. Boy’s wages, $1. Net, $3.
260. Pie Cart.—Hear what another woman says: “I have a little pie cart. It is nothing but a pie-crate mounted on wheels. I bake every morning ten pies and in the afternoon I sell them hot from door to door. I make about seven cents on a large pie, and four cents on small one.” Average earnings per day, fifty cents.
261. Men’s Neck Ties.—As every man, at least every well-dressed man, wears a tie, which must be renewed several times a year—white lawns every day—the number in demand is enormous. First learn the business, and then if you can sell them a little under the manufacturers’ price you are sure to dispose of all you can make. One girl earned $12 a week in this way.
262. Dancing Teacher.—The natural grace of women fits them better than men to be teachers of this art, especially to be instructors of young girls. Dancing teachers charge on the average $15 a quarter. There are several very successful lady teachers.
263. Haberdasher.—The selling of small articles of the dress and toilet is profitable if the location is good and the competition not too severe. Where one cannot purchase the articles outright, she can sell on commission. Dealers in small wares of this kind often take in from $12 to $20 a day, of which on the average, one-sixth is profit.
264. Lady Architect.—There is no reason why women should not succeed in this occupation, since it is one in which taste is a chief requisite. Several young lady graduates of college have entered it recently, and with flattering success. Architects charge about three per cent. on contracts.
265. Lost and Found Agency.—In every large city numbers of articles are lost by the owners and found by others every day. A single New York paper contains daily from ten to twenty advertisements of lost articles. Open a small office, advertise in the “Lost and Found” column of the paper that you will receive any articles that may be found, and charge the owner a small commission. The agency could be carried on in connection with some other light business.