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WORK FOR WOMEN
BY
GEORGE J. MANSON
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET
1883
COPYRIGHT BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
1883
PREFACE.
When a woman, either from choice or through necessity, makes up her
mind to work for a living, and has selected the employment that seems
most suited to her, she probably asks herself such questions as these:
"Is there a good chance to get work? How long will it take me to make
myself competent? Are there many in the business? How much do they
earn? How hard will I have to work? Are there any objections against
entering this employment; if so, what are they?"
To answer, as far as it is possible, these and similar questions is
the object of this little book. Some of the most important avocations,
professions, trades, businesses, in which women are now engaged,
have been selected, and the effort made to enlighten the would-be
woman-worker as to the practical points of interest connected with
each occupation. The information thus given has, in each case, been
gained from the most reliable sources.
In the winter of 1882-3 I contributed to the columns of the New York
_Christian Union_ a series of articles under the title of "Work for
Women." They were written with the aim of furnishing to women useful
information in regard to various industries in which the gentler sex
are successfully seeking employment, and met with considerable favor
from the readers of that excellent journal. Through the courtesy of
Rev. Lyman Abbott and Hamilton W. Mabie, editors of the _Christian
Union_, the publishers of this book are allowed to use the title of
that series. It should be stated, however, that the chapters in the
present book are made up from new investigations, and that none of
them are reproductions of any of the articles in the series alluded
to.
G. J. M.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNING 1
SHORT-HAND WRITING 10
TELEGRAPHY 20
FEATHER CURLING 29
PHOTOGRAPHY 37
PROFESSIONAL NURSING 47
PROOF-READERS, COMPOSITORS, AND BOOKBINDERS 60
THE DRAMA.--LECTURERS AND READERS 73
BOOK-AGENTS 97
DRESS-MAKING--MILLINERY 109
TEACHING 116
BRIEF NOTES:
Market Gardening, Poultry-raising, Bee-keeping, House-keepers,
Cashiers, Button-hole Making, Floriculture, Authorship,
Type-writing, and Working in Brass 123
WORK FOR WOMEN.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNING.
A great many women have, or think they have, a taste for art. They can
make a pretty sketch, or draw a landscape quite fairly, and so they
think they will "take up" art as a profession. And nearly all of them
fail of success. The trouble seems to be that they lack originality;
they are mere copyists, and too often very poor reproducers of the
things they copy.
One branch of art--that of industrial designing--offers golden
opportunities to make an excellent living in a pleasant way, but,
before deciding to enter it, a woman should be very sure indeed that
she has the necessary qualifications to pursue the study successfully;
otherwise her time will be wasted, and probably her heart will be so
discouraged that she will be sadly unfitted for any kind of work for
a long time to come.
It is _industrial_ art of which I am speaking. A few introductory
words may be necessary, for the benefit of some persons ignorant in
the matter, to show what women are doing, or rather successfully
attempting to do, in that line at the present time.
Industrial or technical designing means designing for wall-paper,
lace, silk, chintz, calico, oil-cloth, linoleum, book-covers,
embroidery, wood-carving, silver-ware, jewelry, silks, handkerchiefs,
upholstery goods, and carpets of all grades, from ingrains to
moquettes. Up to within a very short period all this work has been
done by men, principally foreigners; but talented and enterprising
women saw that they were able to do the work equally well, and it is
only a question of time when women will entirely monopolize this field
of industry.
It will be seen at once that the woman who is ambitious to become an
industrial designer must have, first of all, originality. She must
have good taste and an eye for color. Drawing must come natural to
her. The mere ability to copy pictures, or make sketches from nature
is not enough. She must be full of ideas, and for some of the work
mentioned (notably carpet designing) she must have what might be
called a combining mind--that is, the ability to get ideas from
several designs, and by combining them together, make something new.
It must be confessed that this kind of ability is rare. Very few men
possess it, and fewer women. Manufacturers of carpets and wall-papers
say that they have to import nearly all their help of this kind from
Europe; they cannot find in this country the right kind of men to do
the work.
But because a woman has not this talent for originating largely
developed, she should not be discouraged from becoming an industrial
designer. If she has even a little talent in that direction she may
find, after taking a few lessons, that the study is very congenial to
her, and that she has more ability than she imagined. The kind of
designing of which I am particularly speaking in this chapter is
designing for carpets, oil-cloths, and wall-paper. That seems to be
the most popular at the present time, though there is a good chance
for skilled workers in the other branches to which allusion was made.
It is surprising what a demand there is for new designs in carpets,
wall-paper, and oil-cloths. One would suppose that a single design
would last for a long time; but such is not the fact. The demand of
the public is continually for novelty; the fashion changes in these
matters, just the same as it does in bonnets and dresses, and each
manufacturer is competing with his neighbor to get something pretty
and original. A good design can always be sold at a good price; an
ordinary or a poor design has no chance at all.
There are two schools in New York where industrial designing is taught
to women. They are both carried on by women, and both present their
claims to the public under very favorable auspices. Some of the
instruction, however, is given by men--practical workers in the
various branches of art--who lecture on the special subject with which
they are familiar. Here are some of the subjects of these lectures:
"Conventionalization in Design," "Practical Design as Applied to
Wall-paper," "Principles of Botany" (delivered by a lady), "Historical
Ornament in Design," "Harmony in Color in Design," "Design as Applied
to Carpets," "Geometry in Design," "The Influence of Color in Design,"
"Purity of Design," "Oriental Influence in Design," "Plant Forms:
their Use and Abuse." This last lecture was delivered by a lady. But
the pupil gets most of her learning in the class-room, the lectures
being considered simply as adjunct to the regular system of
instruction.
In one school the first term begins October 2d, and closes December
22d. The second term begins January 4th and closes March 30th. The
post-graduate course commences April 2d, and ends May 25th. Those
pupils who have no knowledge of drawing are obliged to enter the
elementary class. Those who enter the advanced classes are obliged to
present specimens of free-hand drawing, such as flowers from nature,
ornamental figures or scrolls. During the year each pupil in the
elementary class must complete nine certificate sheets, of uniform
size (15 x 22 inches), one each of geometrical problems, blackboard
and dictation exercise, enlarged copy in outline, conventionalized
flowers in a geometrical figure, applied designs, outline drawing from
objects, outline drawing from flowers, historical ornament, botanical
analysis. In the flower painting class, three outline drawings, and
four paintings of flowers from nature. In the carpet class, one each
of a two-ply ingrain on the lines, three-ply ingrain on the lines,
tapestry sketch, body-Brussels sketch, moquette sketch, optional
sketch (for either stair-carpet, rug, chair back and seats, hall
carpet, or borders, body-Brussels working design on the lines,
tapestry working design on the lines.)
The terms of tuition in this school per term are: for the elementary
class, $15; the advanced class, $25; the teachers' class, $15. Ten
lessons in wood-carving and designing for book-covers cost $12. Six
lessons in embroidery cost $5, and for a course of instruction
in flower-painting the charge is $15. The materials used in the
elementary class cost from $7 to $10, and for the advanced classes
from $10 to $12. The elementary class studies an hour and a half a day
three times a week; the advanced class the same length of time twice a
week.
According to the prospectus of this school, it takes three years to
become thoroughly proficient. One year is spent in the elementary
class, and in obtaining a knowledge of flower-painting and making
simple designs for calico, muslin, stained glass, inlaid woods,
jewelry, etc. The second year is devoted to making advanced designs
for oil-cloth, linoleum, silk, and carpets. The third year is spent in
doing practical work under the supervision of the principal and her
assistants. It would not seem to be necessary for a pupil to return to
the school the third year for this purpose. After her first two years'
instruction she ought to be able to put her knowledge to business use,
and seek to sell her work among the various manufacturers.
In the other school to which I have referred the terms for tuition in
drawing are $12 for a term of three months--thirty-six lessons. In the
design class the fee is $20. The method of instruction is
substantially the same as in the school first mentioned.
And now comes the interesting question, How much can a woman make in
this profession, after she has become thoroughly qualified? I do not
think she can hope to get a permanent salaried position, at least just
at present. For this profession, albeit a good one, is a new one for
women; it is less than two years since the first school was started.
Men still hold the best positions, and they receive large salaries,
from $1,000 to $4,000 a year. In the present condition of affairs,
hedged in as the female industrial designer is by the masculine doubt
of the employer as to her ability, and the masculine jealousy of the
employe whose work she seeks to do, it would be the best plan for her
to do piece-work at her own home, or office. Her earnings, under this
plan, cannot even be stated approximately. The pay for a good carpet
design would be $20 to $30, and the design can be made in two and a
half days. Wall-paper designs bring $10 to $15; an oil-cloth sketch,
$8 or $10--the technicalities to be mastered in this latter branch are
not so great as in the others.
SHORT-HAND WRITING.
The custom of employing women as amanuenses has grown very largely of
late years. It is said on good authority that, fifteen years ago,
there were but five females in the city of New York who made their
living by writing short-hand; at the present time there are, as nearly
as can be estimated, between one hundred and fifty and two hundred.
"Which is the best system of short-hand?" is generally the first
question asked by the person desirous of entering this profession. And
that is a very difficult question to answer, and many of the answers
that have been given to it have been very far from honest.
In the first place, it must be stated that there are about a score of
"systems" of short-hand before the public, each of which has its
defenders and advocates. Each is highly recommended in commendatory
letters from this or that distinguished court or newspaper reporter.
Each can show, and does show, first-class notices from prominent daily
and weekly papers, and each has a circle of followers who loudly
proclaim that the particular system they follow is not only the best
in existence, but really the only one worth learning. In the search
after short-hand truth, it is but natural that the would-be learner
gets bewildered, and asks, "What shall I do?"
The system of short-hand practised by the vast majority of writers,
both in this country and in England, is phonography, invented by Isaac
Pitman, of Bath, England, in 1837. That system is based on an alphabet
representing the sounds of the language, instead of the ordinary
alphabet we use in spelling words. Since 1837 there have been many
phonographic text-books written by as many different authors, and each
author has added a hook here or a circle there, lengthened this
stroke, or made that one heavier; and that accounts for the variety of
"systems." The fact is, they are all based on the original phonography
of Isaac Pitman, who himself, by the way, was the first to set the
example of making changes and "improvements." For all _practical_
purposes phonography is no better now than it was thirty years ago. I
dwell upon this point, for I know "the best system" has been a sad
stumbling-block to many young people who were naturally anxious to
start on the right road.
Which system, then, is the best? Answer: any system will answer the
purpose of the woman who desires to become simply a phonographic
amanuensis. And it is only of that branch of work of which I write,
for though there are a few female court reporters in the country, the
number is so small and the positions so exceptional in many respects
that it is not worth while to speak of woman's employment in that
direction.
Let not the student, then, waste any time in listening to or reading
arguments in favor of the various systems, but go to a bookstore and
get some one of the various manuals on the subject, and begin to
study. These books cost from fifty cents to a dollar and a quarter
each.
A teacher is not really necessary, but will prove a help, provided he
has a practical knowledge of the art. The trouble is, however, that
many of the so-called teachers of phonography have never done any
actual reporting in their lives, and their advice and suggestions are
not of much value. The best way for the pupil would be to get the
assistance of some man engaged in actual reporting. One lesson from
such a person would be worth a dozen from some of the teachers who
advertise to teach short-hand, or who are connected with the various
colleges. The price for such service cannot be accurately stated.
Short-hand schools and colleges have "courses" of one hundred and
twenty lessons, charging $75 for the same. Students can and do learn
at these schools, but the cheaper and more sensible way for the
student learner to do would be to get the help of a teacher, as I have
suggested, and then only as it was needed. The text-books I have
mentioned are very plain, and a teacher really cannot do much to make
them plainer. In six months' time, if the pupil is diligent, she
should be able to write eighty words a minute, and enter upon actual
work, when, with practice, her speed will gradually increase. If she
can reach a speed of one hundred and twenty words a minute, she will
be as good as the average; if she can reach one hundred and fifty
words a minute, she will do what few women ever accomplish.
She need have no fear about getting a position, if she has made
herself competent. The demand for good workers in this profession is
constant and increasing. Out of several large classes taught by a lady
teacher in New York not one pupil failed, when qualified, to secure a
position. A gentleman connected with a large corporation, who employs
two lady amanuenses, and obtains positions for others, says that he
could secure situations for two or three a week.
It should be added, however, that a knowledge of working on the
type-writer should accompany the ability to write phonography. This
instrument has come into such general use that no detailed description
of it is here required. Briefly, it may be said that it is an
instrument to print letters and documents with despatch, and it is
worked with keys like a piano. To learn this art of type-writing
requires but a very short time, and there are schools or offices in
most of the large cities where it is taught.
A lady can learn phonography as young as sixteen, or at the mature age
of thirty-five; but it is almost needless to say that the art can be
mastered much easier at the former than the latter age. At one of the
schools in New York where it is taught free to women no pupils are
received under the age of eighteen. It is a study that requires
considerable application, a good memory, nimble fingers, and quick
apprehension. There are some people (and this remark applies to both
sexes) who would never be able to learn enough short-hand to be of any
practical service. But the study is nothing like as difficult as it
has often been represented to be. Every thing depends on the student.
If she makes haste slowly, and learns even a little thoroughly every
day, she will soon find herself mastering the theoretical part of the
art, and if she practises constantly, in season and out of season,
what she has properly learned, the secret of short-hand success is
hers. The necessity of practice cannot be overrated. Hence it is that
a teacher is ordinarily of little use. The exercises in the latest
manuals on this subject are very well arranged, and it would seem that
the art could not be presented in a plainer way than it is at
present.
The pay of a lady amanuensis at the start is seldom more than $8 a
week. It is not to be supposed that she is fully competent when she
starts at that rate; that is to say, she will not be able to write
very rapidly, and she will be liable to make mistakes in transcribing
her notes. The actual practical experience which she will get in her
first situation will very soon serve to correct these faults. It
might, at first thought, be supposed that few persons would desire to
employ inferior help of this kind; but such is not the fact. Editors,
lawyers, occasionally doctors, and some classes of business men who
are obliged to make rough drafts of papers which go at once to the
printer, are often glad of such help. Their short-hand writer can
write fast enough to save some of their time, at a moderate charge,
and it is immaterial as to the appearance of the "copy" sent to the
printer, so long as it can be plainly read by him. But of course the
lady will soar higher than a salary of $8 a week, and just so soon as
she has become more expert, she will be able to obtain a position
requiring greater speed in taking notes and more accuracy in writing
them out. Her salary will then be $10 or $12 a week, and finally $15 a
week. It is not likely she will earn more than $18 a week, though
mention is made of some ladies who are making $20 or $25 a week, but
the situations are exceptional, and, it may be added, the ladies are
exceptional ladies. They have some peculiar business ability aside
from being able to write short-hand. The employer of one, for
instance, can merely indicate by two or three words the kind of letter
he wants written to a certain correspondent, and the lady clerk,
having simply received the idea, will write a satisfactory letter. If
a woman could possess herself of a thorough knowledge of phonography,
be able to work rapidly on the type-writer, and have a fair knowledge
of bookkeeping, she could be certain of obtaining a good position at
an extra large salary, say $1,500 a year; but there is no doubt that
she would have to work hard for the money.
The hours of work in most all offices are from nine in the morning
until five in the afternoon. The employment is not more arduous than
any other sedentary occupation. In large offices an amanuensis will
receive from thirty to sixty full-page letters in a day and transcribe
them on the type-writer. She could not do so much work without the aid
of that instrument.
It is sometimes the case that a woman can take dictation work for
professional people who only occasionally need such assistance, and be
paid for it by the "job." In such a case the rate of pay for taking
and transcribing the notes will range from six to twenty cents per
hundred words, depending partly on the class of work, but more
particularly on the liberality of the employer.
TELEGRAPHY.
There is one thing favorable to young women who want to become
telegraph operators: the qualifications required for success in this
line of business are very simple. An ordinary common school education,
with a special ability to spell well, and to write plainly and more or
less rapidly, is all that is required in a pupil before commencing to
learn this art. This may account for the large number of young ladies
who, of late years, have sought employment in this field of labor.
Another thing, it is office work, with just enough bustle and activity
about it to keep it from being dull, with the occasional chance, in
times of public excitement, of its being exceptionally interesting.
In the city of New York there are, at the present time, about two
hundred ladies engaged in this occupation. They are nearly all
employed by the Western Union Telegraph Company, three fourths of the
number being employed at the main office of the company. Here and
there a lady may be found employed in a broker's office, a position,
by the way, which is considered exceptionally good, the pay being
generous, with the sure chance of the employe receiving a present at
the Christmas holiday-time. But the great majority of women are
employed by the companies, in hotels, in the smaller stations situated
throughout the city, and throughout the country in the offices located
in various villages and towns.
Instruction in telegraphy has become a special feature in about forty
colleges in different parts of the Union, and in several special
schools, among which the New York Cooper Union School of Telegraphy
is preeminent. Instruction in this last institution is free, and the
Western Union Telegraph Company is so far interested in the success
of the school, that when operators are needed, graduates of the Cooper
Union are preferred over anybody else. The school is always crowded;
it is difficult to gain admission, and situations are not provided by
the company alluded to for all the graduates. Last year (1882) one
hundred and sixty applied at the regular examination of the school and
passed, but they could not be admitted to the class for want of room.
The school admitted sixty pupils during the year. The number receiving
certificates was twenty-eight. Some time since the Kansas State
Agricultural College added telegraphy as a branch of industrial
education, using Pope's "Hand-book of the Telegraph" as a text-book.
Women can learn to become telegraph operators at almost any age. Young
girls of fifteen have successfully studied the art, and women as old
as forty have also learned it. But the age which is recommended by
good judges as being the best, is not younger than eighteen, nor
older than twenty-five.
The time it takes to learn to become an operator depends, of course,
on the aptness of the pupil, her general intelligence, and previous
education. Some learn very readily, others after months of study never
become sufficiently proficient to take positions.
The course of instruction, in most of the institutions where
telegraphy is taught, covers a period of six months. It is said, on
good authority, that practising four or five hours a day for a period
of six months, will enable a young woman to master the art. Probably
telegraphy is, in this respect, very much like phonography--a person
may learn the principles of the latter science in a comparatively
short space of time, but to avail himself really of its advantages, a
great deal of practice is required. The principles of telegraphy are
far simpler than those of phonography, but the necessity for practice
is equally important. Young girls learn easier than women over the
age of thirty, and yet there are several instances of women past the
age of forty, who have quickly qualified themselves to become
operators.
The salary of lady telegraphers ranges from $25 to $65 per month. In
the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company they commence with a
salary of $25 per month; the highest wages paid being $60 a month,
unless in some special cases, where they take full charge of important
offices, when they are given $75 a month.
What is called a "good" position may be either in the city or the
country. In fact, the term good, used in this connection, is a purely
relative term. For instance, the salary may be larger in a city, but
the expense of living will be greater, and the work more arduous than
it will be in some small country town, where the wages will be lower.
But, as a rule, the positions in the city seem to be preferred,
probably on the general principle that most young people prefer the
excitement and gayety of metropolitan life to the more quiet and
healthful enjoyments of country towns. During the summer months
positions at the various watering-places are particularly sought
after, the pay of the operator being $30 a month and her board. In the
large city hotels, where business is quite brisk and important, the
salary is from $40 to $50 a month. Operators in the country towns and
villages receive from $30 to $40 a month. But, as was stated above,
the brokers' offices supply the positions most sought after by
telegraph operators. There are very few of these positions. The salary
paid an operator in such a situation is from $75 to $90 a month. The
hours of work are light, being from 9.30 A.M. to 3 P.M. A woman,
however, to hold a position of this kind must be thoroughly competent,
and not only rapid, but accurate in her work. She must, too, be a
woman in whom the utmost confidence can be placed, and possessed of
that rare womanly gift--the ability to keep a secret; for she is, in
reality, a sort of confidential clerk.
A gentleman occupying a high position in one of the leading telegraph
companies in New York says, that telegraphy is a good occupation for a
young woman, and, provided she has no talent to do any thing better,
it will furnish her a reasonably pleasant, profitable, and sure means
of employment. But the opportunities of eventually getting a large
salary, or of obtaining an enviable position, do not exist in this
field of work. Women, he says, do not make good managers. They do not
seem to possess the ability, so common even with many ordinary men, of
grasping the varied details of a large business, and conducting it
with system and regularity. In the company alluded to, there are
ladies who have been employed for the last twenty years, but they are
receiving no more pay now than they received ten years ago, and ten
years from now their salary will be no higher than it is at the
present time, if, indeed, it is as much.
It might be thought by some, that from the comparative ease with which
this art is acquired, many might take it up as a temporary means of
subsistence, and leave it, either for some better employment, or to
assume matrimonial relations. But this is not the fact. The occupation
seems to be one in which few die, and none resign. It should be added,
however, that with the growing use of the telegraph by private
individuals, and the starting of new telegraph companies, good
operators may be reasonably sure of obtaining positions.
Telegraphy is generally learned at some business college, or some
school which makes a specialty of teaching it. The lady who desires to
become an operator should be very careful in making her selection
among institutions of this kind. The Cooper Institute School is not
included in this remark, but attention is called to the many firms
throughout the country, who advertise largely in the weekly papers, to
teach telegraphy in an astonishingly short space of time, and, it may
be added, at astonishingly high rates of tuition. Some of these
schools are good, but many of them cannot be recommended. Before
entering any one of them, the would-be pupil should get the honest
advice of some man or woman who is engaged in the business, and who
knows something of the character of the institution she proposes to
enter.
FEATHER CURLING.
Fashion has, of late years, made feather curling a good trade for
women, and fashion, at almost any moment, may make it a very poor
business. For the last thirty years feathers have been used every
year, but, until within a very short time, their use has been confined
to the fall and winter season. During the past four or five years they
have been in great demand during the spring and early summer, taking
the place of flowers for ornamental purposes. As a consequence, the
occupation of feather curling has offered unusual good opportunities
for girls and women to earn a living,--that is to say, as female
workers are paid in the trades.
There are several processes used in preparing the feathers before
they are ready for sale. Some of this work is done by men, but the
larger part of it is done by girls and women. When the feathers arrive
from abroad, they are of a dull brown color, and the first process
consists in washing them thoroughly with a peculiar kind of chemical
soap. Then they are wrung through an ordinary clothes-wringer, and
tied on to lines and hung out in the hot sun to dry, or put in a
drying room if the weather is not favorable. The work of washing and
wringing is done by men; the tying on to the lines by little girls.
After this men put them in big vats where they are dyed, black, blue,
red, yellow, or any other color that may be desired, and again dried.
Then comes the work of the women, who first scrape the rib of the
feather to make it soft and pliant. This is done with a piece of
glass. Then they are curled with a blunt knife. After this they are
packed in boxes and are ready to go from the wholesaler to the jobber,
from the jobber to the retailer, and from the retailer pass to the
purchasers whose hats they are meant to adorn.
Except in rare cases, the people employed at this business are paid by
the piece, and all ages are represented in the different branches of
the industry. There are girls as young as fourteen, and women as old
as forty. The little girls tie the feathers on to the lines, and make
from $2 to $5 a week. The work of preparing and curling the feathers
pays the best, and women who devote themselves to this branch make
from $10 to $40 a week. This last sum is large pay; but it must be
stated that those who make it do so in the busiest season, and they
work hard, not only during the day, but at night, or, may be, they
have some one at their homes to whom a portion of the work is sent
from the shop, and in that way they are assisted to receive such large
pay. Nevertheless, if a woman thoroughly understands the trade, she
can always be sure of making good wages. Some exceptionally proficient
women will average $30 a week the year round. Take a hundred expert
workers, and each of them will average $15 to $20 a week during the
twelve months. The little girls never earn very much, because the work
they can do is limited to "stringing" the feathers, which is the
technical term for tying the feathers on a line.
When a girl enters the establishment, she generally works the first
two weeks for nothing, then the superintendent is able to see what she
can do, and she makes $2, $3, or $4 a week, as the case may be; in six
or eight months she ought to be quite expert at the business. To be
successful she must have good taste. She should be able to "lay" the
feather out nicely, so that it will have a graceful appearance when
it is finished. And then she must have good judgment in putting the
feathers together, for it may not be known, but it is the fact, that
the plume which appears on the hat to be a single feather is made
up of a number of small pieces; this good judgment, then, consists,
as one manufacturer frankly stated, in not being wasteful in
selecting,--in short, in being careful not to pick out too many good
pieces. Though there are a great number of girls in this business,
there are very few who possess all these qualifications. That class of
help is of course a great saving to the employer, and consequently is
always sure of employment. One man said that on account of high rent
alone he wanted to hire all such women. "We have to economize our
room," he remarked, "and one such woman would be worth to us half a
dozen poor workers, who would take up just six times as much space and
waste a lot of material in the bargain. Such expert workers will make
three or four times as much as other women, doing the same kind of
work."
The trade is a healthy one, or, to speak more accurately, there are no
special features about it to make it unhealthy. Probably the worst
feature about it is the crowding together of so many girls and women
in one large room. They sit on benches, or stools, without backs,
working at a long, low table that runs the length of the apartment. On
damp days the windows have to be shut, making the atmosphere of the
place close and unwholesome. But the rooms are generally large, with
high ceilings. Five hundred girls are employed in the largest
establishment of the kind in New York. The nominal hours of work are
from eight in the morning until six in the evening, though very often,
in the busy season, the girls are required to work at night as late as
half-past seven or eight o'clock.
There are a few women in New York who profess to teach feather
curling; I say "profess," for I have it on good authority that some of
them have no practical knowledge of the business, and aim only at
securing a generous tuition-fee from the pupil. Now and then, however,
a teacher can be found who is able to impart the necessary knowledge.
It has been charged by women that those who learn privately in this
way are not able to secure good positions in any of the feather
curling establishments, the allegation being that the proprietors of
the same have formed a "ring" to exclude such help. From such
investigation as I have made in regard to this matter, I do not
believe that this statement is correct. Doubtless many such pupils,
after working for a short time in such establishments, have been
discharged, but I think the real reason has been that they were not
competent to do the work. And it can readily be imagined that the
facilities for learning a trade like this would be far better in a
large house, where several hundred girls were employed, or even fifty
or seventy-five girls, than they would be in a class of half a dozen
pupils, who had probably between them about as many feathers upon
which to work. It would be much pleasanter to learn the trade from a
teacher; but there are many practical objections against the
feasibility of so doing. If the girl has not worked herself up from
the very foot of the business, and does not have a knowledge of its
preparatory stages, she will be likely to find that if a feather has
been misplaced, or is out of order in any way, she could not put it in
proper shape as well as one who had commenced at the beginning of the
business.
Rather than have any girl or woman hastily decide to learn this
trade, I will, at the risk of repetition, briefly recapitulate: the
earnings are good if you are thoroughly competent; and this may be
said to be true of the future, although there is a prospect, probably
a very strong prospect, that feathers may not be in such demand as
they have been, and as they are now. You will have to work hard to
make good pay. The work is tolerably cleanly, but your associates, if
you are particularly nice in your ideas of companionship, may not
always please you. If you are competent you may be able to take work
home, but the facilities for doing it, and the want of that spirit of
competition which prevails, to a great extent, in a large work-room,
may not enable you to do so much work.
PHOTOGRAPHY.
It is a little singular that in a great city like New York, there
should be but one lady photographer, while in the western part of our
country there are quite a number. The photographers I speak of do all
the work of making a picture,--posing the sitter, preparing the
chemicals, and operating the camera. One reason why there are so
few ladies in this business is the fact, that up to within a short
time it has been a very disagreeable occupation on account of the
nature of some of the chemicals that were used--they would soil the
hands very easily, and the stains could not be removed. But recent
improvements in the art have removed this objection, and prominent
male photographers predict that it will not be long before their
business will be largely carried on by women.
A contributor to a London magazine, writing some years ago, on the
subject of the employment of women in photography, said: "I have
pleasure in bearing testimony to the fact, that in photography there
is room for a larger amount of female labor; that it is a field
exactly suited to even the conventional notions of woman's capacity;
and further, that it is a field unsurrounded with traditional rules,
with apprenticeship, and with vested rights, and it is one in which
there is no sexual hostility to their employment." These remarks may,
with perfect safety and propriety, be applied to photography in this
country.
There are several branches of the art in which women and girls have
always been engaged, viz., the mounting of photographs, the retouching
of negatives, and the coloring of photographs.
The mounting of photographs is apparently a very simple kind of work,
consisting simply in trimming the photograph and pasting it upon the
card-board. But, simple though it seems, it requires great neatness
and considerable skill, if the work is to be done fast, and rapidity
of execution is a prerequisite to employment in nearly all the
large galleries. As an illustration that it is not a very simple
accomplishment, it may be mentioned that out of forty young ladies
who came to work on trial for a prominent photographer, he could find
only nine who were suitable to fill positions. The pay for this work
is not very munificent, ranging from $6 to $10 per week.
The retouching, or taking out the marks or spots on negatives, is a
much more difficult branch of work. The pay, however, does not seem to
be as large as it should be, considering the amount of skill required.
Young women receive from $8 to $12 a week. A man doing the same kind
of work, and working the same number of hours, would be paid $16 a
week. There have been cases where ladies have received larger
salaries than the sums just mentioned, but such instances are rare.
The coloring of photographs is the most important, or rather the
highest paid, of the three branches of work that have been mentioned.
It is said that to be successful at this calling one must have some
taste for drawing, and what is commonly called a good eye for color.
Very few photographers employ colorists on a salary, for the reason
that they do not have enough work to keep them constantly employed.
There are probably but eight or ten galleries in New York where
colorists are employed all the year round. The truth is, that it is
not alone necessary to be a good colorist--one must be very good; and
if very good, she can have her studio and take work from the galleries
as well as from private parties. Photograph coloring has come to be
considered as important as portraiture. Another qualification for
success in the work, therefore, should be the rare ability not only
to preserve, but sometimes to make, a likeness.
There is one branch of the picture-making business that has grown to
large proportions within the past fifteen years; it is what is called
the "copying" business. There are many establishments in various
cities of the Union that constantly advertise for agents to collect
pictures. The agent goes through the rural districts, visiting each
dwelling, and inquiring of the inmates if there are any old pictures
of living or deceased friends that they would like to have copied,
enlarged, and colored. In nearly every farm-house there are such
pictures--old daguerreotypes of long-lost aunts, uncles, and
grandfathers, "old-fashioned photographs" of mother, together
with newer photographs of the living taken by the perambulating
picture-taker, and taken so badly with the use of bad chemicals that
they are fast fading away. Out of this motley group the family will
be pretty sure to select one or two pictures which they will deem it
worth their while to have copied and enlarged.
When the agent has collected a sufficient number of pictures in this
way, he sends them by express to the home office, where the work is
done. Some years ago I chanced to know a gentleman who was in this
business; in fact, he claimed to have originated it, and, as he was
a shrewd, smart Yankee, born and brought up in the State of New
Hampshire, I never had the temerity to question his statement. He had
a good-sized brick building in a pleasant little New England city, and
employed a countless number of agents, who travelled in all parts of
the country, and, if I remember right, he had nearly a score of
ladies, whose business it was to color the pictures and to touch some
of them up into something resembling life, after they had been copied
and enlarged. I use these statements with due deliberation, and say
that the effort was made to give them the appearance of something
resembling life, for often they looked like mere blurs. Here and
there a nose would be gone, or an eye would be missing, the lower part
of the face would be entirely absent, but would be counterbalanced,
or, rather, overbalanced, by a heavy head of straight, black hair.
These, of course, were very bad specimens, but they came to the office
in the regular course of business, and had, to use the Yankee
expression of the proprietor, to be "fixed up." These worst specimens
were given to a middle-aged single lady, who really had a genius for
making something out of nothing,--at least in the matter of pictures.
It should be mentioned, however, that the worst of them were generally
accompanied with some written description of the subject. But we may
well believe that such crude data were of but little service to the
artist. The salaries of these colorists were from $13 to $25 per week.
The lady I have just mentioned received the latter sum, and often made
a few more dollars weekly by doing extra work. At present, she and
another lady from the same establishment, conduct an art school in a
city near New York, and are very prosperous.
There are now opportunities for doing this same kind of work, but
there is not so much of it to do,--thousands of "active" agents having
very thoroughly worked in the best districts of the country. Still,
there is something to do, and the salaries paid, though not so high as
I have mentioned, are fair.
As I have written above, few photographers in New York employ a
colorist on a regular salary. The largest sum paid to a woman is $25 a
week, and that is given by probably the most prominent photographer in
the city. Others receive from $20 down to $12 a week. But there are
quite a number of ladies who have studios, and who work on their own
account, among them a firm of two sisters, who employ a dozen young
women as assistants. Without a doubt, this plan, provided the woman is
competent in the art, and has good business qualifications, is the
best and most lucrative course to pursue.
There has been lately introduced a new process of coloring pictures
for which very strong claims are made. It is said that the "secret"
can be learned in one lesson; the cost of the instruction is but $5.
The method consists in the application of water colors to any kind of
picture on paper. Some photographers say there is nothing new in the
method, and that the pictures will not stand the light of the sun;
others claim that it is a good process, and say that the pictures are
both brilliant and effective. The teacher of the art asserts that he
can, in half a day, paint a picture, and give all the necessary
effects. With the usual method, he says, a colorist would require two
days and a half. The process has not yet been introduced among
photographers, but several ladies are soliciting work at private
houses, receiving, it is said, $4 and $5 for painting a panel picture,
and making a good living at the work. For obvious reasons I do not
enter into the particulars of this method, or even mention the name by
which it is known. That, however, can easily be learned from almost
any photographer, and the searcher for information can then satisfy
herself as to whether the business is worth a trial.
PROFESSIONAL NURSING.
It may not be known to many that, of late years, nursing has come to
be a regular profession. Women are trained to become nurses by going
through a regular course of study in what are called training schools,
and they receive on their graduation a diploma signed by an Examining
Board and a Committee of a Board of Managers. For some women this is
an excellent occupation. The work is rather hard, but the pay is
exceptionally good.
At the present time there are seventeen of these training schools in
the United States. There is one in each of the following cities: New
Haven (Conn.), Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Syracuse (N. Y.),
Washington (D. C.), Burlington (Vt.), and there are three in Boston,
two in Brooklyn (N. Y.), three in New York City, and two in
Philadelphia.
In order to gain admission to any of these institutions certain
conditions of admission have to be complied with. First of all, the
woman must have good health, she must be unmarried or a widow, she
must furnish satisfactory references as to moral character, and have a
fair common-school education. All these are essential prerequisites.
Her age must not be under twenty or over forty-five. In the Boston
schools the rule is between twenty-one and thirty-five; in Brooklyn,
twenty-one to forty; in New York City, twenty-five to thirty-five; in
Philadelphia, twenty-one to forty-five, and in Washington City, the
same as it is in Brooklyn.
Aside from these qualifications, the woman who would enter upon this
employment must have considerable "nerve," for she will be obliged to
witness some very painful sights, and often be called upon to render
assistance in some very dangerous surgical operations. And yet, at
the same time, while possessing the necessary amount of self-control
to go through her duties properly, she must be possessed of that
gentleness, forbearance, and good temper, without which the most
scientific nursing will be of little avail. She may shudder at the
first operation in the hospital, even faint, but that is no sign that
she will not be able to overcome her want of self-control. Some of the
best surgeons have confessed to the same weakness at the beginning of
their professional experience. The nurse will soon get used to seeing
such unpleasant sights, and, as it was the case with the grave-digger
in Hamlet, custom will make her business "a property of easiness."
She, too, will learn that "the hand of little employment hath the
daintier sense."
The pupil, having made her application to the superintendent of the
school, is required to answer, in writing, certain questions; to give
her name; to state whether she is single or married; to give her
present occupation; her age last birthday, and date and place of
birth; her height and weight; to state where educated; to tell whether
she is strong and healthy, and has always been so; whether her sight
and hearing are good; whether she has any physical defects, or any
tendency to pulmonary complaint; if she is a widow, to state if she
has any children, their number, ages, and how they are provided for;
to tell where she was last employed, and how long she was employed,
and to give the names of two persons as references, one of whom must
be her last employer, if she has been engaged in any occupation. And
then she signs her name to the statement, declaring it to be correct.