Part 1

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WORK FOR WOMEN

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.