How boys and girls can earn money

Preface

When I began writing for the newspapers on this subject of how boys and girls can earn money I was doubtful of the wisdom of my efforts. It was an attractive theme, however, and several editors told me that the feature was one of the most popular in their papers. My fear was that I might stimulate avarice and cause a neglect of wholesome studies and duties by presenting the idea of money making in an alluring way to school children who did not need to aid in the support of themselves or their homes.

After giving due consideration to the matter I found that there were weightier arguments on the other side. I became entirely satisfied that I could perform a service of the highest usefulness and importance by imparting correct information on money earning methods and helping to guide young folks in the right direction.

The majority of people are brought in contact with the commercial side of life by necessity, more or less urgent, at a very early age. Whether it is a pressing necessity or not, every young person should have practical knowledge of how to get on in the world, and such knowledge should come in the school age, before the hour for choosing a vocation arrives.

There is an almost universal desire for money earning and the acquisition of wealth. This needs judicious guidance rather than repression. A total neg-

PREFACE

lect of the subject by teachers and writers is wrong. The wise and helpful course is to direct these impulses and desires along practical paths toward good ends and high ideals.

There are bad ways and good ways of earning money. There are also unworthy purposes in the acquisition of wealth. Assuming that we cannot ignore the common necessity of industrial activity, it is not merely a wise thing but it is something of a mission to help boys and girls to start right and to make the best of their opportunities, instead of allowing them to drift or blunder into any kind of work. Some kinds of labor are better than others for both body and mind. Some are more elevating than others. One class of work pays much better than another, even when moral considerations are balanced. Some jobs may be taken up and laid down without much waste of time. Others need a longer test. Then again, a writer looking into the subject learns of many practical things that a boy or girl will not think of and cannot know about without help or long study and experience. In view of these facts we see that parents and teachers also have a large responsibility in helpfully directing young people to such work.

I have aimed to be practical and to cover a wide range of subjects and conditions. There are suggestions for young people in all walks of life, some of the plans covering city and suburban work and others farm projects. In connection with these methods of earning money there will be a broad train-

PREFACE

ing in domestic duties and even in the responsibilities of citizenship. The experience gained by young people who follow the plans laid down in this work will prove a stepping stone to success, for it will most certainly indicate aptitude and fitness for some permanent vocation.

C. C. BOWSFIELD.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Plans for Ambitious Young People . 1 1

II Odd Ways of Earning Money . . .16

Chapter I

Many young people of both sexes feel the need of earning money as they go through school, or it may be they are compelled to give up schooling in order to support themselves. Thousands of boys and girls in their teens have to bear the burden of contributing regularly to the maintenance of their homes.

In stating these facts and discussing the situation upon which they are based I have little to do v^ith theory. We are dealing with a concrete condition. A majority of young people are face to face with the stern reality of earning a living, or at least of contributing toward family support.

It is one of the most inspiring features of American life that many of the great leaders rose from the ranks of the poor. Their education came through patient application during and after their days of toil. Nothing could be more noble or more praiseworthy than such toil, especially when it is coupled with the

II necessity of aiding parents and brothers and sisters. Circumstances of this kind are very common, and it will pass without argument that the best character and the greatest capacity for usefulness are founded upon the strenuous duties which boys and girls are compelled to face at an early age.

It is best for character development and the building of permanent success not to depend a great deal on sympathy or friendship. It is proper, however, to ask for work and then to give a fair equivalent for the payment received. Young people will find many friends who will strain a point to give them employment, or who will show them where odd jobs of work may be secured. Perhaps boys can find a greater variety of chores than girls can. Usually it is easier for them to hustle around and ask for work. On the other hand, girls have an advantage in being able to do much of their own mending, hat trimming, and similar tasks, and they take naturally to certain lines of domestic work for which boys are not adapted, but which pay very well. Both boys and girls have a good field for earning money in getting subscribers to newspapers and magazines, or in selling books and household articles. Therefore it may be said that the race for success is about even.

No boy or girl need hesitate about going to high school, preparatory school or college because of a shortage of money. At a women's college a canvass was made to ascertain what girls were partly or entirely self-supporting. It was learned that a great many were obliged to earn a share of their expenses in college. A few had no outside means whatever. They w^ere working their way through a full course by taking care of the library, waiting on table, doing odd jobs of clerking or bookkeeping, canvassing for magazines, writing news or short stories, helping at housework, and other occupations. The conclusion was reached that girls had equal opportunities with boys for supporting themselves or piecing out the family income.

There are any number of legitimate plans by which a young person can earn money, especially in a large town, and of course most of the colleges are in good-sized cities. A girl who is familiar with stenography and typewriting has a decided advantage when it comes to earning a little extra money. She has her Saturdays and two or three hours on other days to devote to customers. There are many professional men and small business concerns that require a stenographer and typewriter for an hour or two daily. The pay in such cases is sufficient to meet a girl's living expenses. Sometimes a good student gets employment in doing extra work in the class rooms, such as correcting papers and substituting as a teacher. Occasionally a young woman can earn her college expenses by reading to invalids. One of the encouraging features about this kind of an effort is the general willingness to help deserving young people to work their way through school.

Methods by which boys or young men can earn their way will almost suggest themselves. Clerking during busy hours is a common form of employment among college boys. Some young men do nicely as train hands either on elevated or surface roads. A few get odd jobs of reporting on the daily newspapers. There are numerous chances in a great variety of avocations. It goes without saying that a student of either sex to make a success in this way must have a strong constitution. A delicate person would break down in carrying the double burden. There must be regularity of hours for sleep, meals, employment and recreation. However, any ambitious young person in good health can safely devote two hours a day to writing, clerking, or as helper in almost any line of business, besides giving proper attention to studies. It is also reasonable to undertake a little more than this amount of work on Saturdays, as school studies are not likely to interfere then, and Sunday will afford time for rest.

Every young person should try to have a savings account in some convenient bank. A few dollars put away every year will soon grow into a competence. Young men and women who are earning wages should aim to save ten to twenty per cent, of their incomes. This will make them independent by the time they have reached middle-age. Money at compound interest increases with astonishing speed, and besides giving security to the owner enables him or her to buy a home and make other good investments in due time. It is a serious mistake for boys and girls to become extravagant and spend their earnings without trying to build up a bank account against future emergencies or for investments in valuable property.

Computations showing practical results of a savings accoimt in accumulations of monthly deposits of from one to twenty dollars in one to ten years, when interest is compounded semi-annually at three per cent, per annum.

Monthly Deposit

1 Year

$1

12.19

24.75

37.67

51.00

64.72

139.80

$2

24.39

49.50

75.37

102.03

129.49

279.73

$3

36.58

74.25

113.08

153.06

194.26

419.68

$4

48.78

99.01

150.79

204.11

259.06

559.67

$5

60.97

123.78

188.47

255.13

323.81

699.58

$6

73.17

148.54,

226.20

306.19

388.62

839.58

$7

85.36

173.29

263.90

357.22

453.37

979.52

$8

97.56

198.06

301.60

408.26

518.15

1119.50

$9

109.75

222.81

339.28

459.28

582.91

1259.40

$10

121.95

247.57

376.99

510.33

647.70

1399.38

$11

134.14

272.33

414.70

561.37

712.47

1539.31

$12

146.34

297.10

452.43

612.43

777.28

1679.34

$13

158.53

321.85

490.11

663.47

842.06

1819.30

$14

170.73

346.62

527.82

714.49

906.81

1959.21

$15

182.92

371.37

565.51

765.52

971.57

2099.12

$16

195.12

396.13

603.22

816.58

1036.38

2239.14

$17

207.31

420.90

640.93

867.61

1101.14

2379.07

$18

219.51

445.65

678.62

918.64

1165.91

2519.02

$19

231.70

470.41

716.33

969.70

1230.70

2659.01

$20

243.91

495.18

754.05

1020.75

1295.50

2798.98

Chapter II

The sale of old newspapers and magazines furnishes pin money to not a few boys and girls. Canvass your neighborhood for the privilege of collecting these articles at regular intervals, and people will be glad to save them for you instead of burning them up. Store the papers in your attic or basement until you have enough to make it worth while to sell to a junk dealer.

In a well-known town in the Middle West there is a boy who earns considerable money assisting housekeepers clean house. He is not afraid to work, and people have found out that when he cleans a rug or sweeps a floor, he does it thoroughly. He works nights after school and Saturday forenoons. He reserves Saturday afternoon for his recreation and play-time. He charges lo cents an hour for his time.

Washing windows is the most particular job which this boy has to do. He furnishes his own cloths for this purpose, being careful to use only such as are free from lint. He has learned that he can get the best results by using two kinds of water for cleansing purposes. He uses hot, soapy water in one pail for the first washing. For rinsing he uses hot water into which he has put a tablespoonful of ammonia.

i6

ODD WAYS OF EARNING MONEY I7

Many people leave their flowering plants in their yards each fall to be destroyed by the frost just for the want of a place to put them. A wide-awake boy can make a window box for plants with a very little trouble and almost no expense. A soap-box to which has been nailed four boards about three inches wide and two and a half feet long for standards, is all that is necessary in the way of carpentry. Paint the box green and line it with waterproof paper roofing. The lining, however, is not absolutely necessary. Fill the box with good, rich soil and place it before your customer's sunniest window. The plants may now be taken up and placed in this indoor garden spot, where they will bloom all winter.

The vacuum-cleaning business may be made a profitable one by two boys. Before investing any money in a cleaner, canvass some of the homes in your city or town and secure your customers. From 25 to 40 cents an hour can be charged for cleaning carpets and rugs, according to the size of the cleaner. The cleaner that is run by hand is the best for you to buy as an investment. Two boys will earn a good percentage on the money invested by operating the vacuum cleaner during the hours after school and on Saturdays. It will take one boy to run the cleaner while the other does the cleaning.

Almost every home acquires quite a considerable accumulation of rubbish through the winter and spring months, which for want of better place, is dumped in some out-of-the-way corner of the yard, l8 ODD WAYS OF EARNING MONEY

there to lie until opportunity offers for someone to carry it off to the nearest public dumping ground. Often, boys will be gladly engaged for the job if they ask for the work in time.

It is not absolutely necessary that you have a wheelbarrow or hand cart for this work, as in many cases the homes where you are hired will provide such a convenience ; if not, the rubbish that can not be burned can be carried away in baskets on the installment plan.

The way to go about securing jobs of this kind is to call from door to door and politely ask if there is not some rubbish in the yard that you may remove for a small sum. If your eyes are sharp enough to note unsightly piles of refuse or scattered articles of no account in the yard, before you talk with the occupants of the home, all the better. In that case tell them at once that you should like very much to be permitted to get rid of such rubbish (pointing it out), and that it will cost only lo cents (or whatever your estimated price may be).

I would advise boys and girls who are looking around for openings to make money to visit first of all farmers who have a variety of products, including vegetables, berries, orchard fruits, poultry and dairy cows. Such a place will have plenty of work for extra hands all summer. If young people show that they are determined to be useful to their employers they will get an unlimited amount of choring to do.

Boys and girls have been known to clean up considerable money by making labels for canned fruits and vegetables. This is a simple piece of work, but it is sometimes very vexatious to a housekeeper who is driven with manifold cares. It is possible to secure gummed paper at the stores which deal in such goods. This paper can be cut into the desired sizes and the lettering made either with pen and ink or a rubber stamp. The work is as enjoyable as a game and can be done in the evening or at odd times.

Nearly all women have use for such labels and would be willing to pay a fair price for having a supply of them. If boys and girls will make a few samples and go around the neighborhood showing them they will readily secure a great many orders. If it is not convenient to get gummed paper the gumming can be done with ordinary mucilage. Use sheets of paper about letter size and put on the mucilage before cutting up for labels. Any fair quality of paper will do and there may be different colors.

If a young person can find a pretty large neighborhood, either in town or country, where there is no competition it might pay to buy a cheap printing press for making labels. Of course the work can be done rapidly and cheaply with such facilities. If the work is done with a pen care must be taken to have neat lettering.

One girl, of many bright ideas, solved the spending money question by applying for the work of making the school posters for advertising ball games, debates, entertainments, and similar events. This work was usually let out to a local printer. But she volunteered to work out clever, novel ideas and to make up really striking posters for advertising purposes. Some of her classmates were a bit skeptical as to her ability, but they finally agreed to let her try her hand. She worked hard at the posters, and succeeded so well that she won the commendation of the whole community. Her work helped the school as well as herself ; for the good posters advertised the school affairs so well that the attendance was larger than usual, and she had no difficulty in securing all the work of that kind for the entire school. Moreover, the posters were so attractive that many of her fellow-students desired copies for their rooms or dens, and she was almost overwhelmed with orders.

A boy who needs to earn money in order to help the family or to pay his school expenses should hunt up a few regular customers who will give him jobs. There are people both in town and country who can furnish such employment. City housekeepers or tradesmen need extra help on Saturdays or for an hour or two in the morning or evening.

The youth might write out a list of jobs that he could give time to and then make a canvass to see who would employ him. There are many people who would be glad to hire a boy for the whole w^inter to keep their walks clean.

In order to gain some regular customers for this work, a boy should make house-to-house calls, notice the walks about each place he would be required to keep clean, and name the price for each cleaning, charging from ten to twenty-five cents according to the length of walks and depth of snow. But as promises should always be kept, do not secure too many customers, for each one must be cared for properly. Different people have different kinds of work, and a little effort will secure a number of customers.

Many girls like to do fancy work, but I wonder how many have found out that the art of practical darning is quite as fascinating! No doubt most girls have followed it in designs on linen and found it enjoyable and interesting; but when applied to stockings or underwear it seems such a homely accomplishment that perhaps many have not thought, or cared, to acquire it, yet it holds good earning possibilities. That the mother of a family where there are several pairs of restless little feet to clothe would appreciate help in this line goes without saying. But the most profitable of this work is found in the darning of silk hose and underwear. Many society ladies, as well as busy working w^omen and girls, would gladly pay a good price to have this work done satisfactorily. It is the doing of anything satisfactorily that brings desired results. A silk garment of good quality can be made almost as good as new by careful darning in time, and a great many cannot afford to cast them aside without mending.

In choosing work, it is always wise to select something that is really necessary — indispensable, if you can manage to get hold of it. If you can make something that people are obliged to use every day you will, of course, find a more ready sale for your work. Darning hose may not be an absolute necessity for many women and girls, yet as a matter of economy it will appeal to the wise one — and the majority have to practice economy. A goodly number may feel that they can afford to wear a good quality of silk hose and undergarments, but not many feel that they can discard them while the greater portion is still whole and good; neither have they time, perhaps, to do the darning themselves. How welcome, then, is the deft darner — how necessary — and how wilhngly she is paid the modest sum asked for the service. Any city girl can find plenty of darning to occupy her spare hours, and she need not often go beyond the limit of her friends and acquaintances.

Chapter III Selling Lists Of Names

There is an opportunity in every city and village, and all through the country districts, for boys and girls to earn money in connection with the universal campaign of bankers to promote thrift and encourage saving.

For some years banking organizations everywhere have been trying to educate young people in habits of economy. They do this in a public-spirited way, for they realize that it is a national necessity. At the same time they naturally and properly gain some benefit from the effort. It helps the business of savings banks, but far more it helps the fortune and character of those who come under the influence of the movement.

Thousands of boys and girls are needed in this work and they can earn quite a large sum every year by reporting to bankers who are most directly interested the names of young people who have no savings account. That is all the work involved. It is not a difficult thing to find out what children or young men and women in a community fail to exercise the saving habit. The names and addresses are what bankers are willing to pay for.

24 SELLING LISTS OF NAMES

The price paid for name lists varies, according to circumstances.

Nearly all savings banks supply money receptacles and printed matter to all probable patrons and will push a telling campaign to promote saving as soon as they get the names. In a farming community the work may have to be confined to school districts if others are doing the same thing, but in a village or city a young person making such reports will naturally be allowed to get the names wherever they can be found. The banks will not pay for duplicates.

A boy or girl who takes up this task should make and keep a complete list of those in the town or neighborhood who have savings accounts, and another list of those who have not started to save. These lists will change from year to year and will be in demand many times. Such lists will be useful in more ways than one. They will have a large money value to the person owning them, and instead of being useless after the first report they will become more valuable as time goes on, provided the necessary changes are made.

The same list of names that bankers desire will also be useful to merchants, especially dealers in toys, games, and many other articles for young people. While the work is honorable and useful it would not be right to sell the information to more than one banker in a town, but there are several classes of business people who are not in competition that will be glad to buy the lists.

Business people who send goods by mail, including

SELLING LISTS OF NAMES 25

merchants, publishers and others, are constantly looking for new lists of names, and always pay well for them. When a boy or girl is making up a list of those who do not have savings accounts it is easy to make still another list of families in the community to whom merchants would like to send circulars or announcements of some kind. These lists also grow in value, and when a young person is known to have them in good shape there will be frequent calls for them, with an assured gain in earnings every year. About once a year they can be sold to merchants in the neighborhood, for even in a farming community a single year brings many changes. Lists of names to be worth buying must be accurate, and hence it is necessary to keep them up to date.

Any intelligent boy or girl twelve years old or more who lives in a country district can get into this business of furnishing names and do well at it, if the field is not already occupied. Political candidates almost every year wish the names of all voters in a township and pay liberally for accurate lists. Insurance agents, real estate dealers, mail order houses, grocers, painters, carpenters, masons, and business people generally will gladly buy these same lists. There is really a tempting opportunity along this line, and it costs little or nothing to make the effort.

Chapter IV

A YOUNG woman now attending an eastern college turned her domestic science course taken in the public schools into a trip to Europe. Every Saturday morning she baked cakes, pies and doughnuts which she sold to neighbors who were regular customers. They were only too glad to encourage her in this enterprise, as well as to have the wholesome home-cooked food she prepared. During her summer vacations she embroidered underwear and sold the articles at the regular retail prices for such garments. Hers is a case in which knowledge of the plain and homely arts led to an opportunity for culture and a broader education which will be a life-long benefit.

One Maine boy is working his way through college by selling apples. His home is near enough to a college town so that he can make deliveries of fruit on Saturdays. Each Saturday morning he loads the market wagon with apples and drives to the neighboring city. By selling directly to the consumer he realizes big profits. Instead of selling at the stores for 50 cents a bushel he sells at dwellings and receives $1 to $1.50. A net profit of from $5 to $10 is realized on every load marketed. Not only does he sell apples, but poultry and eggs, sausage, butter and other supplies that he is able to procure at home or in the neighborhood. He says that farmers lose a lot by not marketing their own produce and that many articles which are wasted or fed to the stock would bring a good price if sold to private customers in town.

With simple homemade apparatus, any boy or girl can place initials or designs on tumblers and other glassware, and do it in such a manner that the work will compare favorably with that of professional glass engravers.

The only apparatus required is a wooden box about 8 inches by 5 inches by 12 inches with the bottom removed and one end hinged. On the inside, four strips of thin wood are nailed, so as to form two one-eighth inch grooves, exactly opposite each other. Two heavy rubber bands with small wire rings attached to them are fastened to one side by staples. On the other side of the box are two small tacks on which to fasten the rings.

The tumbler or glass piece to be engraved is prepared by pasting a piece of heavy paper on it, with the design or initial cut in it. Then the shape of the glass is cut with a sharp knife on a piece of heavy cardboard large enough to fit into the groove. When this cardboard piece is slipped into the groove in the box, place the glass in the hole, keep it in position by the rubber straps, and you are ready to begin the engraving.

Be sure that the surface of the glass inside the box,

28 USING TALENT IN PROFTTABLE WAYS

that is not to be engraved, is covered with paper. Then put into the box a few tablespoon fuls each of lead shot and powdered emery. Both of these may be procured at any hardware store for a few cents. Shut down the cover and holding on to it, shake the box vigorously to and fro, for some time. When you remove the glass, you will find, on peeling off the paper, that the design or initial has been ground into the glass by the action of the emery and the lead shot. As you shake, the emery is imbedded in the lead, forming numerous sharp pointed balls which, knocking against the glass, grind the design or initial on its surface. One filling of lead shot and emery will do for an indefinite number of engravings.

Glass engraving could easily be made to furnish pocket money for any boy or girl. A little booth with several boys or girls equipped with the necessary apparatus, would prove an attraction at a church fair. If it was advertised beforehand, your friends could bring their glassware to be engraved.

A boy or girl can earn pin money by making and selling mucilage. Here is a formula for an excellent mucilage : Soft water, three ounces ; gum arable, one ounce; glycerin, one- fourth of an ounce. The gum arable and glycerin can be purchased at a druggist's for about 5 cents if you furnish the bottles. Pour the three ingredients into a common vessel, such as a small tin pail, set the vessel on a stove and stir them well with a stick while they heat. When they are well mixed put the solution into a large bottle and keep the latter corked so that the mucilage will not thicken by exposure to the air. If it does thicken, hot water will thin it.

By using the above proportions a larger quantity of mucilage may be made in the same manner at one time. Before you are sure of your trade it will be best not to make up more than double the quantity named, which will furnish you with sufficient liquid for eight one-ounce bottles. These will usually sell at 5 cents each, bringing in, for eight bottles, 40 cents, with an outlay of about 12 cents, including bottles.