Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1915 — Gotham Girls Find New Ways of Making Money [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Gotham Girls Find New Ways of Making Money

NEW YORK. —Some of the young women who work their way while studying in this city have found new fields for earning more money than the women employed along regular lines. “1 am a visiting bootblack,” declared

a young western girl who occupies a flat on the upper West side. “Yes, I do other things besides blacking boots, but it was that particular branch of my trade which attracted attention and got me my clientele. I mend and clean gloves and renovate the wardrobes of men, women, children and dogs. My clients all admit that it was the bootblack that attracted them. Women hate to go to a bootblack and sit in their high chairs while they have shoes polished. I learned this

from one woman, so I had some cards printed which read: “Visiting bootblack and valet.’ Then I went to prosperous-looking apartment hotels, and after finding out the names of the residents, sent up my card.” Across the hall in the same flat house live three more girls who are working their way. One is from Pennsylvania, one from Texas and the third from up state. “I clean parlors,” said the New York girl. “I suppose you might call me a visiting parlor maid, for that is just what I am. There are many ladies who live in apartment hotels who, while they cannot afford to keep a personal maid, are willing to pay someone to come once a week to give their rooms a thorough cleaning. There I come in.” The girl from Pennsylvania found her field in the apartment houses with kitchenettes as a cook and general houseworker. She has all the work she can do, and declares that she is well paid for it. “My work is buying and selling secondhand lace and jewelry,” the girl from Texas admitted. “I didn’t originate the work. It might be called an inheritance. I make a good living out of it”