The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's WorkPenny, Virginia
General
The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work
Penny, Virginia
Women -- Employment
=101. China Merchants.= This business is peculiarly appropriate to
women. Who so well able to handle china as careful women? Who so well
able to judge what will look well on a table? It comes so entirely
within their province, that the mind readily suggests the
appropriateness. In Paris, most, if not all the china stores are kept by
women. A lady china-dealer, on one of the avenues, told me that she
sells considerable at night to working women, who cannot spare the time
to go shopping in the day; also, to ladies living in cross streets near,
who go out walking in the evenings with their husbands, and call to buy
articles in her line. It does not require as many attendants in a china
as in any other kind of store. A girl is more careful and steady, and
can dust china better than a boy; but a boy answers best to take china
home. She sells most about the holidays. It takes time to learn the
business well. In an Eastern city, two ladies stood in their father's
store, and so learned the business. They married brothers, and each
opened china stores, which they attended, while their husbands engaged
in other business. They are both widows now, but have raised and
educated their children. A son and son-in-law of one conduct the
business. They employ saleswomen, paying from $5 to $8 a week. They are
now in search of two intelligent young women, from fifteen to eighteen
years of age, to grow up to the business. They require a little more
readiness in arithmetic, tact, and general business qualifications than
they can easily meet with. From their experience they judge the
employment to be healthy. A lady in a large china store on Broadway, New
York, receives $5 a week. A lady in another store told me that lifting
crockery causes quite a strain on the back, and should be done by men. A
person gets very dusty who attends china. It requires lifting and
dusting, and now and then must be washed--always when first taken out of
the crate. Mrs. L. and her husband are English, and have been brought up
to the business. She sells most about Christmas. She is on her feet all
the time. To learn the names of all the articles sold in a large store,
and their prices, and to exercise care in handling, requires patience. A
china merchant writes: "Women are generally paid less than men. There is
a difference of from $10 to $40 per month in favor of men, because (with
few exceptions) women are not so well qualified to do business as men.
It would take from six to eight months to learn to sell china. A clear
head, common sense, and activity are the qualifications needed. Women
are not more likely to be thrown out of employment than men, if as well
qualified." A lady told me, the china is a slow business and seldom pays
more than twenty-five per cent., but is a sure business for the cheaper
kind of goods. The profit is not so much as for fancy articles of
ladies' wear; but less is lost from the change of style. China
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