The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-02-26
In WOMAN'S BEHALF.
WOMEN AS DESIGNERS.

4lv NO4n1l4v ~ DLllAlLl
WOMEN AS DESIGNERS.
An Employment which IL Remunerative ~
Well AS Pleasant.
Eight years ago 1 wished to become
4 designer for carpets, having made mp
my mind to the effect by seeing an ugly
carpet, and wondering why more beau
tif,tl ores could not be made"
The speaker was lady who has taken
mp practical designing as means Of
support As at present the most val
uable gift which can be bestowed on
woman is something to do which they
can do well and worthily and thereby
maintain themselves" any one who has
opened an avenue that offers profita-
BILE and adapta BILE employment for wom-
en- must have something to say that is
and probably helpful to 9TH
ers. by her own personal research and
labor this woman obtained the practical
know ledge necessary to enable her to
compete with men in technical educa-
ton III art and design. She visited
representative factory OF nearly every
art industry In the United States, study
Ing in each the technicaiities Of the ma
chincry and practical requirements of
The design of various industries, thus
qualifying herself for the work she had
chosen.
Many women Of refined taste and good
general artistic culture waste their
energies and health in the vain endeavor
to make decorations upon silk, satin,
Christmas and Easter cards, panels and
plaques, reasonably profitable, who
might easily perfect themselves in some
one Of the many forms Of industrial de-
sign, and thus secure steady income.
''Will you give me some idea of the
opening that seems to You to exist in
this direction for employment for wom-
emp" was question put to the wom-
an mentioned.
1T is one Of the best openings for
feEnnerative; |. is easy work; it is as
easy rs for lady to sit down and paint
for her own amusement There is de-
mand for patterns which can not be
filed by the designers already in this
country. Almost every manufacturer
of any consequence sends abroad for
hundreds, and some for thousands, of
dollars worth of patterns yearly.
These designs are brought from Eng
land, Scotland, France and all over Eu-
rope. Manufacturers send men over
there, pay their expenses and pay for
the designs. These designs could be
made as well in our own country and
by women. Designs are needed for
other industries-for instance, stained
glass, rugs, marbles, tiles, tablecloths,
calicoes, towels, repoussc work in sill
yer, gold, brass and copper, designs for
furniture. gas fixtures--almost anything
you look at that is ornamental. is made
in this country, and there is demand
for designs Some factories require
more than others.
"As to remuneration, frst-class de-
signer for body Brussels will receive
about $4,000 to $1,000 year. An in
grain designer receives less, or about
81. 500. A moquette designer receives a
little more than body Brussels de-
signcr. Six thousand dollars is good
salary for any designer for any purpose.
These salaries of course, apply only to
the most skillful workers. In one car
pet factory in this city, for instance,
they have one man designer, and under
him anywhere from fourteen to sixteen
men and boys. The boys are employed
at the rate of about S3 a week when
they begin. AL they have to do is to
grind colors. If they are at all compe-
tent they get to copying, that is, with
simple patterns. They are then paid
from 81 to $40 week. Laying on the
ground is the next step; and finally they
work on the higher patterns if they
have taste. by that time they have
picked up great deal from seeing others
work, and finally become designers
themselves. That is the way men be.
come designers.
For young women school for teach
ing technical designing has been estab
lished within the last few years. The
course of instruction extends over two
years. Geometrical arrangement. the
DRAWING of flowers and adapting them
to simple designs-that is-prints, etc,
The technicalities are simple. The sec
ond year the technicalities Of machinery
and designing for all frabrics upoI
which the design is brought to the sur
face by the jacquard loom; tablecloths
carpets, silk, or any fabrics in which
design is brought to the surface. In
struction is given by lectures; for in
stance, lecture may be given on in
grains. The machinery is explained a
well as the requirements for maxim,
| the design, even to the minutcst details
Only one kind of fabric, or one kline
OF industry, is given at time.
"As 10 the demand for designers
there are frcn seventy-five to one hun
dred carpet factories in this country
Some of these employ only one or tw'
designers and buy many outside designs
others employ fifteen to sixteen. TWEEN
/ ty would be large number of design
ers for any one carpet firm to employ
| When you come to silk, wall paper an
/ other industries, it is about the same
Designs are in demand for tides, plan
and table covers or similar articles mad
by machinery, for which the usua
weekly salary for designers is twenty
five dollars Then the furniture trad
takes great many designers To de
sign for furniture, however, one mus
be somethin6of joiner and understan
carpentering. You might make . bea'
tiful design. say for dressing case, bu
you must make practical working d.
sign as well, drawn to scale.
Il know very little about the salarle
earned by young women as designer
A young girl Of fourteen, while studyin
this art, sold two designs, one for 8
the other for SO. She also received tn
twenty dollar prize offered at tn
school. Two other young women, on
| designer. the other colorist, recels
salaries Of $40 and Sis respectively. =
N. Y. Star.
Women and Matrimony.
II would seem that woman is
fayorite with the Lord, and that ther
fore he has made more OF that kim
From the order of the creation in Par
disc it is evident that woman IS an IN
proved edition Of man. But whatey'
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