Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1897-06-10

had deposited her funny looking satchel
under the table "to answer the first of
your questions, l am selling the bustles
because it Is my business TO do so. l am
woman drummer. am doing what we
call hustling up trade, so that when l
come through again next week / can sell
my wares
~ am drummer, she went on, laugh
ing at my wondering face, "who intro
duces novelties Every year some manu-
facturer gets out something new 'on a
spec, and | am the one that brings them
before the public. l am the advance agent,
so To speak, of the drummer.
Tell me about it, said /, as myst1ed
as a newspaper woman ever allows herself
to be
"Wen, +" said my drummer friend, 81
will give you an example. Suppose a
manufacturer has patented new shoe
fastener He wants to get IL on the mar
ket He sends his drummers TO the deal
err The dea4er says, We have no call for
a new shoe fastener, and he refuses to
buy it. And the manufactures must either
place his own agent in the store TO talk
it up to shoppers or almost give away the
goods the first year To avoid doing this
he sends me out as his advance agent.
JuSl nOW am iIdNGllHB lOT HTIl
that is making bustles. The tendency is
buStleward, hut women are not buying
them yet. They do not ask for them, and
dealers will not purchase anything that is
not called for Here comes the work of
NJ. Scoville.
At this she whipped out neat slip of
cardboard with:
MISS MINNIE SCOvH4LE,
For Whalebone & Co.
Bustles.
Il create u demand for bustles. When
you saw me, was on my rounds in the
X building In one hand / had list of
all the offices where more women were en-
ployed than men. AS soon as l got inside
an office | buttonholed the first woman
and proceeded to show her samples of
bustles There are six little ones in this
bag, and, of course, l wear one L show
the women my hustle and allow them to
punch me on the back, crumple me up,
twist me around and do pretty much as
they please.
''Then l shake myself out and show
them how admirably my skirt hangs with
the hustle to support it, They ask where
they can buy such bustles, and / say at the
stores of A, B., G. and d., mentioning
merchants that buy of me- A week later
call there and offer them my bustles OF
course they have had orders for them-six
girls inquired for bustles in one day-and
they order 500 or 5000 from me, accord
ing to the size of the stock they carry.
This is the way l create demand for
bustles. Queer, isn't itY" said She land
the queerest thing about 1t is the odd
times one has out selling them Take your
case, for instance. / must have got the
floors mixed, and If you hadn't been there
should have found myself, from force of
habit, talking up my hustle samples to a
sedate lawyer
Are there many in your businessS"
asked.
Do you mean in the drumming bust
nvssY No, not as many as you would sup
pose from the money there is in it. Last
year there were only 40 successful women
drummers Twice that number started
out, but either got sick or grew tired of
the work. 1t is hard. You travel all
uight and talk all day, but you can do it
If you know how to spare yourself. / can
drum from May till May, from the Port
lands of Maine and Oregon to the lakes
and the gulf, without stopping off a day
except Co sell goods, but you see l know
what to cat and what to let alone on tho
road, and | ldcrstand how to drop asleep
on train and wake up fresh and ready to
talk without waiting for nights sleep
To refresh me- Louisville Courier Jour.
nal