The times., 1898-10-02
BASKET WEAVING.
An Industry in Which Women Can
Achieve Competency.

~NAAftS oiAN ~ NOIldfi1 one WONDERS
1T was not thought of sooner. The weav-
ing OF baskets seems a commonplace
enough occupation as means of support,
yet 1t seems the discovery was only made
the other day. and by Misses Mabel and
Stella Campbell, two young women
scarcely out of their teens. Miss Mabel.
the elder of the two sisters. is quite en-
thusiastic about her work and gives a
pleasant account of their beginning and
success.
THE idea" she explains first came to
my sister five years ago when she visited
Aiken, s. C. OF course every one who
has been to Aiken remembers the little
baskets woven of pine needles which are
made and brought to the hotels for sale
by the country women. They are simple.
rather pretty and almost useless little re-
ceptacles. but they gave Stella her start
ing point. She visited one of the cracker
women. spent entire day with her and
learned just how the work was done In
fact, she made little basket herself. and
during her stay in Aiken became quite an
expert.
ITO make a long story short, the fol-
lowing year / went out West, the far
West. in the Indian country, as teacher
in the family of a prominent ranchman
There were plenty of Indians around. and
/ saw many beautiful specimens Of their
basket weaving. Christmas l sent Stella
the prettiest one / could find-she had
Just started out here in New York as q
typewriter and didn't like her work one
bit When she wrote. thanking me for
my gift, she suggested that l learn just
how the work was done. l did, and be-
came very much Interested both in the
c11rfu of nd in rasfr
Gus patterns which l really invented.
Just then a friend coming east offered
10 bring any package l might care TO
send. 1t was a fine opportunity, so L
forwarded Stella a dozen baskets of ny
own manufacture and lot of coIored
grass, that she might have a chance OF
trying her hand at weaving something
better than pine needles.
1T was then the first money was made.
My sister combined the Indian and
Southern materials into basket of her
| own designing This she offered TO 4
| fashionable florist, who took il at once
| and paid a good price. OF course, Stella
! followed up this opening wedge. and TO
| such an extent that she soon worked up
| all tEe materials. Naturally when l came
! East with my employers last winter ev-
/ cry available crack and creyice of my
! luggage was filled with the various grass
es used by the Indians in basket weaving.
! Later in season l accompanied the
| family 10 Florida. There / got some
/ new hints on basket making On our way
| North we stopped in Asheville. y. c.,
| and l learned something more. So you
| see when I returned 10 New York and
| found that Stella had lost her position as
| typewriter, her employer having gone to
| the war. it was quite natural for Us to
| think Of basket weaving as a means of
| aar . rnuciHarad +
| ter seriously, consulted several florists,
and received so many orders that We de-
| cided to turn our whole time and atten-
| tion to the work.
DO you think it a field which could be
proitably worked by other women and
| In other towns beside New York? / GER
| tainly do Why, we have already receiv-
! ed twice as many orders as we could
! fill If we attempted TO do all the work
ourselves. A month ago we engaged a
| young woman 10 assist US. OF course she
| did not know how 10 do the work but
| that fault is easily overcome where one is
| willing and painstaking. And as for find
| ing sale for sucn baskets in other cities
| besides New York, 1 am convinced they
| will be in demand wherever flowers or
| fancy candies are sold.
| "One of the largest orders We have
| received is from Washington city Chica-
| go has never heard Of such baskets,
| am sure; neither has Boston nor the dOz-
| ems of other fashionable centers in the
| country. We are only just beginning,
| and, of course, as the capacity of every
| persons handwork is limited, and We
| already have enough orders to keep US
| busy until at least the first of next year,
| it is not likely that we VIII get much
| beyond the limits of New York and
| Washington. 1t is probable, however,
| that We Will take one or two more girls
| in 10 help US when the winter season
| begins.
| q do not think we viii move our
/ 'plant'-you must not call ii a factory,
| because the fact that all our work is
| done by hand is one of its greatest mer-
! its-to New York or any other city We
| have a pleasant little cottage in the
! country. just near enough TO the Adj
| rondacks for US TO enjoy the scenery and
not far enough away from the railroads
| TO make transportation difficult
! I'VE had a call from a party of young
people the other day most of them from
| New York, who were very anxious TO buy
| baskets, but we had none 10 sell All of
| our time is taken up by the orders al
| ready received. One of the girls gave
| me an idea, however, which l may follow
up this winter. She said she would like
| to take a course of lessons in basket
| weaving for the purpose of adding il
| TO her list of accomplishments, along
with lace making, embroidering. etc. She
| asked why l didn't get up a class. and
| offered to speak 10 her friends on the
subject So l am thinking seriously of
| getting up some classes here in New
| York next season.
| You ask if the work is hard" Miss
| Campbell shrugged her shoulders. Il
| have never found any work worth doing
that was not difficult. There is always
some drawbacks. 1t is not so cOnfinina
| as the majority of occupa tons taken uI
by women. 1t does not strain either the
| eyes or the muscles. 1t is clean, and can
be accomplished al home. OF course, en-
gagged in it as extensively as my sister
| and ! are. our work and materials occu-
| py several rooms. But we seldom work
indoors. We sit on the piazza go out in
the woods, and on several occasions have
spent days picnicing on the mountains
Like everything else. it requires to b'
learned, but is not difficult.
THE chief requirement, it appears L
me. aside from the mechanical knowl
edge is the ability to invent new shape
and combine the various straws and col
ors into original designs. For my siste
and l it has proved much more remunera
tive than either teaching or typewritinG
and L could not begin TO tell you hOv
much pleasanter."