The times., 1899-07-30

I
mess very much enjoy the work and
make money, but there is Just one thing
l would like to change said Miss Amelia
Clay. the one woman In Greater New YORK.
who owns and manages a barber shop
where only women are employed. Il don't
like my sign"
why. do you know. I actually catch
myself looking the other way when come
| to open up every morning, or when re-
turning from lunch. Yes, indeed. thar
| sign. Lady BARRIERS Only rubs the fur
up the wrong way. and the worst OF II is
that time doesn't appear to ease my pain
why don't change it?'' she exclaimed,
in answer to my question Il don't change
it for the very good reason that would
lose my customers II did, and object to
il on account of that word lady" II has
such a cheap lcok and sound when coupled
with barber shop. But l see you will
never understand until / go back to the
beginning and explain
| When first owned this shop Eve years
ago. my sign read like that of any other
barber, although l then. as now. only en-
ployed women Well. I didn't get many
customers. and things began to look pretty
blue for me, when one day the lawyer
|
from time to time came in for shave and
a hair cut. He enquired about my meth
DDS. etc, and when / told him that en-
ployed only women assistants he was sur
prised. and asked why ! didn't state the
fact in my sign. He insisted that II would
prove an attraction, and said In the pres
ence OF my two assistants|I had only two
| then; | employ twenty-five now: You la
dies mustn't hide your light under a bush
I Advertise fv,1 Ia1
BARRIERS, and III guarantee that In two
months you'll have more than you can do
Inen ne went out, and sat down to
| wait for another customer and to think
over his suggestion As result had a
new sign painted. and It read, Women
BARRIERS Only Employed Instead OF my
customers increasing, there was a decided
falling OF, and near the end of the second
week. when | was almost in despair. an
old sea captain made his appearance in
the shop. He locked about him suspi-
ciously, eyed me and my one assistant
the ether one had been suspended IN
til better times-and finally. taking his
seat instructed me to shave him and do
IL quick | obeyed his orders you may be
sure. for l was not run down from over
! work in those days. and en- that particular
| day he was our first and only customer
After the shave he examined himself In
the mirror, then he walked about the shop
and inspected things pretty much as I'M
agfne he would inspect his own ship Then
ne turned to me and, after a good. long
stare. he demanded:
What made you hang that sign over
your door,
Il explained my reasons as best I could.
| You see. customers were so scarce In those
days that I was glad to overlook even a
little rudeness for the pleasure of having
them in at all. Well the old fellow listen
mo Thnn ~ Fall
staring with his hands stuck deep down
into his pockets Finally he said:
| I'd never take you for bioomin' fooI
from the looks OF you. Don't you know
that man doesn't like woman who calls
herself woman? Why don't you call
yourself lady? You'd never caught me
comm In here for a shave IL the LADY, who
runs the bcardin' house where stop hadn't
told me you was a lady and kept decent
place You can take my word for II. and
! change that sign and you'll draw CD
/, yourself lady, and do honest, clean
/ work
Then he marched out and after a good
cry We held another consultation aud de-
eided to change the sign to read as ycu
now see 1t. II acted almost like mfracls
and before the end of the month was
| really at my wits end about how to at
| tend 10 our customers. You see 7 didn't
want to get in extra help IL our prosperity
was only to be temporary. but | soon de-
eided TO try the experiment. and since then
| have been forced to enlarge the sstab-
| lishment to its present proportions and
we are always busy.
| L learned the business from my uncle
with whom l went to live at the death OF
my parents when / was about twelve years
| old. He was a barber. and | fell into the
| habit Of helping him about his shop be-
| tween hours. Then l undertook regular
work as cashier and bookkeeper. and cne
day during the busy season shaved a
man who was in hurry when there was
no one else at leisure. That was ny first
attempt to use a razor and | think row
it was the luckiest thing which ever nap
pened to me, for when | finished that man
| there was another waiting and then an
other. until I had shaved five, and ell OF
| them insisted on having me. so while I
| still attended to the books il became
known that / could shave when called on,
| and / had a number of regular customers.
| which enabled my uncle to give me some
| little salary besides my board and clothes.
Il had good opportunity OF Earning the
business, and / am glad to say I took ad-
vantage Of ii, and when my uncle died I
was enabled to manage his shop for nearly
two years. Then his wife decided that she
was able 10 take it in hand, so gave up
| and came mere and opened this shop for my
self.
Il don't know that have any customs
or methods different from other BARRIERS
| beyond employing only women My reason
| for that is that I consider them as good and
| often better than men at the business. They
| are cleaner. quicker and less talkative. I
| have never had woman assistant who an
noyed customer by talking but / know
| many of the men employed by my uncle
did. l am never troubled by drunkenness,
smoking, chewing, or the use of profane
| language among my employees. never
knew one of them to come 10 work with
her breath reeking with garlic whisky or
| tobacco. Any self-respscting woman has
natural dislike to making herself repug-
nant.
Which do l prefer as customers. men
or women? All. well: IL is about six of
one and half dozen of the other. There
are pleasant and unpleasant women and
the same can be said Of men. In my hair
dressing parlors, OF course. only women
customers are allowed. and / must say /
have very few complaints from either GUS
toners or employees. There is a young
lady with 4 fad for trying new shades for
her hair, and she occasionally rows with
one of my girls about the way they handle
her hair, which is becoming quite thin,
after she has had the color changed. U "a
not generally known, yet it is a fact. that
dark and light hair cannot be arranged in
the same style with equal becomingness to
the same face. And although this young
woman is ready to change the color OF her
hair to suit the latest fashion, she always
wishes IL dressed after the same style and
fuses when it is not as becoming as she
think II should be.
Yes. We have several gentlemen who
have their hair curled. The majority OF