Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-07
SUITORS PAY FOR
HER TROUSSEAU
UNIQUE SCHEME OF MAMIE
STEPHAN
Sends Out Her Photos Stamped "a
Want a Husband"-Four Thousand
Fools Respond With Stamps.
Gets $1,000 in Four Months

BALTIMORE, Nd, Oct. 6.-Mamie
Crider, a handsome young Baltimore
woman, made her suitors pay for her
| trousseau, for the furnishing of her
fiat, for her honeymoon trip, and the
rent of the fiat for months-and she
has been forgiven, or at lease white
washed by the postoffice department.
Mrs. Crider was married recently.
and despite the fact that over 1000
suitors in all parts of the United States
mourned, she is happy and content in
est, cutest, little fiat in all Baltimore"
which they were assessed to pay for,
although they did not know it.
The story of Mamie Steppan-who is
now Mamie Crlder--is hidden in the
records of the postoffice department,
and it forms one of the romances Of the
mail order business.
The girl, young, pretty, clever, was
employed by big mail order house in
Baltimore at small salary, and she
was engaged to be married to Harry
Crider, clerk who had but a small
salary. They had been engaged for
nearly year-until she was IS and he
was nearly 20-when the young man
grew despondent and blue, fearing that
they never would accumulate enough
money to start housekeeping.
Threatened to Run Away
1t was after that heart to heart talk,
In which Crlder threatened to run
away to the gold fields, or to war and
at some bold stroke earn riches enough
to support wife, that Mamie hit up
on. an idea.
The girl was in charge of the mailing
of certain sets of circular letters to
customers in all parts of the country,
M
had unused herself by writing her name
and her home address upon the blank
margins at the bottom of the circular
letters. In half the cases in which she
had done this idly she had received let
ters from the men who received the
clrculars-letters that plainly indicated
a desire to know more of the girl who
wrote so well and whose name and adj
dress had been so mysteriously append
ed to the business circulars. Mamie
laughingly observed that every man
who wrote inclosed a stamp for reply.
So when Harry grew Respondent AFTER
repeated failures to get a raise In SAL
airy or TO find some work that would in
crease his revenue, the girl hit upon on
idea.
Her beauty had attracted the atten-
tion of a photographer who made a
business of printing art postal cards
eral art studies Of her which were re-
produced on the souvenir cards and
placed on sale at newsstands and else
where. Even among the renowned
beauties, society women and actresses,
the fresh, springlike beauty of tho
young mail order girl attracted atten-
ton, and her photographs found
ready sale.
Sent Prints of Photographs to 500 len
So, when her great idea popped into
her mind, she went to this Photograph
er and he agreed for a nominal sum to
print her 500 cards with her photograph
on them. Also she had made a rubber
stamp. which said:
IT want husband Mamie Steppan. -
This was followed by her address in
Baltimore. and the following day the
girl, a little nervous and doubtful of
the propriety OF her act, began TO
stamp her startling declaration on the
bottom OF the circular letters that she
sent out during the daytime
Two days later a flood of replies be-
gan to pour In and they continued for
week. In almost every letter was a
stamp-sometimes cents In stamps,
sometimes even 10 cents. to pay for the
postage of q photograph. In the first
effort she realized $500 In five days.
The success Of her venture which Just
doubled her salary, frightened her, and
she did not use the rubber stamp for
over a week, during which she re-
eeived only a few scattering letters.
Then, one day, she put her stamp on
700 letters and received 1882 replies, con-
tanning $40 In stamps, OF those let
ters. which, Of course, all We're deliv-
cred at her home, 317 tof the men each
declared that he was the man she