Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-16
TYPEWRITER GIRL MUST
DROP FRIVOLOUS TRAITS
ALL FROM GUM TO RIBBONS ARE
BARRED
Business Mems Objections to Softer
Sex's PecuIlarities Work Hard
ships on Maidens Going from
School to Office

CHICAGO, Oct. 15.-The young woman
employed will have to take tuck in her
manners If she wishes to earn the prince
ly sum of $50 month pounding type
writer. She must renounce frivolity.
br eak herself of matinee girl habits and,
in costume and demeanor, be as business
like as a time clock.
Here are some of the sections of the
code by which she must live:
No mastication of the cracking chicle
during office hours. Gum chewing dur
ing a slump in the stock market is to
captain of industry like red flag to a
bull.
No adornment of the Marcel ripples
with bows of ribbon. The master of men,
who makes out the salary list, has no
sympathy with the ingenue pose.
No giggling within earshot of the en-
ployer, or of any of his slaves. 1t gives
an heir of gayety to the solemn business
of knitting the competitor. N. B.-The
cue to laugh is when the boss makes his
famous joke about the weather.
No sauntering about the streets during
the noon hour without a hat. 1t smacks
of the young ladies' seminary.
No wearing of lingerie shirtwaists. 1t
distracts the attention of the men in
the office.
Keep silk hosiery carefully concealed
Reasons obvious.
Submerge All Frivolity
There are many other rules in the code,
but these will suffice. The sum and sub-
stance of the regulations is that the typi-
cally feminine traits should be SUBJ
merged and the masculine emphasized,
If the young lady employed wishes to
compete with men in the vortex of busi-
ness life
The existence of this new set of unwrit-
ten laws was revealed by Charles r. Bar
rett who conducts the Barrett shorthand
school in the Majestic theater. In ad-
dltion to instructing his students in the
technique of taking dictation verbatim
and transcribing it upon the typewriter,
Mr. Barrett and his staff of teachers
warn all of the young women against the
deadly habit of gum chewing and the
mistaken policy of hair ribbons and other
frills of the girl who is about to make
her debut as a wage Garner.
1t was recorded that one of Mr. Bar
rett's pupils had left the school because
she was told that a ribbon on the crown
of glory was not business asset. When
asked for his ideas upon this subject and
other matters pertaining to the new code,
Mr.. Barrett said:
There is a good business principle in
VOlNeQ IN the SldHQ lIdL L nave ldhtHt
one which any business man will appre-
ciate. We find that we have difficulty in
placing stenographers who chew gum,
and have other silly habits, in good
positions The more businesslike the
young woman, in her personal conduct,
the better is her chance of securing and
holding a position.
Hair Ribbons Are Fatal
,.;l, ct
first glance seem trivial, but l have a
sound reason for it. The habit Is well
enough for school girls and misses whose
skirts have not yet been heightened, but
no employer wants to see around his Of
flee typist who looks as If she ought to
be in grammar school. The hair ribbon
Is too feminine, too youthful and we
warn our girls against 1t.
"Gigglng in the halls and elevators and
running about the streets during the
luncheon hour without a hat are other
things which are harmful to a young
woman in business. and we do not want
our girls to contract these habits. They
lessen their wage-earning powers, and we
take the pains to point out that fact to
them.
"I know that the employers of Chicago
do not want stenographers whose dress
and mannerisms are not in keeping with
the atmosphere of business life. believe
that my efforts to improve the efficiency,
discipline and appearance of our gradu-
ates are appreciated by the men with
whom they have been placed If more
of the young women working in down
town offices understood these things it
would be benefit to all concerned"
Mr. Barrett's anti-gum. anti-ribbon
manifesto caused much comment in edu-
cational circles yesterday. The fashion
experts were agreed that gum chewing
was not dainty habit and that the hair
ribbon ought to be tabooed for girls over
H. But whether the rules will be adopted
| in schools that are not strictly business
colleges is dubious.
Others Bar Gum Chewing
| Mrs. Ella F. Young, principal of the
| Chicago Normal school, admitted that