New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-05-05
For the Right Woman There
Is No Business That
Pays Better.
BY Mary Marshall.
CHAPTER XIV.

answer OF q nan uoLcI ~
when asked to give their advice as to the
best way for a young woman TO train her
self for the millinery profession-one OF the
three or four most lucrative occupations at
present open to women
The above statement does not mean that
milliners do not have TO go through a GER
tain course Of training, but It dos mean
that unless a woman has an Unborn. unmis-
taxable taste and aptitude for millinery all
the training in all the millinery training
schools in the world and dozens Of years
OF apprenticeship under the foremost mil
liners of New York, London or Paris would
not make her worth anything as millinery
designer.
Therefore. II your daughters desire 70
become a milliner is not backed up by an
already displayed ability to trim hats, don't
be disappointed II she comes back to you
after a few Years effort to win out as
nilliner convinced that there Is neither
hone Of success nor money in millinery.
Rut ~ she really has the artistic Anack of
hat trimming. together with good health
and perseverance. wait patiently; IN a Re"
wears she NAV be earning more than her
brothers.
ono OF inc DtSt tillirH ''''' N'''.
ton IS that the training for 1t need cost
nothing. for experienced mill'ners now IN
business seem to think that the best way
for n young woman TO begin her millinery
career is 10 start In rs an apprentice.
This apprenticeship. If possible. should
be served in a large city, either In It millln-
cry shon or in the millinery workroom OF
= dcpar,rant store II IS fact, I'm New
York city at least that good milliners APP
rrantic,s are not easy 10 find; so. whereas
sono OF the famous Fifth avenue millinery
sboos arc aLlo to get the services OF ap-
rrtutl - without paying for them, most OF
,ga shops ofer an inducement of 81 or 80
wcel; - their apprentices. The very fact'
however. that the larger. more famous MIL
Iucry snoys need pay no wage 10 their ap-
r-c1ticcs whereas the less renowned es-
Establishments have 10 offer such an induce
rnont. is perhaps sufficient proof Of IN" fact
tat the bigger. better known shop. f pos
,'blo. is the best for your daughter to begin
her training in.
The uo.pay apprenticeship. such as is
offered i'm one Of the fashionable millinery
shops I'm New York, IS not the sort OF up
hill struggle YOU might suppose. An sp-
UTrDtlTP WHO is nai'l even n SioiA' ''''S' -
sInDoscd TO run errands. answer telephone
calls. carry bundes-in short earn her
wage. But the no-pay apprentice is looked
! upon moro as a pupil than as an employe'
The cmployer-the madam as the woman
who rlins her own millinery shop IL usually
called by her employes-is IN duty oouno
10 give her no-pay apprentices good deal
Of hclr aud direction in payment for the
| services they give her.
| The hours Of work for the apprentice are
usually from . TO 5 o'clock six days week
| long hours. 20 be sure. for the young
woman who has been used 10 the leisure or
! her own home: but every hour spent IN THIS
! work is lust so much more knowledge
! gained Besides that, the young woman
! who is not able 70 stand the strain OF work
| ing long hours a. stretch Will prooaory
never make financial success OF this eN-
acting profession. and the sooner she finds
It out the better.
The best time Of year 70 start in on an
apprenticeship is either I'm the late sum-
mor or the late winter. when the millinery
| season is the busiest and the milliners are
| really anxious to get more hands at work
| Usually the millinery employer can tell In a
week or so-a month at the most-whether
or not an apprentice has anything in her
that can be developed into a good mtlliner,
and 20 keep young woman not so gifted
al work In the millinery shop is waste OF
timo-and therefore money-for the milliner
a. we'll as for the apprentice. So an I'M
successful apprenticeship generally ter
inmates quickly.
| Suppose you cannot afford TO give your
daughter eight or nine months no-pay ap-
prenticeshlp-which, though II costs nothing
for tuition. means. II you do not live in the
| city where the daughter is studying. four or
| five hundred dollars outlay for board and
| expenses them
There are pay apprentice positions in all
! except the most renowned OF the millinery
shops. az we'll as In the workrooms OF the
department stores. where the beginner gets
three or four or FIVE dollars a week wages
! In such a position she may have TO spend
| two or three years. perhaps, TO get as much
| training In actual designing as she would
] in no-pay apprenticeship, and she will
| have TO perform many tasks, perhaps,
which do not seem TO her to bear any direct
relation to the millinery business. Besides
| having to run errands, she will be called
| upon 10 trot back and forth from the work
room to the salesroom and stockroom,
wait on the full nedged designers. and only
occasionally get a lesson in the art OF hat
| trimming.
Your daughter, il she secures a pay
| apprenticeship. may feel like resenting
these duties. But even the most disagree
able OF theu-running errands-is good
training. For by going TO the wholesale
houses she will learn valuable lessons in
buying that the no-pay apprentice. in the
| secluded workroom OF q fashionable shop,
may never have n chance TO learn.
If your daughter does prove to be a gifted
millinery designer-and surely you will not
| be short-sighted enough to start her In as
an apprentice unless you feel confident that
she has the making of a mlliner in her
what will the months or even two or three
years spent In training in a millinery shop
| lead to?
| II she does not intend TO start small
millinery establishment in her own town
granting she is from some minor centre
she may proftably remain In the big city
| OF her training. Unless she has remarkable
ability and a certain following OF possible
IN Lon