The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-08-14
True Stories of Successful Women
BY Edith Mor1arty

If you should ask some of New
Yorks fashionable Fifth avenue
modistes who Miss Jane Teasdale is
they would probably shrug their Shout
ders or ponder moment and then tell
you that they thought she was a
wealthy spinster from the west who
did her shopping in New York" or else
she was "a good customer who GER
tainly knew how to dress" Little did
they guess, these shrewd shopkeepers,
the real status of the smartly gowned
woman whom because of her gray hair
and stately bearing they all took to be
a middle-aged spinster of "one of our
oldest and wealthiest families"
For it was Jane Teasdales very de-
ceiving appearance which had raised
her from a twelve-dollar a week job
in a laundry to her unique position
which paid her ten times that amount.
Jane started to work in a laundry in
a large town in the west when she was
a very young girl. She was tall,
slender, graceful girl with an abun-
dance of dark hair and an air about
her which seemed foreign to person
in her surroundings. She worked at
the laundry for many years at many
different kinds of jobs and finally was
made checker and paid twelve dollars
a week The work was hard and the
hours long and so after years Of the
same kind Of thing day in and day
out Jane began to lose her youth.
Then came family troubles and when
the fateful thirty years came rolling
around, it found many gray hairs IN
James once black couture.
Two more years passed and Jane
was still checker in the laundry, her
hair was more gray, and worst of
all she was calmly settling down as
if her life was about completed. Then
she met the head buyer in one of the
large department stores. She met him
through a friend of hers who worked
in the dress section During the
course of their conversation, he asked
her how she would like to come and
work for him. She said she would
like it, but it meant nothing more to
her than shorter hours and slightly
better pay, but she accepted.
FINDS GRAY HAIR
NOT A HANDICAP
Thus it was that Jane Teasdale be-
came a salesman. She saw nothing
ahead for herself and often told Mr..
Harding the buyer, that there seemed
to be no place in the business world
were only thirty-three years old. She
was a conscientious worker, however,
and it was not long before Mr.. Hard
ing increased her work and her re-
sponsibilities. She became so efficient
and progressed so rapidly that he
gradually turned over more and more
of his own work to her. He was
ambitious for her to become a buyer,
but she, still persisting in the belief
that her gray hairs would stand in
the way Of anything she wanted to
do, seemed to lack confidence
Mr.. Harding was determined, how
ever, and SO he made her buyer in
one of his departments He did not
give her a large salary, for he was
only experimenting, but he gave her
the place. He went to New York
when she made her first trip for the
firm He took her to see play in
which the theme was clothes make
the man" and later he took her tc
one Of the large hotels to watch a
dinner dance which was going on
AS they looked over the crowds he
asked her if she noticed anything
peculiar.
why, yes" she said, lover half the
women here have almost white hair
ana nuSI pt DIT lSdSl lily SSiIS oAN
and yet they all look wonderful, and
yes, they look alive.
A play and a dance had opened
Jane Teasdale's eyes. She no longer
looked at herself as though she We're
something old and decrepit. something
to be cast aside and not worth while
bothering with. She returned to the
store with new ideas and a new in
terest in life Before renovaung heI
department she renovated herself
She became interested In her appear
ance She studied herself and Dough
frocks and gowns which were particu
larly effective with her gray hair Sht
studied her face and fixed her hair IL
the most becoming manner Then SHE
turned her attention to her depart
ment She wrought as big a change
In that as she had in herself. She
practiced her method of studying her
self on her customers and studying
each one carefully, she helped then
choose clothes which were becoming
instead of merely stylish. This gave
her another idea She decided to take
a course in designing so that sh'
might have gowns made to order from
her own designs If she had nothing
in stock to suit her customer.
Gets rune position IN NC" Iofk wy
At the end Of three years she hae
made a name for herself in the store
and among its patrons. Then came
an unusual offer from a New Yorl
dress factory. The factory wanted
someone to fill new position they
were creating and they thought Miss
Teasdale, whom they had met or
many of her buying trips, would be
Just the right person. The position
was a sort Of combination OF shopper
and designer. Miss Teasdale accepted
and started in her new work at a sal
ary of one hundred dollars week.
Her duty as shopper is to go te
the various exclusive fashion shops
look over their stock and select any
gown or other costumes which she