Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-01-03
THE HASKIN LETTER
A CLUB Fol- lists
lci0
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

NEW IOFkh I'LL. Lee. 81
To have he artists model taken
seriously is the purpose of an in
.teresting club which has its head
quarters in an old-fashioned house
on West Fifty-eighth street here.
Pass this house at any hour during
the day. and, IL you are lucky. you
are apt to see its ancient dock creak
open and the original of your favor
lite magazine-cover-girl trip sedate-
ly down the steps. For the house is
$50 such enchanting damsels on its
membership list.
But they are to be taken serious
ly. Don't forget that.
The other day a Broadway Don
Juan. bewitched at the sight of his
favorite bathing girl picture actu-
ally walking down Seventh avenue
not in a bathing suit, you UNDER
stand. but recognized nevertheless
proceeded to accompany her at a
discreet distance as she turned Fifty
eighth street. When she left the
pavement and ran up a pair of
steps, he stopped in his tracks and
stared in deep preoccupation at the
door where she had vanished.
Suddenly. the door opened a sec
ond time, and a grey-haired, sweet
faced matron came out.
Young man, what do you mean
by following one of u girls?" de-
manded the lady quietly but firmly.
Now suppose you just run along
back to Broadway where you be-
long. The girls in this club are
nice, quiet, refined girls, and they
don't want to be annoyed, n fur
thermore, we are not going to have
lot of idle. gaping men standing
out here in front of u house."
Thus did the secretary OF the
club, as she later explained to the
reporter, nip in the bud a move
ment on the part of the male pop
ulation of New York to give the
club its enthusiastic endorsement.
THE attitude of the public, es-
pecially the masculine public, to-
ward the artists model" said the
secretary sadly, "is much the same
it is toward the chorus girl-en-
tirely frivolous. 1t is also incura-
bly, romantic. People seem to
an idea that on artists model
Is a gay young thing who earns an
easy, IL not luxurious living by pos
ing for fascinating artists with long
Hall VI OIAGllidi lCLto IL bitSy boN~
bald heads. Now. as a matter or
fact, posing is hard work. and until
recently the average artists model
has been poorly paid and has been
given about as much consideration
as a table or chair"
Getting Jobs For Models.
Here the telephone on the secre-
desk burst noisily into her
condolences and she grabbed a note
book and pencil.
Excuse me just a minute" she
said, taking up the instrument.
Yes. / think we have just the girl
you need-Miss B. You know her?
Too thin? 1 don't believe we have
anybody plumper. We consider
her n of the plumpest girls we
have. About $50 pounds, 1 should
say. but tall and well proportional.
Yes, I think you might be able to
use her face, too. She's a good
type. Well, she lives right
up in your acknowledgements
have her come in and see you
anyway. II she doesn't suit. per-
we a get you some one
Else. Miss NJ, whom you had be-
will be back from Havana
Friday"
The secretary then explained that
the club runs an employment bu-
for its members. who r all
and classified by types.
is somewhat like private
nursing: a girl never knows how
her Job is going to last or how
much money it is going to pay her.
Some artists take a long time to
their work. others work
very fast. Some can afford to pay
4 high rate for a model, and others
can scarcely afford to employ one
at all. But conditions in this re-
spect are better for posers than
they have ever been before. thanks
to the persistent mercenary efforts
Of the club. A good model can
now demand and collect a dollar an
for her work, at which rate
some of them make as much as
dollars a day.
Besides it's employment bureau,
the Art Workers Club. al it is call
operates a restaurant on the first
floor of he house. which serves ex-
meals at cost. while five
tea is served every after
absolutely free. To this art
lists as well as models are invited,
clltCC, 40 tlC SCClttdly CApidltACbf
1.-The chief object of the club is
to bring the two factions together
for the promotion of better under
Thus, on a rainy afternoon. the
big club room is filled with models
draped about the furniture in grace
full attitudes. while they chat and
drink tea with sociablyinclined art
lists. The room, with its artistic
and comfortable couches
and easy chairs. looks more like a
drawing than a club room.
and the casual stranger would new
er guess from the frivolous re-
partee and engaging mi of its
guests that serious business was be-
ing transacted. Yet 1t is at these
teal that many New York artists
find their various types of models.
The Costumes.
On the third floor of its large
old-fashioned home the club main
tains a costume department, which
contains costumes of every period
and nationality. These r often
rented at a nominal fee with the