Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-30

At cne tirc or snoth.r almost ell
women who have 10 earn their own
living dream and talk of running
tearoom but an amazingly small per-
centage of them even take even the
first steps toward DONG it,
1 could count up on the fingers of
my two hands friends and acquaint-
ances of my own who have more or
less seriously spoken OF the possibilities
of such a venture. Some of them are
still talking about it. but none of these
10 has ever done il And this is.
suppose. because on considering the
takes more than ordinary courage. de-
mands hard work. Self-confldence and
at least little capital.
In this country, where afternoon tea
drinking is not firmly established
custom as 1t is in England. running a
tearoom usually means running dis
tinctlve sort of restaurant where one
may get luncheon and possibly dinner
as we'll as afternoon tea. 1t would
b. absurd to hope TO succeed merely
with afternoon tea when only-a very
small percentage Of the members OF
the community would bother to drink
tea in the afternoon unless you actually
gave 1t away.
Advantages to be considered In con-
nection with this sort of venture are
that 1t really does offer opportunity
for making very good income If car
red on in the right way. and the
chance to build up a business that
when established may be sold to ad-
vantage. Also though it requires hard
work, it can be done. at least to start
with. without preciuding attention to
ones work at homo.
The. tearoom proposition should.
think. b. seriously considered by the
| woman--in need of earning money
who is actually living in house which
in the course of events is situated on
fairly we'll traversed thoroughfare
Increased traffic and encroachment OF
business which may make your OLD
! home seem less desirable as resi-
dence may be the very thing needed
to make your venture a success-ano
save you the expense of having to rent
| quarters in suitable location.
In most c2ses the best initial ster
in this work is to get away from home
| long enough to work for time in some
successful tearoom or lunchroom. Ever
! a months experience of this sort is eX-
tremely helpful. and If you cannot gel
work AS an actual assistant in such Q
place be content to work as waitress
or in the pantry. where, II you keer
your eyes and ears open. you can learr
great deal that will be of enormous
value to you later on. In some pace:
! it is possible tn get positions where
actual training is given along with &
nominal salary or possibly no re-
enumeration at all.
Particular attention should b. siver
to the way books are kept. supplies arr
bought and profits are estimated. A
A housewife YOU have doubtless learned
the art of attractive service. and goot
cookirg-so what YOU want to pa!
special heed to is the business man
agement. without which it is inpossi
BILE to make profits.
How much capital is needed to start
This is the question most fre1uentl!
asked and one not at all easy to an
swer. because 50 much depends on tn
eouirment you have to start with am
the type Of tearoom or lunchroom yol
wish tn start. You may be able u
start with as few IS four or five tables
and these may be of plain, unpaintet
wood with inexpensive chairs, which
YOU NAV paint attractivelv yourself
Your dishes may be most inexpensive
and the runners or doilies for the tao'c
you may be able to make yourself a
very small expense.
Much depends on the way your plac
is furr; ;hed, but it may be most innx
pensive. A Decent vase on each tabl
in which tn keep fresh flowers iron
your own garden or from the fields
with evergreens haryebcr,ics in coll
! weather requires hardly any eypense
vet adds enormously to the charm o
the place.
Unless tn start with YOU are wilin
to do practicallv eYerv sort of worl
connected with the job yourself. yoi
he'd better choose some other sort o