The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-07-19

sells-and she sells orchids be- cause her trade mainly is with debutantes.
 STYLIZED FLOWERS
 FOR THE DEBBIES
 Around the corner from Mrs. Meconi's shop is Mrs. Gurney Chrysler who, corporately, is known as Fleur de Jour. Mrs. Chrysler is becoming the Schia- parelli of the floral females be- cause she has gone in extensively for flowers and fashion.
 T really style flowers" she likes to tell her customers, "to blend with their dresses and each cor- sage must fit the clients attire and personlaity." That's why every man who orders corsage from her must determine first exactly what his best girl will be wearing!
 And she does lively business, too, with the smarter of the night clubs, for she furnishes corsages of various prices to the Stork club and Versailles where the lit- tie salesladies cuddle up until they've romanced a victim into a purchase.
 Not that Mrs. Chrysler approves of those tactics. She is self made woman, having started the Fleur de Jour with a capital of $4.25 and built up an enterprise that now is worth many thousands. She, too, serves the debbies with their botanical needs.
 The third of this trellised tri- umvirate is Mrs. A, E. Rankin, a wholesale asparagus fern mer- chant. That's all she sells-as- paragus fern-and she refuses to stock up with anything else, be- cause there seems to be 8 con- stant demand for them in this city of iron and steel and dust. She has been selling only that for the past 32 years, having been inspired to do 1t soon after her husband died in her home town of Herkimer, N. Y.
 NO UNEMPLOYMENT
 FOR THESE GIRLS
 Speaking of women at work, I've collected from time to time a few notes on the occupational oddi- ties that the ladies have been exploiting.
 Now there are three damsels named Anna Coyle, Carol Jack son and Frances Puccini who are doing all right with a service they call sidewalk Tours"
 They take visitors around on sightseeing junket of the town on foot-and the girls are foot sore but prosperous. Nor was 1t easy for them to start this un- usual practice, because the city demands that all guides must be licensed, investigated, fingerprint-. ed, certified by the health de- partment and approved in affida- wits.
 Then there are the two ingen. ious gals, Ellen Barry and Janet Constant, who have proved that women work out all right with something they call the Barcon Service. All they do is wrap packages artistically. Be 1t wedding, anniversary, birthday or romantic gift, the girls will pack age 1t with affectionate care and give 1t a handsome exterior with ribbon bows that are to be ad- mired. They are taxed far beyond their strength or facilities at Christmas, naturally, but there seem to be a great many custom CTS for their unusual service the year round.
 Ruby Foo Is the Oriental lady who has made a lavish Chinese banquet almost as popular as the chop suey vogue around here. Not only does she run two suc- cessful restaurants, but she also has launched a home service that brings in a steady flow of receipts. With a well-organized delivery service, she takes orders for Chi nese dinners by phone and sends them over piping hot, providing that the destination is within a reasonable radius.
 MILLION-DOLLAR AUTHOR ON TEN-CENT INVESTMENT
 The T Helped to Discover John Steinbeck" club never will have to launch a drive for membership. Of literary Magellans who claim the honor, there are many. But the man who DID discover the hottest writing talent of the decade prefers the quiet background. He is Pascal Covici, the publisher.
 Covici's discovery of Steinbeck started in a second-han bookshop in Chicago where for ten cents he bought an earlier volume by the obscure writer. The book had been marked down from two dol- lars and fifty cents, because of the lack of demand for 1t, and Covici reasoned that he couldn't go far wrong for a dime.
 He was so excited about the book, after reading it on the train from the Loop to New York, that he made inquiries about the au- thor. No one seemed to know much-care much-about the ob- scure Steinbeck except Covici, so he undertook to look him up him. self.