Читать книгу The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work - Virginia Penny - Страница 53

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Designing is a peculiar, and more a natural than a cultivated talent. A few years ago, Miss M. drew on stone for the New England Glass Company. She received $10 a page, which she could generally do in four days, working only four hours per day. Two men had at different times done the work for the company, one receiving less, and the other more than she. Misses L. and R. drew and designed in the carpet factory at Lowell. They received $1.25 per day. A young lady who designed at the Pacific Mills, in Lawrence, was said to receive $3 per day. Miss S., who had given but eighteen months' practice to drawing, designed for ground and painted glass, and received $6 per week. Designs for toys, dissected pictures, games, puzzles, &c., are an appropriate filling up of spare moments for a designer. I was told by an English seller of embroideries, that, in England, designing and making patterns for embroideries is a distinct business. He has been at it many years, and does not feel himself perfect yet. It is not made a distinct branch in this country yet, because there is not enough of it done. Here a few primary patterns can be arranged and rearranged so as to answer all the demands of trade. A great deal of money is expended on monuments, but there is a want of variety in the designs. A wide field is here opened to operators in this department. Some designers in Boston write me: "Only a few ladies are employed in our business, for there are not many who are willing to devote the time necessary to become proficient. Some are employed in Europe. The employment is not more unhealthy than sewing. Women are paid according to their proficiency, and earn from $3 to $15 per week. Women receive the same compensation as men, if they do the work as well and as fast, but they ordinarily cannot do either. They are not paid until they have spent two or three years learning. A combination of artistic and mechanical talent is required. The prospect for employment is good. There is not much variation in the seasons for work. Ten hours is the average time required. There are now as many in the business as can find lucrative or constant employment. It requires not less than five years, generally more, to be a fair general workman in this business. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are about the only places where there is a demand for designers. A first-class education and cultivated taste are absolutely necessary to success."