Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

From her experiences it has been found that dwarf sea horses from Florida breed the best in captivity. Some of her sea horses are said to have lived for nearly 3 years.

Thus far the woman is satisfied to raise them as a hobby rather than turning to selling them for profit. However, should one seek a a profitable home business that stands head and shoulders above all the rest, these sea horses should certainly bring an amazing price. Gold fish are kept in bowls at home but a pair of sea horses in a home aquarium would be a priceless possession to the thousands of people who like to display rare oddities in their homes…and a sea horse would certainly be that rare "something."

The problem is not in knowing WHERE to get different species of sea horses for breeding purposes. It's how to RAISE them that would be the chief obstacle. The sea horse is difficult to transplant from one locality to another. They're allergic to changes in temperature and must be handled with extreme care if they are expected to live.

Sea horses can be found at Beaufort, S. C., Pensacola Bay, Pacific Coast, coast of Mexico and along the Long Island coast.

Raising and selling rare tropical fish is a thriving business instead of a hobby for a Louisiana man who sells tropical fish to all parts of the country. He has 600 ponds and 45 different kinds of tropical fish in rare and beautiful colors. They sell from $15 to $100 a pair! Of course his stock contains such rare specimens as the fish that walks and climbs trees, the climbing fish from India, the Siamese fighting fish called Betta Rubra and many others.

To prove to the readers that raising rare fish and selling them for fancy prices isn't a venture for so-called "professionals," here is what the country has to offer in rare fish dealers, men and women who started this business as a hobby and eventually turned it into money beyond their wildest dreams:

A California man started a hobby of breeding Siamese fighting fish, tropical killers that would fight themselves to death if not kept singly in jars as the California man did. The way people fought to own a pair of these tropical specimens soon turned this man's hobby into a venture that needed larger quarters for breeding purposes. Things didn't always run smoothly for him. There were many disappointments when he tried for perfect specimens. But this was all part of the business.

Still another man sells his fish by mail! He sends a beautiful colored catalog of his rare specimens to his mail order customers. Orders for the fish are satisfactory enough to make him devote his full time to the fishes he guarantees to ship alive and healthy to any part of the country — in special containers via express.

There are persons who grow water fleas for aquarium owners. Snails are also raised in quantities and sold to aquarium owners to keep the pool clean. Water lice from stagnant pools make very good tropical fish food.

A strange goldfish called the bitterling has the peculiar ability to show within 24 hours whether or not a woman is pregnant. The test can be made by taking two teaspoonfuls of urine from the woman and adding to the water in the bowl containing the bitterling. If the woman is pregnant there will grow a tubular oviduct from the bitterling. This is the tube through which the fish would normally lay eggs. If this were generally known, the bitterling should find its way into many homes.

All one need to know about raising rare fish is what can be found in books at the public library. After that it's simply a matter of time and patience.

A woman in Iowa bought three Red Ramshorn snails, and a few little aquatic plants, and with this small beginning has developed a profitable little hobby raising snails. Baby snails, when first hatched, are hardly more than tiny specks, but some attain the size of a half dollar in a year's time. Sylvia's original four-gallon aquarium has long since been replaced by a 35 gallon tank in which she raises thousands of snails, with the number growing each year. Well or rain water is used for best results. Her shipments to a fish supply firm are made by parcel post in screen wire cages made with several wire shelves, which are padded with dampened grass and leaves.

A dollar and fifty-two cents, in our money, bought one Englishman eight goldfish, which he proceeded to breed. Six years later he had a total of $12,000 dollars worth of goldfish, and all descendants of the first eight he bought. All this leads one to believe that gold-fish breeding should be very profitable.

TURTLE-TRAPPING TOURS BRING IN $26,000—468-469
"Herpetology" is the study of turtles. This subject is taught in colleges. One young woman majored in herpetology and turned it into a business that brought $26,000 in one season.

With her mother, father and two hired hands, the girl went on a turtle-trapping expedition that carried them through a half-dozen states. A special trailer was used by the family to carry 627 traps, of which they set 40 or 50 per night. These were made of fish net on hoop forms and were placed three or four inches under water in lakes and rivers, and baited with melon rinds, the best bait for turtles. When morning came, the bubbles over the traps indicated a fine catch. The largest haul was made in the Mississippi river where they caught five tons of turtles in one night.

The turtles are sold alive to universities, high schools and state conservations. Some are converted into meat and sold at a nice profit. Restaurants are always on the look-out for turtles, for the delicious turtle soup many patrons want.

A shrewd retailer purposely dropped a box of 500 turtles while walking through a downtown business section. On suddenly finding themselves free, these creatures began crawling all over the sidewalk. The scene was funny to passersby, who watched the man and his hired help retrieve some of their "lost" cargo. Reporters arrived with camera men. The man received columns of favorable publicity. Next day buyers stormed his store to place large orders for turtles.

The public library has many good books on turtle raising and turtle catching. A little reading should start a paying turtle business for anyone looking around for a business of his own.

A NOVEL AD-SOLICITING ENTERPRISE—470-474
Many newspapers must take in millions of dollars in advertising every year to stay in the publishing business. There's help to be paid, light, heat, taxes on the building and a general overhead that mounts into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet newspapers make a huge yearly profit…all from advertising paid by business people.

Countless people would like to be cut in on some of the money taken in by newspapers yearly in advertising, but not many would think of a novel ad-soliciting business thought up by a man who didn't have to own a newspaper to collect $397, $750, $1,500 and other similar amounts many times during the various periods of his ad-soliciting business. He was just an ordinary man, possessing no exceptional capital to capitalize on a unique advertising plan.

Instead of selling ad space in papers and magazines, he offered space in calenders, almanacs, cook books, small town telephone directories, baby books, professional directories, hotel directories, blotters and the like. The reader must bear one thing in mind: the aforementioned advertising "mediums" are things that are kept in the home for a long time. They're not like newspapers. Here today and gone tomorrow. This probably was the selling point the man used in soliciting his advertisements. Even a magazine ad will cost many times over that of a newspaper ad, because a magazine stays around the house for months and even a year.

Fortified with this "argument", the man started to canvass, by telephone, all the business men in the city. Most of the advertising solicited was for the large calendars and almanacs. The calendar listed about 200 classified ads, each one under the proper heading. He made around 150 calls a day, and received 10 to 20 ad orders.

Another excellent selling point was the fact he told merchants the almanac was to be distributed free, as well as the calendar. The merchants were to receive a supply of each to hand out to their customers.

He took his novel advertising business to the small towns where they had no telephone directories. A book like this is appreciated by people who live in a town with a population of less than 1,000. They had to rely on the county directory. He took this problem to the merchants and told them he would publish a small directory for the town's exclusive use if the merchants would buy ad copy to be placed in the directory.

For expectant mothers this man published a baby book and charged all advertisers 5 cents per month for each copy he distributed to new and expectant mothers.

A directory for Doctors, Lawyers and other professional men was published. This idea paid out well in the number of ads he sold. The professional men were listed without charge.

The Rural Route Guide published by the same man was also a good money-maker. It was mailed at a cost of 2 cents each to all box holders on the rural routes. Business men naturally thought this an excellent medium to bring the rural trade to their doors. To make matters look strictly business-like he furnished a post office receipt of mailing to each advertiser, so each advertiser knew the number of copies that were mailed.

The gist of this enterprise is the fact that his "mediums" were the type that were retained for a long time. Can anyone think of similar inexpensive advertising mediums whereby ad space could be sold to merchants at a profit? All of these advertising mediums proved to be so successful that he was obliged to hire girls to handle the phone canvassing, using several phones all day long. In the next paragraph is proof that there ARE ways to solicit advertising without the benefit of owning a newspaper.

One man thought others shared the same irritation when they had to use the bulky telephone directory to phone local merchants, etc. For his own use he made up a list of telephone numbers most frequently used. Then the idea came. Why not make up a quantity of cards with popular telephone listings for distribution to the public? On a 6 x 9 card he listed about 60 names and telephone numbers. The card was slit at the top, enabling its suspension over the telephone for handy reference. Merchants gladly paid for having their names printed upon the card. In this idea non-competitive concerns were the only ones approached. That insured the success of the plan. A form letter did the soliciting. Each firm paid $10 a listing. And they were glad to cooperate with this man's special phone listing idea. The gross profits were $500, of which he netted $300. The same project could probably be operated throughout a state, covering many towns and cities.

PRACTICE SUCCESS—475
A young man was good in show-card writing but it seemed he just couldn't get anyone to buy his work. So he took his pad and pencil and began copying all the shop-worn, smudged and bent cards he could find in the windows of local stores.

In his home work-shop he made crisp black and white show-cards in place of the old ones he copied from the windows. Next day he took them to the proprietors of the stores and told them he was "practicing" . . . the new sho-card was theirs with his compliments. Some merchants wouldn't think of it and gladly paid the young man for his work. Those who didn't offer any money found the young man's name, address and telephone number on the back of the card.

This hitherto idle man with the not-so-idle brain received many orders as the result of his "practice" show cards. The merchants kept in mind the young man who gave them a complimentary show-card.

EGGS AT $1.20 PER DOZEN—476
Wealthy city folks would pay ANY price for a dozen fresh eggs. They buy the best from local grocers, but the "best" are eggs that are anywhere from two to six months old.

There comes a time in many of these homes when a doctor prescribes strictly fresh eggs to be eaten by an invalid or convalescent. That's when one is really up against something. The price might be available to pay for the eggs, but the problem is — where can one get strictly fresh eggs?

One woman took cognizance of this situation and rounded out a well-planned mail order campaign. The first thing she did was to place an advertisement in a large city's Sunday newspaper. The ad ran something like this:

"SELECTED 'NON-FERTILE' EGGS FOR INVALIDS! Direct from the nest to the sick! Guaranteed fresh! Not days old—but hours old! Laid today and mailed out by parcel post TODAY!"

Such eggs can't be sold direct from the newspaper advertisement. People have fallen prey to dishonest "fresh-eggs-by-mail" merchants too often. The woman realized this and when the inquiries came in the form letter and other advertising literature convinced the reader he had nothing to lose in sending for a dozen of these eggs at $1.20 per dozen. Naturally, the form letter carried a money-back guarantee and the customer felt safe in sending the money for the eggs.

"Non-fertile" as applied to eggs pertains to those eggs laid by hens which have been segregated from roosters. Some city folks would be apt to wonder what that meant, so it would be best to have a competent writer make up the form letter and explain every part of the fresh egg business by mail.

To make the mailing more convincing the woman had a notarized statement made up, stating the eggs were laid that very day. A Notary in your home town would be glad to write up an affidavit like this for you.

This plan can be adapted by anyone with a back-yard large enough for a few hen coops. Selling eggs at such a price would bring in a huge source of revenue annually. Poultry men will tell you that hens can be cared for on a small lot. White Leghorns should be purchased, because the White Leghorn is noted for laying a large white egg.

$4,400 IN COMMISSION—477-478
A man with an idea received $4,400 commission from a photographer who agreed to this man's scheme. The story:

This man made arrangements with fraternal organizations, civic bodies, clubs, etc., and suggested to each organization that a photographic record of all members be kept on file. They wouldn't have to pay a cent for the photos and the book in which they were to appear. Naturally, almost every organization agreed to this plan. They cooperated by sending postals telling each member to go to this particular photographer for a sitting.

Here is where the plan began to pay dividends. Every member who went for a sitting had a chance to view some of the poses taken. The natural inclination here would be to buy one or more photos for his or her own use.

The plan worked to perfection. The photographer took in $44,000 worth of work and the promoter received a ten percent commission, or $4,400.

This same plan could be worked in various ways. The thought is given here. New ideas can be developed from it.

Just to show you that other ideas CAN be developed, here is one more idea. Worked successfully, this operator grossed $560 from the mailing of 1,000 circulars. Instead of catering to fraternal bodies he circularized new businesses. The circular made an attractive offer to the new firm (either offering to take pictures at a low fee or without charge) and extending the offer to include the personnel.

When the camera-man arrived he took pictures of everything. The whole plant—inside and outside. Some of the workers were snapped at their desks or machines. Group pictures were taken. The profits came from the workers who wanted additional copies of the pictures or "personal" individual shots.

HATS MADE OVER—479
A widow with a dwindling income decided to open up a "madeover hat shop". It met with instant success. The bulk of her clients were mothers who didn't want to spend money buying their children hats every year. This woman's shop made the old hats look like new.

Naturally, she had gifted hands for this job and many times made an old hat look better than it was new through the simple expedient of re-decorating the hat with colored ribbons. A supply of them was easy to get and she bought them for a reasonably low price at the remnant counter. She also bought some old hat frames, some cleaning fluid and the business was set in motion.

Women who paid a high price for their last year's hat found out it was out of style. Not wishing to throwaway a perfectly good hat they took it to this woman who suggested a stylish change. Sometimes the customer gave the suggestion. Too, she also sold hats from those she made over.

Money isn't always necessary for a "business". An idea, adept hands, and a little thought as to what people would like starts a sideline into a big business.

THE WALKING BILLBOARD—480-481
Of all youthful enterprises the walking billboard is perhaps the most novel advertising business ever devised by a young brain.

This boy made a large oblong box of light wood, open at the top and bottom. Small rollers similar to those used on furniture were placed at the bottom of this box which was 3 feet wide, 6 feet long and 6 feet high. After completing the frame he purchased a huge cloth sign, four of them to cover all four sides, which read: "The Walking Billboard, advertising at its best."

To get the business he simply got inside the covered frame and pushed it up and down the business district of his town. A weird siren he rigged up inside made the storekeepers come out to see what all the racket was. No one could help but notice the novel stunt.

The very next day he visited several of the merchants and solicited their advertising, they to supply the signs for his "walking billboard". He would push the billboard around in any locality the merchant suggested at so much per day or by the hour. He listed many "client" and was booked up for weeks in advance. In fact the business was too much for him to handle. Another "walking billboard" was made and a youth was "hired" to push this one around. The weekly "take" was far above what average youths made working for others.

Youthful readers ought to try this one in their own business district. An advertising sign like this one attracts much attention. People stop to see whose pushing the moving sign or what's pushing it! You just can't see the person inside of it. Those thinking of erecting a walking billboard should bear in mind that "peep holes" must be made in the forepart of the walking billboard to see where one is going,

Grown-ups could operate a fleet of these billboards, hiring young boys to operate them while they took care of the business end of it.

CHILD CAFE—482
A woman living near a large public school in Detroit converted her home into a Child Cafe catering to children whose mothers were employed. The cafe featured hot lunches, well-balanced meals of milk, bread and butter, main course, home made cookies, fresh fruit, individual molds of jello and iced cakes, etc.

Employed mothers were in accord with this restaurant, knowing that their children were served nourishing food. The extra attention given each child was good publicity for the cafe. If didn't cost the woman anything extra for the added touches to the menu, yet this paid for itself a thousand times over when the children told their parents of the good meals they had at the Children's Restaurant.

Mothers who had to stay away from the home until well into the evening left their children at the cafe for the evening meal There was also an additional charge for caring for the child until the mother came to call for the little boy or girl.

When more business was sought, the woman sent a form letter to all known mothers employed in Detroit's gigantic industrial empire describing the various menus served the children. The letter and newspaper advertising kept the Child Cafe busy from year to year.

THE "FREE" PREMIUM—686
There's always a way to increase the demand for a product, as one silk thread merchant found out. His spools of silk thread were up against stiff competition with old established firms. He turned to the mail order field and resorted to the "free" premium offer with amazing success.

The premium offered was a "free" stamped embroidery piece or pieces with a purchase of 10 spools of thread. The piece given away required more thread than was bought in the original order. The buyers, therefore, had to get additional thread, or had to inquire for his brand of thread locally. That stimulated his own business.

All in all, the plan worked so well that the incoming orders placed the merchant in a pretty bad position as the place became clogged with mail. Many of the orders could not be filled. To combat this, the man stopped running the "free" ad and changed it by offering the embroidery piece and instructions for 10 cents instead of giving it away.

Before planning any "free" business plans consult an advertising counsellor on the use of the word "free".

WINGED MESSENGERS—484-485
Fishing boats and many private boats carry no radio and therefore are at the mercy of the sea whenever trouble comes. A racing pigeon breeder who wasn't making any money on his pigeons was smart enough to realize this and turned his pigeons into a paying proposition.

All out-going boats rented a pair of his pigeons for emergency use. The pigeons were homers, and when released carried the S.O.S. message to shore and a Coast Guard boat would soon come to the rescue. Illness, motor trouble, etc. are always a part of the risk taken by boats without a sending radio. The pigeons, therefore, are rented for 50 cents a day and the owner nets $25 a day.

To prove that one idea can be worked into another along the same lines an Auto Supply Service store uses homing pigeons for a unique and exclusive service. Every out-of-town garage dealing with this store is supplied with two of these pigeons. In case the garage needs parts in a hurry, the pigeon carries a message in a small metal cylinder attached to its leg. The bird flies directly to the Auto Supply Store, the message is read and the part or parts are soon available. Even passing truck drivers who make long hauls are given a pair of these pigeons in case they break-down along the route. The store's repair men also carry pigeons on the trucks in case they meet up with trouble on the road.

A pigeon service of this type is invaluable for the publicity it brings to the Auto Supply Store. Business men looking for increased trade ought to think this idea over.

ONE DENTIST'S "KINDERGARTEN"—486
A visit to the dentist is a horrible nightmare to all children. Many mothers are loathe to take their children to a dentist except in a case of utmost necessity.

A Chicago dentist fixed all this. He made a visit to his office something for the Children to talk about. He showed film cartoons and short features on a screen using a small electric projector, taking the child's mind off the unpleasant work just ahead.

Another dentist installed a child-size dental chair, fixed his equipment to resemble a doll house, and decorated his office in typical kindergarten fashion. Toys were displayed on shelves from which the children could have the pick of the lot. He treated the children as playmates instead of patients. Mothers relished this "different" dentist. They told other mothers about the unique dentistry and pretty soon his office was flooded with juvenile patients.

If this kindergarten dentistry seems somewhat out of the ordinary, in fact laughable, the two dentists mentioned don't think the idea odd. They know that the financial remuneration exceeded their expectations and therefore have been well repaid with their "brain children".

There are dentists who are barely making a living in many parts of the country. Coaxing the juvenile trade in the manner outlined above should put them on their feet again.

PAINT BRUSH PRINTING—487
This little story concerning a high-school girl looking for a job could be titled "How To Get An Unexpected Job." The girl didn't get the job she was looking for, instead she got a better one.

Gifted with painting ability she wrote for a job to the proprietor of a local department store on some of her own hand-painted stationery. The owner wrote back telling the girl he couldn't give her the job she wanted but would buy as many sheets of the hand-painted stationery as she could turn out.

Hand-painted stationery is unique. A visit to your local department stores will convince you of the lack of stationery of this type. There is a waiting market in the stationery field for hand-painted personal letterheads.

STARTING AN OUTDOOR ENTERPRISE WITH WORM EGGS—488-494
Aristotle, some 200 years ago, called earthworms "the intestines of the earth." An English naturalist of the 17th Century wrote, "Without earthworms, the earth would soon become cold, hardbound and sterile."

Many paying enterprises can be developed from raising earthworms or their eggs with as little as $25 in cash, some tools, lumber, and a few old boxes. Earthworms or earthworm eggs then can be shipped parcel post to farmers who need to enrich their soil with these "intestines of the earth". Their diet can be most anything. Garbage, tea and coffee grounds, vegetable peelings and manure. They multiply regularly at 210-day intervals. And they multiply by the thousands.

Silkworms, for instance, can be grown anywhere in the United States. With a grove of white mulberry trees one can harvest a crop of silk cocoons every 35 days during the leafing season. A Texas man planted thousands of white mulberry seeds and mulberry trees. The cocoons feed on the leaves. He claims they are much easier to raise than anything he can, think of. According to his figures one acre, planted with 1,500 mulberry trees, which is enough to feed 10 to 12 ounces of silkworm-egg hatchings, will produce a gross income of $240 each 35 days during the leafing season. Furthermore, he believes the time will soon be here for the growth of an American silk empire, bigger and better than the Japanese silk industry.

Experimenters prove beyond a doubt earthworm culture can make poor soil fertile and good soil prolific. One test, using boxes of soil containing earthworms compared with wormless boxes showed the following percentages in favor of the former: Rye, 64 percent; potatoes, 136 percent; vetch, 140 percent; peas, 300 percent; rape seed, 733 percent.

A California experimenter planted 3 boxes of lawn grass. One contained soil without earthworms; the second contained the same soil with worms living and working in it; the third was of pure earthworm castings. After 60 days' growth the grass was cut. The box with soil and worms yielded 271 percent more than the wormless earth, but the crop of the box containing the worm-cast soil was 463 percent higher.

Another California worm "farmer" breeds Crawlers at his place. They're planted in orchards and fields, feed game birds at preserves, and boost profits on chicken ranches in various parts of the West. He has a special liquid soil fertilizer of his own, made by percolating water through earthworm castings.

Any of these ideas should be helpful to one interested in earthworm culture:

Concentrated earth worm oil is finding a use in the Medical world for medical purposes and massage. Earthworm oil can be extracted in the same manner with which fish oil is obtained.

A man in Canada is said to ship 3,000,000 dew-worms a year to clubs and vacation resorts to be used as fishing bait.

In a small Michigan town a man claims that he puts out more than one million packages of worms, crickets, grasshoppers, frogs, crawdids and salmon eggs every packing season.

Grasshoppers are plentiful in western states. They bring $500 a ton to farmers who "harvest" them. Crickets from Colorado bring as high as $600 a ton. A special liquid is used to pour over the ground, causing the worms to "come up for air". They cover the ground and are easily gathered into pails.

A fellow down in Tennessee is selling fishing worms by mail, and he too has met with considerable success. His customers pay up to $5.25 per thousand for top grade "stock", and as little as $4 for the common varieties. He is reported as having shipped as many as 15,000 worms daily to all parts of the country.

One man from the West has one of the largest worm farms in the world. He specializes in developing unusual worms by interbreeding stunts with beetles. He has turned out excellent fish bait. They are kept in regulated temperature trays, on soft, clean beds of bran and wheat shorts, and feed on the latter. A vitalized mineral is served to keep them healthy.

This man's worm "farm" produces two million worms a year, a million at a batch — two batches annually. His wife and two sons help in the enterprise. Sporting goods stores throughout the country are some of the customers for this special worm, but the "farmer" has had to refuse many large orders, a sure sign that this field is still in its infancy.

SUMMER KINDERGARTEN CLASSES—495-496
Anyone wishing to supplement their regular income can do so, as one kindergarten teacher testifies. The idea for a summer kindergarten class started when the mother of two of her kindergarteners proposed the teacher take charge of the children during the summer. The teacher could have the use of their large apartment in return.

This teacher went a step further. She asked permission to turn the apartment into a "dormitory" for the summer. Told it was all right to do with the apartment as she saw fit, the teacher placed an advertisement in the local papers that read something like this!

"Mothers: Plan a carefree vacation. Enroll your children in the summer kindergarten class. Rates: Overnight, $2.50; weekly, $18; monthly, $65. Everything included except laundry. Only a limited number of children will be accommodated."

Instead of a three-month layoff and loss of income, the teacher made twice the amount she would have made in an ordinary kindergarten period. She was swamped with applications for enrollment.

Another woman uses almost the same plan. She conducts a children's "hotel" for parents who are suddenly called out of town or stricken ill. The children in her hotel range from infancy to 15 years of age. She claims to have an average of 25 guests the year around, and from 10 to 20 transients. However, this unusual business venture is carried on in a professional manner. The children are handled by a regular staff, which includes a caretaker for every 10 children. Her business would be an ideal one for a man and wife partnership!

ANOTHER CAMERA VENTURE—497-499
One amateur photographer traveling through many towns and cities on his vacation decided to make it pay by taking pictures of attractive window displays in the various stores enroute. Perhaps the merchants would be interested. They could use them in advertising or submit them in prize contests.

The storekeepers acclaimed his idea so well that the amateur photographer conducts a full-time business selling snapshots of attractive window displays to the owners, and also, to rival stores in other towns.

Another camera fan takes garden scenes, mounts them on lamp shades, and sells the unusual lamp shade on approval. No money is sent in advance. The prospect, and owner of the landscaping likes the lamp shade or he doesn't. More people buy the lamp shade on these terms than if the money were asked for in advance.

A traveling photographer takes pictures of construction projects. He'll travel any place in order to get some good shots of a building or constructing job. Sells dozens of the pictures to the laborers and to the construction company. This plan would fit in nicely (as a sideline) with the "window display" plan.

CATERING TO THE COLORED TRADE—500
The negro market is almost entirely ignored by commercial enterprises. Not so, however, with a small cigar company who put out a big fat cigar on the contention that the negro liked to smoke a fat cigar due to his generous lips. He cultivated the negro market on other items and found his sales on the increase.

A study of the negro's habits, needs, desires, dislikes, buying habits, etc. should reward an enterprising individual who wants a share of this huge almost untouched buying power.

If this should give anyone an idea, here's a chance to promote it: Write to the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association, P. O. Box 477, Kansas City, Mo., for a further study of them.

PUMPKINS WITH HUMAN FACES—501
Pumpkins with human faces is a patented discovery made by a landscape gardener in Ohio. He found that if he put human masks on pumpkins in their infancy, the pumpkin would retain the human features as it grew. These odd human-faced pumpkins retail at $10 apiece.

After much experimentation this man succeeded in developing a sculptured pumpkin by placing it in an aluminum form when it was still as small as an apple. After it had grown big enough to fill the inside contours, he removed the cast and the features remained as the pumpkin grew larger.

The patent shouldn't stop a person wishing to work something like this on other vegetables and fruits. You can always secure an improvement on the patent. This novelty would be popular around the Christmas holidays. Fruit and vegetables stores would gladly buy them for display purposes.

THE "WEDDING BEAUTIFUL" FOR $125—502
A clever New York girl runs the "Weddings Beautiful Bureau" and will give prospective brides the entire works for only $125. She furnishes a bridal gown, gold ring, 50 invitations, entire wedding ceremony, flowers, music, photos, and a swanky reception. She'll dress the bride and find a spot to honeymoon for the bride and groom, not to mention the wedding cake and cocktails.

Busy girls and prospective husbands who know a wedding like this would cost more than $125 are eager to obtain the services of this Wedding Bureau.

A similar bureau could be started right from one's home, with husband and wife pitching right in to make it a success. Engagement or marriage announcements should be scanned in the daily newspapers. This plan would meet with popular favor almost anywhere.

ALBINO TADPOLES—503
White bull frogs with pink eyes are so rare that museums pay one enterprising man a fancy price for a pair of them. He found that a white tadpole was discovered in a goldfish pond in Maryland.

He waited until the pond was drained. From among the thousands of tadpoles he found not one but three white ones. He took the precious albino froglets to his own pond and nature supplied him with a nice income. The unusual always does!

THE UNUSUAL IN HOTELS—504-505
Because his dog died and he refused to have another supplant the faithful canine, a hotel keeper in South Carolina received many large and small statues of dogs sent by friends and people who had stayed at the hotel and heard of this man's plight.

The hotel owner took kindly to these acts of human understanding and placed the statues in the lobby of his hotel. The free publicity received from the 3,000 odd statues in the lobby paid the owner enormous dividends. Strangers from far and wide heard about the "dog" hotel. Rooms were being sold out constantly.

An owner of a large rooming house couldn't understand why his rooms were always empty. A friend suggested he advertise the rooms as having gold fish in each room. Immediately people began to call for a room with the gold fish in it.

A Pennsylvania hotel found out its business increased a hundred per cent when the room clerk displayed photographs of the rooms BEFORE assigning one to a guest. Any traveling man will tell you that getting a room "sight unseen" is a hazardous risk.

These are mere ideas for three distinctive hotels. Many hotels can stand improvement that meet with public favor.

KEEPING THE FOOD BEFORE THE EYE—506
There's an unusual cafeteria in the mid-west called the "Merry-Go-Round" Cafeteria. The circle counter has an inner circular counter which revolves, carrying trays of food constantly past the patrons at the counter. The customer is given plenty of time to make a selection and extract a dish from a cabinet as the counter moves by.

The tempting selections are a constant challenge to the person at the counter. He usually buys mote food than he can eat. It might have been pretty expensive to install this elaborate revolving food counter, but one can be assured it has paid for itself many times over.

A Hollywood bar has something similar to this. The bar turns slowly all night long. The barkeepers and stock remain at a standstill, but the customer and bar keep moving along. Just two more cases where showmanship in business pays off.

A UNIQUE PUBLICATION—507-508
The grand feeling of getting something for nothing is shared universally. All mankind is addicted to this strange human failing. A New Jersey man believed this so strongly that he started a unique publication called "ITS FREE". His belief was rewarded. The story is this:

The mimeographed bulletin he published wasn't free. It sold for 25 cents a copy or $2 a year. However, the contents of this bulletin contained innumerable magazines, books, booklets, pamphlets, folders, and bulletins issued by the government, a total of 100 of them, all of which could be obtained free.

This was strictly a mail order idea. People who dabble in mail order were eager to get the magazine that promised the names and addresses of the sources who issued this free material. The literature he sent out listed the article the reader could get free and then it was up to him, the reader to send for the bulletin.

The subscriber to "IT'S FREE" got real value for his 25 cents. Some of the items listed in the mimeographed publication were a free yearly subscription to a well-known magazine, a free booklet on the care of office equipment, a free book on marketing, several free samples of various products, a free copy of a trade magazine, booklets on farming, dairying, heating problems, canning, sewing, auto buying and repairing, mailing lists, patents, advertising, etc. Better Business Bureau booklets, cook books, and so on down the line. The government alone issues at least one hundred different pamphlets and booklets that are free. Many firms offer free samples of their product.

The only thing that need be done to start a publication like this rolling is to compile a list of "free" sources of supply. A watchful eye in trade mediums, general magazines, house organs, newspapers and the usual government give-aways ought to give the operator of a bulletin like this enough material to publish at least three issues for the start.

As to prospects, every item listed above has as the very least 1,000 people who would want the free booklet pertaining to their line of work. For instance, the free cook books offered immediately has millions of American housewives for prospective subscribers. The least they would do is send 25 cents for "IT'S FREE" out of sheer curiosity.

One lady tried out a similar idea and she offered a bulletin for 25 cents that told the average housewife where to obtain 60 cook books—all different—for free! Many of them were illustrated in gorgeous colors, and all contained the latest recipes on cooking, preserving, canning and baking. Along with each 25 cents she asked for the names of 5 friends, and so had a steady continuous mailing list of women to mail her circulars to. Many other similar bulletins could be sold in the same manner.

$250 BONUS FOR EACH CHILD IN LONDON'S MATRIMONIAL BUREAU—509
It takes a lot of nerve to run the type of a matrimonial bureau operated by two English girls in London. Our British cousins have what it takes. Yet their business, like most prospering businesses, started out in a small way.

The unique features of their marriage bureau are many. First of all they are noted for their exact science in choosing life-partners amongst their clients. There hasn't been ONE DIVORCE in their bureau.

The two girls assess registrants $25 to become members, and tack on an additional charge of $100 to a prospective bride and groom, if marriage results from the match made by these two girls. That's a sum total of $250 for every marrying couple who are members of this club.

And now the bureau steals a page from insurance companies. The couples who marry as the result of being introduced through this bureau are refunded their $250 in full when their first child is born. What's more, the girls will pay $250 for each additional child, or as many children as are born to them. The only thing the girls guard against is the birth of twins, triplets, quads, or quints. They have insurance against multiple births.

Where does the profit come in? Here are some figures: 1,800 couples have married through their bureau since the day it was founded. This is only 18 percent of the 10,000 couples that joined their club. All in all they probably grossed $100,000 a year for five years. Besides, not ALL of the married couples would have children. Some couldn't have them. A certain percentage never have children anyhow. Some of the registrants are widows and widowers too old to have children. That evens matters up considerably. Besides the girls have the "birth rate" figured out to perfection, probably along the same scale as insurance companies do on the death rate. And the latter are almost letter perfect in their deductions.

All types of people join London's famous matrimonial agency. From actresses, models, housemaids, editors, business people, diplomats down to chimney sweeps. The girls thought up this idea on the premises that young men just wander aimlessly through life, hoping that by some happy coincidence they will meet the girl of their dreams. And girls sit by waiting for Mr. Right who probably will never show up. So the girls got busy and brought Miss Right and Mr. Right together. The girls interviewed male and female clients in a manner conducive to suitable match-making, The right partners had to be chosen. Their "no divorce" record proves the job was well done.

Why couldn't this venture be started here in America? The operator might easily gross from $30,000 to $50,000 per year once the bureau was operating smoothly.

THE CHAMELEON AS A SOURCE OF PROFIT—510
Live chameleons can be purchased in New Orleans. They can be bought wholesale for as low as 8 cents and retailed anywhere from 25 cents up to $1.00.

Chameleons are a novelty in many sections of the country. Street vendors, showmen, pitchmen, etc. use the chameleon to good advantage in their trade. They attract the people with this sprightly color-changing lizard. The chameleon changes different colors at will. They aren't parasitical. Their natural diet is insects and tiny crumbs of meat, making them inexpensive to keep.

Northern shopkeepers could purchase the chameleon wholesale and retail it to women who would like to wear them as ornaments on a delicate chain. Men would eagerly purchase this friendly little lizard for their wives, sweethearts, and friends.

SELLING RAZOR BLADES BY MAIL—511
Much to a man's chagrin he finds himself out of razor blades just when he needs to shave. This happens to thousands of men daily, but only one man decided to do something about this "non-shave" situation.

He instituted the razor-blades-by-mail service, much on the order of the daily newspaper, receiving milk at the door, or magazine subscriptions by the year. His prospects were taken out of the city directory. A form letter explained the service. He would supply them with a weekly packet of razor blades at less than what they would pay for the blades locally…if they remembered to get them every time. He stressed the latter point in his form letter. In fact he made the letter so convincing that a large percentage of men agreed to subscribe to his service.

Purchasing the blades through wholesale houses, he managed to net himself a neat profit every month. The men could order any type of blade they wanted, or any brand for that matter. He handled the orders of some 165 "subscribers" in his spare time.

It makes no difference whatsoever, if a person has a mail-selling idea but knows little about mail-selling procedure. There are mail-order counsellors who will put your idea on paper and into result-getting action.

PHOTOGRAPHED IN AN AIRPLANE—512
Despite the rapid advancement of the "flying era" many people have yet to take their first ride in an airplane. And when some hardy soul with a pioneer spirit in him does venture into the air from the local airport, that's news he'd like everyone to know.

A photographer who knew human nature sensed this and went the airplane rider one better. How would he, the airplane rider, like to SHOW his friends he was in an airplane? The idea caught on rapidly as the airport photographer attested. Many were willing to have their pictures taken either going into the plane or stepping out of it, sitting in the plane or just standing beside it.

But here's how the photographer worked his airport photography business. He would take his equipment to small airports on Sundays, the day when many persons would "risk" a ride in an airplane. Of course he had to secure permission from airport officials to take these photographs. Cards printed with his name and address were distributed to his customers, from whom, he in turn took down their names and addresses, in order to mail to them the finished picture. The price was 25 cents in advance for each photo.

Like all businesses with a small beginning this one could be broadened by hiring many photographers to work out of a main office, each one working a different field, and all sending the films back to the mail order developing company for printing and mailing out to the customers.

At this writing Congress has made funds available for many air fields to be built throughout the country. Thousands of people will be visiting them and going up in planes for the first time. Thousands more will soon be learning to fly. Many will rent planes to fly them by the hour. Others will buy planes. All of these people are potential customers for snapshots. Here is one business that is still in its infancy. The flying age will bring with it many new and profitable business ventures. And photography on the air field is but one of them.

SOUTH AMERICAN CORRESPONDENCE CLUB—513-516
Matrimonial Correspondence Clubs are money-making propositions for operators in the United States. There is no reason why a South American Club of this type couldn't be operated successfully by mail. Many beautiful South American women would like to correspond with their North American neighbors.

Conducted solely by air mail this venture would be quite profitable for the man who is interested in making the South American Correspondence Club a financial success.

The literature going to South America and the newspaper advertisements running in the Latin papers and magazines would have to be translated into Spanish. The ads and accompanying literature announcing the beauteous girls from South America would naturally appear in the English language in this county's mediums.

A neighboring country venture like this should meet with instantaneous success. North American males are easily attracted to the alluring and bewitching beauty of the dark-eyed and dark-haired girls from the Latin countries. Photos of American girls placed in South American mediums would lead to many a romance, marriage and home. North Americans are notorious for their desire to reside in the tropical climates most South American countries are noted for.

The operator of a South American Club would run it on the same order as the correspondence bureaus here at home. The only difference would be in having the letters translated. Corresponding parties could write in their own language, the bureau to supply language dictionaries for translating purposes. This in itself should be an additional income to the operator. The well-known "Esperanto" language, a language that can be used by all peoples of this world, might be used for a club of this type.

Most persons are unaware of the fact that clubs like these make a huge profit every year. They can be operated right from the home and ads placed in many magazines that reach men and women readers. Ads can be placed in Sunday papers under the "Personal" classification. One club reveals they have received as much as 45,000 inquiries in a year. A Matrimonial Correspondence Club in Texas reports 90,000 members. A clear profit of $500 a month for clubs like the ones mentioned here is no exaggeration.

Many clubs offer free membership to the ladies while others charge the full membership fee to both sexes. A woman operator reveals she has 6,000 active members and that 60 percent of them have college educations. A club in Florida has been operating 16 years and has a membership list of 37,000. This figure is approximately 2,300 members per year. And each member pays $5 for the privilege of enrolling in the club.

When prospects answer the "personal" advertisements the operator of a Correspondence Club mails his literature to the inquiries. That's how members are secured. An advertising writer would be of inestimable value here. The success of a club like this depends on the literature that is sent to each inquiry. The idea here is to contact the lonely people with members of the opposite sex who would like to carry on a correspondence. Each member subscribes to the service for one year. During that period he or she receives lists of names and addresses supplied by the operator of the club. Many clubs vary as to the number of names sent their members each year. The member can, if he wishes, write to the operator of the club for a selected list of men or women, whichever the case may be.

The list of names are provided monthly, if the member desires them. Sometimes a member finds one person he or she corresponds with and doesn't wish to write to any others. Many attractive matches have been made between members of Correspondence Clubs.

The clubs cater to the white race only and serve members from 17 to 80. The members are supplied with descriptions of those wishing to correspond, not only physical but financial and social as well. However, everything is strictly confidential. These clubs must be and are conducted on a high plane, and as the Post Office never molests them, they are indeed a boon to lonely people all over the world. Many clubs rise to the heights where they can publish their own magazine. The magazine increases the revenue. A list of 200 or 300 descriptions of male and female members are published in such magazines. No names are given. Just the description as to age, color of hair, height, weight, color of eyes, looks, talents, occupation, etc. The description is made as attractive as possible without exaggerating the person being described. Usually three or four attractive photos of the persons being described are found in this magazine. The photos are of both sexes. Readers who answer to inquiries receive this magazine and are asked for $2 or $3 for the names and addresses of the people described in the magazine. This is an especially attractive piece of promoting. It brings in the money asked for these names and addresses.

Of course, before an operator can reach the stage of publishing a magazine, he should start out in a small way. Secure the literature of other bureaus and see how they do it. A person should build his club on a personal basis, introducing by mail each person to another, one at a time. A reliable Correspondence Club can be the means of a better-than-average livelihood for the person willing to devote much of his time and a little capital to a venture that has a million prospects.

THE "TOWN HOST"—653-654
A good, well-paying, but part-time business, was established in a city of less than 300,000 population by one young man who published a "town directory." This particular directory listed names and addresses of the town's institutions, a description of its transportation facilities, the location of various streets, and much other helpful information.

Included in the booklet directory were the police and fire departments, hospitals, and all other public institutions, and bus and railroad stations. He had no difficulty in selling advertising space in the directory to local merchants because they realized that their ads would be seen frequently.

He sold the booklet for 15¢ each, and the printing cost was less than 5¢ each, in fairly large quantities. As he received $25 a page for advertising, extra profit was earned. Making $500 a year on this little part-time business was well worth the time he put in on it, and he revised the directory yearly. His printer agreed to be paid out of the funds received from the ads and sale of the booklet, so no capital was needed at the start. A larger city would, no doubt, show a greater income, and for that matter, several cities in one state could be covered.

While on this particular subject the writer would like to point out that there is also an opportunity to publish a "Community Year Book", which is somewhat similar to the "Town Directory".

The Year Book would reserve pages for the history of the town—or the history of certain organizations residing in said town. There would be many pages devoted to the scenic wonders to be found in the immediate vicinity. All business activities for the past year-and those scheduled for the coming year—would be listed and described fully. Year Books could be published for a large number of separate towns—good size towns—scattered through out your own state!