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Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
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Small Business
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You Can Own
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In Asbury Park, New Jersey, there is no one with more amazingly original ideas and more bubbling, unrestrained enthusiasm than Bella Jost, maker of stuffed toys for tiny tots. Like so many stories of success, this one of Bella Jost had a modest beginning. It all started when Mrs. Jost needed some extra money. A busy housewife and mother, she could not go out to work every day. She accepted that fact! But there must be something she could do at home. She loved to sew. Why not try to sell toys like those she had hitherto been making just for pleasure?

Mrs. Jost didn't know how to go about marketing her toys, for she had had no business experience. But as ingenious as she is talented, she thought up this idea. She would give a percentage of what she made on every sale to her church sewing guild if the women would help her find a place where she could exhibit her toys!

AT THE next weekly meeting of the sewing circle, Mrs. Jost announced her plan. There was much enthusiasm—hands flew up—the women were full of suggestions. Finally, it was agreed to exhibit the toys in a shop owned by the husband of one of the women present.

"But you must consult him first," said Mrs. Jost. "He might not be so good-natured!"

But the gentleman was most cooperative, and within a few days Mrs. Jost was given a corner in each of his two display windows. She filled her allotted space with an assortment of dolls, clowns, and animals; and then she went home wondering if anyone would buy even one toy.

It was summer and every day crowds of people walked by the shop on their way to and from the beach. Often they stopped and admired the little stuffed toys, and some of them went into the shop and purchased. Almost every day Mrs. Jost would get a phone call from the shop owner asking her to bring down more clowns right away—"We haven't any left." Or—"Somebody wants a duplicate of that bunny we sold yesterday!" One very hot day, Mrs. Jost worked at such a rapid pace to fill her extra orders that she forgot to put a tail on one of the bunnies. But that doesn't happen as a rule.

"Lady Luck was with me," recalls Mrs. Jost. "I sold over $100 worth of stuffed toys that first month. Our sewing guild benefited—and I made the extra money I needed."

That was the start. This gracious woman has since built a satisfying home business for herself. She is known all along the North Jersey shore for the durable toys she turns out; and she sells to stores in Connecticut and New York as well. For those who might like to follow along in her footsteps she passes on some constructive suggestions.

MRS. JOST'S first bit of advice to anyone planning on turning a handcraft into a home business is this: be able to meet stiff competition. This comes not only from others as skilled as you are, but from commercial sources able to command hand labor at low cost. This fact is not stated to discourage you, but to make you bold. It takes time and sometimes is a tedious business to turn out a well-done handmade item. "For this reason," says Mrs. Jost, "it will never be worth your while to compete with factory made articles by using a sleazy fabric to lower your price tag. Give your customer something worthwhile—and you'll get your price!

Facility with a needle and a flair for design are the only special requirements for the making of stuffed toys. But Mrs. Jost points out that a lot of your success depends on using ingenuity in finding economical materials. This enterprising woman gets many large size scraps from the workroom of a near-by dress factory. Mrs. Jost has been told to help herself to the box of scraps put out as refuse each night. "Then, too, it's surprising the bargains you can get at inventory sales," says Mrs. Jost. She also confesses to going around to local dressmakers, asking if she may buy some of their large size scraps. "In almost every instance the dressmaker is delighted to give you the scraps," says Mrs. Jost, "for they are of no value to her."

Mrs. Jost agrees that you can't do much about cutting down on your costs until you begin producing on a fairly large scale. But once you are sure of a couple of outlets, she suggests you look for materials wholesale. Study the classified section of your telephone book and then contact a few jobbers. You can buy limited quantities from these men and save a good bit under the retail price. When you can't get what you want from them, ask department stores if they will sell to you at a reduced price. Tell them you are in business. You may only get 10 per cent off; but no matter what it is, it is a saving and will help you make extra profit on every item sold.

WHAT TYPE article can you sell? The wise move is to decide on an item that you make well and enjoy making. "I'm a grandmother," says Mrs. Jost, "and have seen enough youngsters to know that little children always want something to cuddle; that is what convinced me soft toys ought to make good!" But toys aren't the only thing a woman can sell! There are many interesting projects for women who like to sew. "You can specialize in clothes for dolls—you can make baby dresses for christenings—you can make carryall bags for the beach—shopping bags—you can even make aprons," she says. "All that's necessary is that you use imagination to give these staid items a new twist—and you'll be on your way to success." Then Mrs. Jost adds: "Look at Nell Donnelly!"

Nell Donnelly is the perfect illustration of the adage that the woman who sews need never go hungry. Mrs. Donnelly was the youngest of twelve children and had learned to sew because she had to make over the older children's clothes for herself. Even when she married she had to sew—for money was scarce then, too. At that time it was impossible to buy any such thing as an inexpensive house dress that had any style and fit. So Nell drafted a pattern of an apron dress, whipped up a few which she gave away as Christmas presents to friends who asked for more. Encouraged by these requests, Nell Donnelly took a couple of samples into one of Kansas City's largest department stores and came out with an order for eighteen dozen. Mrs. Donnelly was not one to let obstacles slow her up. She knew she couldn't fill all these orders alone, so she hired two neighbors who could sew. It took a month to make the eighteen dozen dresses. They sold out by noon on the day they were delivered to the store, and the buyer asked for more. That was the beginning of the "Nelly Don" brand of dresses and aprons which today are sold throughout the nation. "Imagination and common sense—that's what Nell Donnelly had," says Mrs. Jost. "If you can lay claim to both, fortune will smile on you too."

IN ANY handcraft your success depends on your technical skill and your ability to judge the market. Remember, too, that in order to sell, your product must have appeal, color and style. There are a number of yardsticks to use in deciding what project to undertake. Mrs. Jost favors the one set up by the State Planning board of Pennsylvania for craft workers in that state.

Here it is:

1. The article to be made should be something for which there is a known market, or something that fills a new need and will create its own market.

2. It is preferable that native materials be used or that the product in some other way have "local" significance.

3. It should be possible to make this article within a time limit that will justify a fair wage to its maker without putting a prohibitive selling price on it. (This does not necessarily apply to highly individualized work.)

4. It should have some quality that makes it better than a similar article made by machine, in order to justify the higher price.

5. A knowledge of style trends and pricing is invaluable.

6. Most important of all is good design, without which all other efforts are wasted.

Your individual success will depend on your finger skill, your speed in turning out the tenth article faster than the first, and on how soon you can develop a business sense that will build your reputation.

"It's up to you to push your way through competitors," says Mrs. Jost, "but until you catch on to business tactics there are agencies through which you can get help, not only once you have something ready for sale, but to determine how you can go about learning a handcraft. Probably the most widespread organization to which you can look is your state extension service. Most states give practical guidance to anyone interested in putting a home product on the market. For instance, with the encouragement and advice of an extension service agent, a woman from North Dakota learned how to mold figurines at a local pottery one summer. She now is set up in a comfortable home business making dainty dolls she molds according to designs prevalent in her native Sweden. If you have any doubt about what your state can do for you, write your state agricultural and mechanical college, or the Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D. C. Tell them what you would like to do and ask for advice!

WHERE WILL you take your work now that it is ready for sale? According to Mrs. Jost there are three potential sales outlets:

1. Direct to the customer.
2. Through non-commercial channels:
• Woman's exchanges.
• Craft guild shops—organizations like the Farm and Garden shops.
• Community enterprises to build local trade.
3. Commercial outlets:
• Small shop owners (this is your best).
• Department stores (if your item is unique).

Mrs. Jost believes it is safer and surer at first to place your things in small shops: "You'll learn a lot from the reactions of experienced merchandisers," says Mrs. Jost. Small shops are interested in an individual idea. They are always on the lookout for something that will fill a need for their customers. "You may, of course, have to leave your things on consignment (which means you get paid for them when they sell)," adds Mrs. Jost. "But this is a quick way to learn what people buy, need, and like. You can take your things back at any time should you find another outlet.

"Launching a home product is not easy. You must follow every one of a large manufacturer's practices, but on a small scale. Keep improving your item without raising the price, package it attractively, make sure that each item is made to the standard you originally predetermined."

The key to success in turning out the "Jost toys" has always been in sewing double seams to make them practically indestructible, able to survive plenty of affectionate tossing around. Though each of her toys is an individual creation (no two exactly alike), Mrs. Jost uses mass-production methods to save time and to perfect techniques. Body pieces are cut out in quantity. Faces are embroidered in dozen lots. Yards of pinafore skirting, hemmed and finished at the waistline, ready to cut off when needed, are kept near her sewing machine. Mrs. Jost's sewing skill and her love for detail show up in the complete wardrobes she makes for some of her dolls—lace-trimmed panties with elastic tops, hand-turned buttonholes, snap openings that are easy for little fingers to manage.

NOW THAT she is established, Mrs. Jost tries, with each new season, to add a new type toy to her list of playthings for children. The matter of ideas is usually accidental. As was the case with the tiny bassinet pictured here. This idea came to her by chance.

Hulling strawberries one day, it occurred to Mrs. Jost that it was a waste of money to throw away the oblong pint basket. What could she do with it? She remembered watching a neighbor's child make a bed for a tiny doll out of the lid of a candy box. Why not turn this little basket into a bassinet! So she sat down and went to work, covering the basket with a piece of pink sateen from her scrap box. She sewed four buttons on the bottom to act as legs; and using an old embroidery ring which she cut into two odd length pieces, she made the frame for the hood. A long strip of sateen and an odd piece of lace was shirred and sewed on for the skirt, and dime store ribbon made the decorations.

Mrs. Jost showed the bassinet to a friend who immediately asked for one, and so did a number of other young women in the neighborhood. Soon Mrs. Jost was busy making bassinets to sell. Needless to say she replaced the old embroidery ring, using whale boning to make the frame for the hood. Through production short cuts and bargain sales, Mrs. Jost has in a few months been able to shave her prices on the bassinet so that it now sells for $2.50.

The many versions of the dolls Mrs. Jost makes in her stuffed toy venture are proof that she is a woman of imagination who is reaping an interesting harvest from her leisure time activity. A big seller is the stocking doll which she dresses in an organdy pinafore. Last Christmas Mrs. Jost sold 250 of these dolls at $1.25 each. Another popular item that sells for only 50 cents is her five-pointed star doll, which was originally a bean bag. One day Mrs. Jost fell to thinking it would be a perfect size doll for an infant to handle; and if stuffed with cotton would be nice to cuddle up to. So she began stuffing these dolls with cotton instead of beans and now sells them quicker than she can make them.

THE STAR doll is easy to make. All you need is ¼-yard of candy striped material and scraps of red (or one of the prominent colors of the stripes), for the hat and feet; and pink for the hands and face. Your first step is to make a five-pointed star pattern. To do this take a piece of lightweight cardboard 9 by 9 inches and draw a line down the middle. At the lower edge of cardboard make a dot 3¼ inches each side from the center line. Now, measure 3 inches down from top of cardboard and draw a line across. Next, draw a line from the left side edge of this line to dot at bottom right. Then a similar line from right edge to bottom left dot. Draw a line from top center to bottom left dot and another line from top center to bottom right dot. Cut out star. Cut off top point and save to be used as separate pattern for head. Next, measure 1½ inches down side-lines from tip of hand and feet points and cut off, saving pieces to use as patterns for contrasting materials.

The quickest and most accurate method of cutting out the star doll is to place the cardboard pattern on the material and trace around it with a pencil. Each doll consists of a front piece and a back piece. (Mrs. Jost finds it a time saver to cut two dozen pieces from each pattern before starting to assemble her dolls.) Allowing ¼-inch for seams, sew head to body. The head is made by joining a strip of pink 1¾ inches high and a strip of red the same size; then, using the star point pattern you previously had cut off your star, cut two points, the red at the tip end as that is the hat. Sew on pink pieces for hands, red for feet. On front piece of doll sew a piece of rickrack for collar, starting at one side of face and curving down about one inch and up to the other side of the face. Next, embroider face features. The eyes are blue dots made in the sateen stitch (children like to pick out button eyes and there is always the possibility of a child swallowing them so Mrs. Jost prefers hand embroidered eyes). The mouth is a half circle in red outline stitch. The nose is just two red dots.

Now the doll is ready to be assembled. With right sides of front and back pieces together, machine stitch around doll, leaving a 2-inch opening along one leg for stuffing. Clip corners and press open seams. Turn right side out and with a tweezer pull out tip points. Stuff with cotton (or you can use one-inch strips of clean nylon hose with runs in them which fluff up readily after a doll is washed and never get lumpy as some cotton stuffings do). Mrs. Jost uses a pencil to pack stuffing tightly in the tip points of the star. Whip opening together and your doll is completed.

MRS. JOST never has found merchandising a problem; her difficulty is to fill all the requests she gets for her toys from those who have seen her product. Perhaps one of the chief reasons for Mrs. Jost's success is her absolute reliability. Customers know that she never tries to "put something over on you." When she sells you a toy you can be sure it is made according to her high standards. Many of her customers even let their children go by themselves to buy from Mrs. Jost. The youngsters love Mrs. Jost as much as she loves children.

A spare room in her house was converted into a combination shop and workroom once Bella Jost decided to become a professional toy maker. Her equipment consists of a sewing machine, a worktable, ironing board, and boxes of odd pieces of lace, ribbons, fabrics, and buttons. Mrs. Jost says the two peak seasons in the toy business are Christmas and Easter; but as she lives in a summer resort town, she does a volume of business during the summer months as well; for tourists are always on the lookout for things to take back home.

Bella Jost has never been without an order since her toys began finding homes in her neighborhood. Orders now come from many sources. Recently, a New Jersey theatrical group needed a number of dolls for one scene in a production it was putting on. Someone in the cast remembered seeing Mrs. Jost's stocking doll in a shop in Millburn, New Jersey. So an order for eighteen dolls was placed through that shop.