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How to Make
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Many mothers of growing boys and girls feel that it is beneath their dignity to allow their children to work for money, and no matter how urgent the need is that they contribute to the maintenance of their homes, they will prefer to keep them sheltered. This is unfair to the child who is willing to work.

Even in cases where it is not necessary that the young boy or girl work for money, it is excellent training for them to put aside the small amounts which they earn. In a commercial world, the youngster who has been trained to appreciate the value of thrift, economy, and the value of being industrious will form habits which will stand him in good stead when he grows up and engages in industry.

The following 100 suggestions and information on money earning methods should help boys and girls of school and high school age in the right direction.

NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ROUTE—Everybody in the United States reads newspapers, magazines and books. It is for this reason that the boy will find a newspaper and magazine route the most lucrative form of employment. The pleasure of being able to read the morning paper at the breakfast table makes every home a prospective customer for the boy interested in building a paper route. Even if there is a newspaper delivery service in your locality, there are enough people who are not being served by it. Go out, canvass every house and offer to deliver a daily morning and evening paper.

ERRAND BOY—If you have a bicycle, visit the farms and homes within a five mile radius of your home and leave a note with your telephone number stating that you will be glad to make small purchases in town and deliver them at ten cents a delivery. Ask them to call you before school or in the evening. Also call on the merchants and offer to make deliveries for them at the same rate. Distribute circulars from house to house. Offer to deliver bills at one half the postage rate.

MONEY FROM PEBBLES—In any sandy section of the country one can find a large variety of smooth, varicolored pebbles along these roads. A boy can earn some money by picking up these pebbles and selling them to pet stores for fish bowls, and to florists for planting winter bulbs and window display purposes.

COLORED CANDLES—Buy a number of white candles. Dip them in various colored dyes—green, red, yellow, gold, etc. Then sell them to your neighbors for decorative purposes. Also sell them to tea shops, restaurants, etc.

CAR INITIALS—Transfer initials can be purchased at a very small cost at paint and hardware stores. Buy a quantity, and then go around to public and private garages, and to homes and put the initials of the owners on automobiles.

RICH SOIL—Collect swamp earth, or rich soil known as forest mold. This can be dug up in forests and sold in towns and cities for the enrichment of gardens, plants, etc.

SELL FERNS—Collect beautiful ferns. Place them in neat boxes which you can construct simply. Fill the boxes likewise with rich forest soil.

MONEY FROM THINGS THAT GROW—If you live near a brook, collect the mint that grows in the shady places. Tie the sprigs together into neat bunches and sell them to your butcher. He can use the mint with the various roasts that he sends to his customers.

Also pick water cress which your grocer can use.

Catnip can also be picked and sold in bundles to homes that have cats.

Other items that can be picked are the various berries: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry. Pick them in season and you will find plenty of willing buyers.

Chestnuts and hickory nuts will bring you at least 10 cents a quart.

Pine willows. These can be made with pine needles and encased in muslin pillows and sold to summer tourists.

Wild flowers. Bunches of buttercups, daisies, red clovers, mountain laurels, and other wild flowers can be sold at 10 cents a bunch to automobile tourists.

MONEY FROM ATHLETIC EVENTS—Every city in the country has some kind of an athletic field, a college stadium, or a professional baseball field. Here it is very easy for any boy to make some money; at each event selling peanuts, souvenirs, trophies, and the like.

BOY JUNKMEN—If you have a small play wagon, go out and ask women to let you cart away rubbish that has accumulated in a cellar or a yard. If you can get a load of paper, bottles, auto tires, old hats, metals of all kinds, scrap iron, and rags, you can turn these into profit by selling them to the wholesale junk dealer in your community. If you get up early enough in the morning before the regular municipal wagon gets around to pick up the rubbish left out in barrels in front of homes, you will be able to pick up quite a load of any of the above-mentioned items before school opens up.

SELLING BAIT TO FISHERMEN—If you know of a definite place where men gather to go fishing, either near a pier, on the shore of a river or lake, cultivate their acquaintance and offer to supply them with bait from worms to minnows. Fishermen are good sportsmen and will pay you handsomely as a rule. Always have a number of bamboo fishing poles for sale or rent.

GARDEN WORK—In the spring of the year the boy can find plenty of opportunity to work in spading up gardens and helping with the planting; also do weeding; take care of hedges; mow lawns, and keep walks in trim. In the country the boy can engage in practically every activity in general farming. Many high school and college students can find work as farm hands during the summer. During the apple picking season or during harvesting they can always find work after school and during week-ends.

WORK AROUND THE HOUSE—Many a boy can find employment in taking care of furnaces in private homes on way to school and on the way home. On Saturdays when he is not dressed for school he can empty the ashes; get rid of rubbish that collects during the week. Also shovel snow paths in winter. Borrow your mother's vacuum cleaner, then go from house to house offering to clean rugs and carpets. If you have your own lawn mower pick out lawns that look neglected and offer to do all the mowing at 50 cents an hour. Offer to clean out cellars. You will find the majority of home cellars neglected.

ARTIFICIAL WILD FLOWERS—Pick some cat o' nine tails or some pine cones. Dip them in brightly colored paint—violet, blue, orange, green. This will give them the appearance of brightly petaled flowers. Sell them for table decorations at tea shops and restaurants. They do not have to be replaced each day as in the case with fresh flowers.

ELECTRIC DOOR BELLS—Most homes would prefer the electric door bell to the antiquated jingle door bell, which is operated by a long steel wire. An electrician would charge much more for installing an electric bell than the average housekeeper would care to spend. For about $2.00 to $2.50 at the most an electric bell can be installed. The outfit consists of a bell, a push button, two dry cells and a short length of wire. In fifteen or twenty minutes the job should be finished.

A BANJO ORCHESTRA—If you can play a banjo, organize a group of other boys and girls who also have banjos. Rehearse a number of musical pieces for banjo. Then give entertainments at private, church, and social parties, at neighborhood theatres, etc.

WATCH INSPECTION SERVICE—Make an arrangement with a good watchmaker in your town to appoint you watch inspector. This work calls for arranging with a number of people to take their watches once a month to the watchmaker, who oils them and makes such repairs as are needed. You collect the watches on certain days and return them the following day. Charge 50 cents per month, splitting this 50-50 with the watchmaker.

MAKE ORNAMENTAL FLOWERS FROM SEA SHELLS—Sea shells found along the beaches can be used for making a number of ornamental and useful devices such as ash trays and containers of various sorts. Often the larger shells need very little change to make them complete as ornaments. Wire is the best material to provide feet for such shells. Flat strips of thin brass or iron worked up into what is commonly called Venetian iron work seem to be best adapted.

WOODWORK—Boys who have had manual training at school and have mastered the use of some of the elementary tolls can make a great deal of money in woodwork. Every household could employ you from time to time repairing odd jobs like repairing wobbly back door steps and fixing porch railings; and nearly every housekeeper will buy rustic seats, tables, benches, shelves, etc. Canvass among your neighbors and see how many jobs can be picked up in a few hours.

SLAT FRAMES FOR THE LAUNDRY—Suggest this item and you will find one out of every two women need it in their basement where the washing is done. Its value is in keeping the feet from getting wet. This frame can be built out of strips of wood. The only tools necessary are a hammer, a saw, and some small nails.

Build the strips into flat frames. Each frame requires four strips two feet long for underneath and seven strips four feet long for the top. Paint the frames green. You can sell them at either 75 cents or a dollar.

WINDOW BOXES—These are used for plants. Get some soap boxes from your grocer; or if that is not possible, nail up some boxes. Then nail four boards about three inches wide and two and a half feet long for standards. Paint the box green and line it with waterproof paper roofing. Fill the box with good, rich soil and place it near a sunny window. Plants placed in these boxes will bloom all winter long.

Here is a list of other useful items that the boy can make with a few simple tools and for which he will find a market:

A rack for garden tools. Every gardener in your neighborhood is a prospect for this garden tool rack.

Bird houses. Bird houses improve the appearance of every garden and yard. They are easily made and can be sold easily.

Other items: bread boards, footstools, stepladders, milk stools, flower stands, garden seats, rustic chairs, feed troughs, fences, tether sticks, hen roosts, chicken coops, cold frames, cupboards, bookcases, garden trellis, window screens, cupboards, kindling boxes, towel rollers, flagpoles, etc.

The following references are recommended:

A Guide to Study of Woodworking. Paul B. Wooley. The Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois.
Handbook in Woodwork and Carpentry. C. A. King. American Book Corporation, New York City.
Speed Toys for Boys and Girls. A. J. La Berge. The Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

RAISING PIGEONS—Where conditions permit boys will find this activity enjoyable and profitable. These birds increase rapidly and when two-thirds grown bring high prices. Build a pigeon house on your barn or garage roof with thirty or forty compartments out of scrap lumber. Beginning with three or four pair of birds, it will not be long before you will be able to raise from twenty to thirty pairs of squabs each month during the spring and summer season.

SHARPEN TOOLS—With a file and an oil stone, the boy can be kept busy all Saturday sharpening scissors, knives, gardeners' tools, etc., by making a house-to-house canvass, building up a steady list of customers.

PRINTING PRESS—A printing press can be purchased for very little money. The boy possessing one can make a great many printed items which will bring him plenty of spending money. Printed labels for canned fruits and vegetables, posters for the school athletic events, gummed labels bearing names and addresses, etc., are very much in demand.

ACT AS GUIDE—If you live in a community with an interesting historical background, you will be able to make money acting as a guide and pointing out to visitors the various places of interest explaining their historical significance.

DISTRIBUTE MENUS—Call on any leading restaurant and suggest that you will distribute printed copies of the menu to all of the business offices in the neighborhood. This is a good way of advertising an eating place. A menu attractively prepared and distributed an hour or so before lunch will bring in a number of new customers who may ultimately become regular patrons of the restaurant.

SELLING RUBBER BANDS—Get some inner rubber tubes that have been rendered useless by a blowout. Then with a paper cutter slice the tube into rubber bands of various widths and sizes. Take these rubber bands around to offices and banks and sell them at 25 cents a pound.

BECOME A MAGICIAN—A boy can easily learn a number of tricks by studying any of the numerous books on magic. It he can learn a number of feats which last half an hour, he will find that boy scouts, Sunday school classes, and even adult clubs will want him as a part of an entertainment program.

CADDYING—The growing popularity of golf is keeping more and more boys in pocket money. Go out to your nearest golf course. Ask for the caddy master. In all probability it won't be long before you will be handed a bag of golf sticks to carry around the golf course. Caddies' rates average around 75 cents an hour.

AUTOMOBILE CLEANING—The boy who has had some experience helping his father keep his automobile in clean running order will find many an automobile owner only too glad to be relieved of the hard work entailed in washing his car, greasing the springs, cleaning the windshield and the windows, etc. Call on automobile owners who have their own garages. Charge about one-half of garage rates for this work and you will find a number of men who will employ you almost weekly for this job. The boy can make additional money by selling windshield soap, wash rags, and other materials used in cleaning cars.

POLISHING SILVER AND BRASS—Any boy or girl can earn money by offering to polish the household silver and brass at 25 cents an hour. Equip yourself with a polishing outfit. Get information from your local jeweler or silversmith on the best methods of polishing. Then begin calling on your neighbors and even strange households offering your service. You will find many customers who will want you to do polishing once a week.

A CONSOLIDATED CIRCULAR DISTRIBUTING SERVICE—To advertise their sales, stores everywhere distribute circulars from door to door. Chain stores, theaters, men's and women's furnishing stores, butchers, etc., all advertise in this way.

Spare time money can be made by organizing a consolidated circular distributing service, which would distribute circulars for five stores for five stories or more at the same time.

The advantage to the storekeeper in using your service would be in the fact that he would be saving about one-half of the cost that would be entailed if he were to pay for the distribution of his own circulars. At the same time, he would feel safer in entrusting his circulars to you as an established business organization, because in order to continue to serve him you would make certain that the circulars would be carefully placed and distributed where they would not be blown away by the wind.

If the storekeeper has been in the habit of paying $4 for distributing 1,000 circulars, you can afford to charge him only $2 per 1,000 and still make a good profit.

Also get in touch with mail order houses that distribute catalogues, and offer to distribute those catalogues at less than postage rates, offering to send the mail order house a signed receipt for each catalogue.

METAL ORNAMENTS—Boys who are mechanically inclined can make a great many attractive ornaments of brass, copper, silver, and other metals, such as bracelets, rings, watch fobs, and the like.

EASTER EGGS—At Easter time money can be made by decorating eggs with bright colored Easter decorations and selling them to neighbors.

MISCELLANEOUS—A recent analysis made shows that boys both in the country and city make money by such methods as: making tents from old flour bags; mosquito riddance; repairing bicycles, making little birch bark canoes and selling them as souvenirs, making reed baskets, planting trees, pruning trees, setting posts, catching fur-bearing animals, selling maple sugar, raising rabbits, hoeing, corn, cutting wood, working in grocery and other stores on Saturday, feeding chickens, shining shoes, raising poultry, and truck gardening.

WHAT THE GIRLS CAN DO TO EARN MONEY—A great many of the ideas suggested to boys apply equally as well to girls. However, there are a number of opportunities for girls which boys are not so well qualified. The following are a number of suggestions: