From Hobby to Career

233. A hobby that can develop into a career is making table decorations for parties. Make fruit and vegetable figures from carrots, potatoes, turnips, oranges, lemons, radishes or prunes. Faces can be made with cloves, toothpicks, parsley, etc. Use lollipop sticks or toothpicks for arms and legs.

234. A greeting card folio finds a ready market. Make the portfolio with pockets, like a shoe bag, to fit the size of the cards-one pocket holding birthday cards, another for anniversary cards-and do not forget thank-you cards, bon-voyage cards, and baby and wedding congratulations. Indicate the type of card by labels on each pocket. The local card shop would probably be cooperative in displaying and selling the folio if the finished product is well made and attractive.

235. One homebound boy taught simple crafts to a group of neighborhood children. Not only did he earn pin money but had companionship as well. If your child has a special skill, there is a chance that students can be found who could attend weekly classes at your child's bedside.

236. Do you frequently see things in advertisements that you would like to send for, but just never find time to do so? Why not help your child start a "Family Shopping Service"? Have the child go through current magazines, cutting out advertisements for mail-order items. A loose-leaf scrapbook could be used to classify these advertisements into categories so that parents could shop by mail easily.

237. After experience in shopping for the family, an older boy or girl could go a step further and shop by mail for friends and neighbors as well. This service would be especially welcome in the fall for Christmas shopping. For a neighborhood service, a large number and variety of advertisements should be collected. The child could take orders for the items wanted and do the necessary correspondence, charging a small fee for this service.

238. Even easier-a Gift Wrapping Service! This can be started in a small way for family and friends. After your child learns the knack of wrapping packages rapidly and attractively news of this service will spread by word of mouth. Basic needs (besides imagination) are cellophane tape, paste, a good pair of scissors, gift papers, and ribbon. Gift paper need not eat up all the profits if plain white tissue paper wears a new look. This can be given with a little practice by making an allover design on the paper with a sponge which has been lightly dipped into poster paint and brushed quickly over the paper.

239. Growing plants (Item 220-223) or breeding tropical fish (Item 218) can become a small business for a boy or girl who is specially successful at either of these hobbies.

240. Through local doctors and hospitals it is possible to find the names of homebound children and adults in the community. Your child could write to them and inquire whether or not they are engaged in making various salable items. If so, and the person is interested, an outlet can be established in your home for these products. Have each person send you a sample of his work. Announcements of the various items could then be mailed to potential customers and orders taken.

241. A boon to the community! A toy reconditioning service. An older boy, whose hobby is woodworking, could easily start this at his bedside. In preparation make a collection of old toys and parts of toys to be used for the repairs. A notice could be posted on school bulletin boards or painted on handbills distributed through the local tradespeople to give the service a push. Once started, word of it would soon spread by word of mouth.

242. There are a number of correspondence courses in many fields. But does your community know about these courses? A useful service would be to collect a list of these schools and information about their cost and requirements. Later on, such a service might be developed into a school advisory service, covering other educational institutions besides correspondence schools.

243. More and more homebound people are selling magazine subscriptions and greeting cards. Commissions are good and the subscriber need only phone or mail his order to the homebound agent.

244. A youngster who can learn to be proficient on a typewriter can start a business-"Home Addressing and Typing. " To name just a few examples, he might do such jobs as typing form letters or fill-ins for offices, addressing and stuffing envelopes for large mailings, and typing menus for local restaurants. Neat, accurate typing is always in demand and if speed can be developed as well, the possibilities for financial return are excellent.

245. Some residents in every community would welcome a "wake-up service" to get them out of bed on time in the morning! Subscribers would be wakened by telephone every day at a regular time, or called specially for unusual occasions like catching a very early train. This would be an ideal business for an older bedbound child. The equipment needed is a telephone next to the bed, an alarm clock, a good sense of responsibility, and exact records of instructions-in order to avoid waking the wrong person or telephoning at the wrong time.

246. A child who enjoys reading as a hobby can collect interesting facts to send to local newspaper offices for use as space fillers. Some national magazines also pay for odd, curious or unusual bits of information.

247. Another business that might develop from a reading hobby would be a "clipping service. " This idea might be sold to a "very important person" in the community who would like to have copies of published publicity items about himself in local or regional papers. The same service would be useful to organizations and clubs. This business means, of course, subscribing to a number of newspapers and reading each one carefully.

248. The United States Government publishes an astonishing number of pamphlets on a great variety of subjects, but these are not available in all community libraries. (There are so many in fact that a pamphlet listing all pamphlets is published. ) A circulating library of government pamphlets on the subjects of most general interest in your particular community could be set up in the home. For example, in a farming community, agricultural subjects would be useful. Information on child care would be desirable in any type of community. The pamphlets, neatly bound, singly or in groups on the same subject, could be circulated for a few cents a day. They may be obtained at a nominal cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

249. One 10-year-old girl was very proud to be able to make and sell bright-colored blouses made from two bandannas. Only the shoulder, side seams, and a small slit at the neck opening needed sewing.

250. A young girl whose hobby is sewing could establish a mending service, let hems up and down, sew buttons on, etc. It is not hard to learn to reverse collars on men's shirts- a boon to bachelors of almost any community and to many wives as well.