Alameda High School - Acorn Yearbook (Alameda, CA)

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Office Appliances

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Millinery---A Practical Course N THE Millinery Class the first thing I made was a model hat of blue out- ing flannel by which I learned the different stitches necessary, such as the blind, catch, overcast and blanket stitch. I also learned to accustom my hands to use buckram and wire, and the art of covering a hat. My next step was to apply the stitches and work learned from experiment with the model hat to a hat which would fit me. I made my design, cut my pattern of heavy paper, and worked over it until the shape suited me. After the pattern was made I cut it from buckram and wired it, and bound the edges with crinoline so the wire would not wear the velvet with which I intended to cover my hat. After covering the hat, I put the necessary trimming in place and lined the crown, thus finishing my winter hat. The next task was to make sample bows, which I fashioned from paper cambric. Although there are many kinds of bows, the types only were prac- ticed and these were made as carefully as if of expensive ribbon. The next work was to make flowers of velvet, satin and other materials. After much experimenting I made folds and hems, which are necessary to know in order to sew two pieces of material together or to finish the brim edge of a hat. The last work of the term was braid-work, and to learn this I made a small buckram shape and covered it with silk braid. Many pretty hats were the result of the term’s work in Millinery. One of these was a brown velours of the Puritan shape with three bands of gros- grain ribbon around the side crown and a lighter brown ostrich fancy in front. Another was a large, white velvet, picture hat trimmed with brown fur, and a fur rosette with a flower in the center placed on each side. Another more simple hat was made of black taffeta underlined with rose taffeta and with a single large pink velvet rose as its only trimming. These are examples of the many pretty hats made in class. “Is millinery a practical course?” I was asked. I consider it one of the most practical courses in the school. One learns to make hats, to choose becoming and appropriate styles to suit the wearer, the season and the occa- sion, and to appreciate the cost of materials, thus making possible a future economy. The cost of the hats displayed at the November Millinery Exhibit in Dr. Thompson’s office ranged from $2.50 to $5.00, making an average cost of materials $3.75. In these days of arbitrary prices and quick changes in fashions one can seldom buy a suitable hat at so small a cost in even the least pretentious millinery store. —Alma Halcrow.

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Mrs. Partch Explains the Time Savers’”’ hid) hes remaining part of this period will be devoted to the explanation . of some of the time savers which have recently been added to our department. Every large up-to-date business house has one or more of these common office appliances, such as the typewriter, adding machine, mimeograph, multigraph, and dictaphone. “The mimeograph is used in connection with the typewriter. It is a device for making copies from an original copy, which is a stencil. The stencil may be either a wax one, which can be used but once, or a perma- nent (dermatype) stencil, which can be saved and used again for more copies. The wax stencil has a stiff backing sheet, a tissue sheet on top to keep the wax from adhering to the type, and a silk sheet placed under the wax to catch the wax cut out by the type. This is placed in the type- writer and typed on without the ribbon. It is better not to make mistakes because very often they are difficult to correct. The mimeograph is inked and the stencil placed smoothly in position. For this work we usually use mimeograph paper which is laid on the left-hand side and is fed to the machine either by hand or by the self-feeder attachment. You see the ink on the cylinder goes through the impressions on the stencil and prints on the paper. Hundreds of copies can be made by this machine.” “But what are those numbers under this glass when he turns the handle?” “That registers the number of revolutions of the cylinder; in other words, counts the number of copies.” “This machine is a multigraph. We use this rather than the mimeo- graph when the copy is to be printed on letterheads and when a very large number of copies are needed. It is rather slow work to set up a letter on the multigraph, as each letter and space is placed on separately; but time is gained when the copies are printed. An inking device is attached to the machine after the type is set; and this handle is turned to pass the paper through. The work of this machine looks more like printing than does the mimeograph. You will notice this machine also has the attach- ment for counting the copies. “This period is now at an end, but I think we have accomplished a great deal if we begin to know the use of the appliances we have here for office work.” —Ruby Lindberg.