putterings       263   <   264   >   265       index

pencan make, certain voids in their lives
 

... wildfire to with the book , just return it and every pencan make that puttering yield you a ny of your money will be refunded imreligious people and gives you a 500 % spare - time income of $ 25,000 a year . mediately . markup .

— OCR cross-column confusion, full-page advertisement for David D. Seltz, his A Treasury of Business Opportunities (Farnsworth Publishing Company, 1976)
in Venture Magazine (unspecified issue, 1982) : link
found thus —

many other appearances same advertisement, in part and whole, including this —
“How to launch your own business for under $1,000 and make $25,000-$50,000 a year!”
entire paragraph :
      If you or your spouse like to “putter” around the kitchen, just turn to page 68 of this book and see how you can make that puttering yield you a spare-time income of $25,000 a year.

— at Changing Times (now Kiplinger’s Personal Finance) 34:10 (October 1980) : 87 : link
 

David D. Seltz (1910-93)

“an expert on sales and retail franchises” and author of “hundreds of articles and about 30 books” on those topics, according to his New York Times obituary (4 November 1993) : link (paywall)

see LoC for (24 of) those publications : link
twelve titles available via archive.org : link

Seltz’s first book was 125 ways to make money with your typewriter, compiled from actual cases
Cleveland, O., New York City, The World Syndicate Company [1939]
borrowable at archive.org : link (digital library of India scan)
one of those 125 ways —

Make-Believe Social Letters
The Plan
      Writing “make-believe” letters to persons anxious to receive correspondence is a novel part-time occupation which is reaping substantial returns for an aggressive young man in Passaic, New Jersey.
How It Works
      An aged couple, childless, wanted to receive “typical letters” from a “typical” child attending college; a spinster, denied romance throughout her life, requested “romantic” letters from a mythical lover; another woman desired letters that coached her on social and personal graces; still another person, unsuccessful in self-discipline, wanted letters reprimanding him in a fatherly tone. This correspondence filled certain voids in their lives. He typed the letters and sent them out at intervals, as requested. His customers were secured by plancing an advertisement in his local newspaper announcing this unique service. He was surprised at the large number of requests for this “make-believe” correspondence.
Possible Profits
      His rates are $3.00 a month. on the basis of a letter each week. With some 37 subscribers, he has been able to earn about $90 a month.
p 29
 

21 February 2023