“Of course it was well enough to laugh as we all knew there was no ‘elsewhere,’ but when I recalled how ready people are to crowd into a field that has proved successful, I determined no longer to heed the shaking heads of my friends.  The third week found me not only with a second assistant but with a card posted in a conspicuous place announcing that at the beginning of the next week I would enlarge my quarters in such a way as to accommodate more than twice as many guests.

“Having proved to my own satisfaction that my venture was and would be successful, I didn’t hesitate to go into debt to the extent of $150.  This was not only to repair and freshen up the new room but also to equip it with more expensive furnishing than I had felt myself justified in buying for the first.

“Knowing how every little thing that happens is talked about in a college town, I was sure the difference in the furnishings of the rooms would prove a good advertisement.  I counted on it to draw custom, but not just in the way it did.

“Before I realized just what was happening I was receiving letters from college boys who, after proclaiming themselves among my very first customers, demanded to know why they were discriminated against.  I had noticed that everybody appeared to prefer the new room and that on several occasions when persons telephoning for reservations had been unable to get the promise of a table in there, they had said they would wait and come at another time.  What I had not noticed was that only men coming alone or with other men, and girls coming with other girls, would accept seats in the first room.

“I learned from the letters of ‘my very first patrons’ that no gentleman would take a girl to have tea in a second class tea room.  They were not only hitting at the cheaper furnishings of my first room but also at the waiter whom I had employed, because I felt the need of a man’s help in doing heavy work.  The girl in her fresh apron and cap was more attractive than the man, and because he happened to serve in the first room he also was second class.

“No, I couldn’t afford to buy new furniture for that room, so I did the only thing I could think of.  I mixed the furniture in such a way as to make the two rooms look practically alike.  I hired another girl and relegated the man to the kitchen except in case of emergency.

“Although my custom fell off in summer to a bare sprinkling of guests afternoons and evenings and to almost no one at lunch, I kept the same number of employees and had them put up preserves, jams, syrups, and pickles for use the coming season.  I knew it would not only be an economical plan but also a great drawing card, especially with certain of the professors, to be able to say that everything served was made on the place and under my own supervision.

“My second winter proved so successful that I determined to buy a home for my business so that I might have things exactly as I wished.  I was able to pay the first instalment, $2,500, on the purchase price and still have enough in bank to make alterations and buy the necessary furnishings.