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The NYC Woman Who Started Her Own Business Being Cheerful To Strangers A Century Ago
Around the turn of last century, a young woman started her own business being a “Sunshine Companion” paid by the hour to those in New York City in need of cheer
Entrepreneurship is a beautiful thing where people can and have come up with all manner of ideas as the basis for a business. Some of these are straightforward and practical, while others go after more niche customers. That could most likely be said in regards to Ms. W.V. Townsend, a New York woman who started her own unique business around 1903 that was based on strangers paying her to be a cheerful friend by the hour.
At the turn of last century, it was rarer for a woman to open her own business. It was even less common for a woman to start a venture that offered an untraditional service. Such was the case of Ms. Townsend, who the August 1, 1903 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune described as a young lady originally hailing from California, who was living in New York City and selling her services as a “Sunshine Companion.”
The concept of her business is that she made herself available, “at a moment’s notice,” to go to a client and spread good cheer at an hourly rate. This could take the…
