To win her position, "Shirley" must have first acquired secretarial skills through a business college after high schoolă no cheap prospect. Four months of basic stenographic courses ran $75 on average, while a respectable secretarial degree might have cost between $150 and $400. She received plenty of direction on the career path. Popular lifestyle books and practical guides like Gladys Torson's The Art of Being a Successful Business Girl and Frances Maule's, The Road to Anywhere: Opportunities in Secretarial Work offered endless advice amidst practical information for the would-be white collar girl. She earned on average between $11 and $25 dollars a week ($600-$1300 per year); paid $8-$12 dollars a week for a room and two meals daily in a women's hotel; had coffee and a doughnut at midday for about 15 cents at a drugstore counter. She worked an average of 44 hours per week and was apparently the victim of what Life called "that awful 5:30 feeling"-- dread in face of the lonely hours of single life between work and bedtime. Seeking urban sophistication, many smoked-- Wings if they had a dime, Lucky Strikes or Camels if they were flush-- and drinking, as articles filled with dire warning attested, was an "attractive sin."