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We have attempted to ask an honest price for our honest work; we have preferred to grow slowly & to grow naturally rather than to turn into an object of benevolence or of artificial speculation....Our society as far as profit sharing goes consists of all its workers, the woman who dyes our thread, the embroiderers, and the designers. As a business firm we have no profits. The full price is divided into 10 parts; 5 parts goes to the embroiderer; 2 parts to the designer; 2 parts to the fund, which is used to pay the running expenses of the society; and the 1 remaining part covers the expense of the materials used....This proportion is founded on a belief that the hand and brain work are interdependent and should receive equal money returns.
Margaret Whiting's "Notes on Village Industries," Typescript, 1900. Deerfield Town Papers, collection of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.
...A salary is charged by the three managers because we would have the society in no way a charitable organization. This proportionate division of the returns, I am happy to state, allows us to pay the labor at the rate of 20 cents an hour for skilled work.
In this statement Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework co-founder Margaret Whiting explains the method used for calculating the consumer price for a Blue and White embroidery.