at so much a thousand ...

[GUEST2008]

Hi

Miss Mayfield indulged in another little daydream. Out of her much increased salary, perhaps she could save something;
perhaps here, in the very heart of the country, she could
find a tiny cottage and have it ready to welcome Rose in,
say, twelve or eighteen years’ time; perhaps even, freed
from the outrageous demands of Miss Stevens’ careerist
experiments, she might find time and energy to do some
extra work – a little coaching, an evening class. Under the
heady excitement of her first glimpse of this beautiful
place, she thought of addressing envelopes at so much a
thousand, or baby-sitting.

Does it mean she wanted to send some letters to one thousand people or even start baby-sitting (although she was a teacher)?

[bhaisahab]

Hi

Miss Mayfield indulged in another little daydream. Out of her much increased salary, perhaps she could save something;
perhaps here, in the very heart of the country, she could
find a tiny cottage and have it ready to welcome Rose in,
say, twelve or eighteen years’ time; perhaps even, freed
from the outrageous demands of Miss Stevens’ careerist
experiments, she might find time and energy to do some
extra work – a little coaching, an evening class. Under the
heady excitement of her first glimpse of this beautiful
place, she thought of addressing envelopes at so much a
thousand, or baby-sitting.

Does it mean she wanted to send some letters to one thousand people or even start baby-sitting (although she was a teacher)?

It means that she thought that she could earn some money by writing the addresses on envelopes for an amount of money per thousand envelopes addressed.

[GUEST2008]

Hi

So she thought she would write addresses on one thousand envelopes and get money for it. Sounds silly ;)

[bhaisahab]

Hi

So she thought she would write addresses on one thousand envelopes and get money for it. Sounds silly ;)

It's not silly, at one time (possibly even nowadays) women were paid money by companies to work at home addressing envelopes for their correspondence.

[GUEST2008]

Cottage industry?

I see. Thanks.

[bhaisahab]

Cottage industry?

I see. Thanks.

Yes, you might call it that.

[Raymott]

Hi

So she thought she would write addresses on one thousand envelopes and get money for it. Sounds silly ;)

You have to remember that we didn't always have computers and printers, and someone had to address envelopes. It was an unskilled job, but compared to today, labour intensive. (Actually not so unskilled in the old days - you had to be able to read and write legibly).
Also back in those days, you didn't need a Diploma in Child Care to baby sit.