Within a 20-year period from the late 1850s to the late 1870s, most European countries created programmes in response to what appeared as a new social problem: unwed daughters of the middle classes in need of jobs. Taking off from the 150th anniversary of the English Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, this paper examines the diffusion of such courses across Europe and the very similar occupations that most thought appropriate for their clientele. It also highlights variations in structures, leadership and funding that emerged, and in particular how the English pacesetter remained much smaller than many later creations. Sponsors seldom sought public funding, but they had no problem seeking charitable contributions to help middle-class young women avoid being "de-classed". (Contains 44 footnotes.)