1940s? Hat - Info on Henrietta O'Brien
- Thread starter Emily O
- Start date
carla rey
VFG Member
Hi Emily!
I searched with Henrietta O'Brien milliner/millinery and this came up!
link:
http://www.ourrelativesonline.net/gaffney.htm
I searched with Henrietta O'Brien milliner/millinery and this came up!
link:
http://www.ourrelativesonline.net/gaffney.htm
Last edited:
Rue_de_la_Paix
VFG Member
That is a lovely hat. I have not come across her label before. Her work is typical of small town or small city milliners, and there were thousands of similar small shops across the USA. While her name is not well known, nor her work counted among the famous or more heralded hat makers, she certainly had a very long career which is impressive. According to the information Carla has so graciously provided, she was born in 1889 and opened her millinery shop in 1918. Since your hat looks to be from the early to mid 1950s, and she had a successful business in her city for many decades.
The only thing I disagree with on that "our relatives" website is the comment that it was unusual for a woman to own and manage a millinery shop in 1918. Not so! Millinery was a wide spread and accepted way for women to find work, apprentice to the trade, and eventually open their own millinery shops. This practice goes back to Victorian times, and by the end of WWI there were many more women owning and managing businesses.
I always enjoy learning about more of these unsung hat makers, and I thank you for sharing your hat with us here on the VFG.
Emily O
Registered Guest
Thanks ladies! This hat came in a lot of about 15, all with labels I have to research and amazing colors/design/eras. I posted some of them for you to just take a look at for vintage viewing pleasure! If you have questions or want to see more pictures of a particular one, just ask! Plus, there are more I have yet to photograph.
Attachments
BonniesVintageClothesLine
VFG Member
The trade of Millinery for women goes back to Colonial days(18th century). I learned so much from the seminar I took in Williamsburg in March celebrating the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop which has been recreated in Colonial Williamsburg. It is so interesting to learn about,Henriette O'Brien, one of the small independent Milliners of the day. Nice to spotlight her work in some way so it's not forgotten!
lkranieri
VFG Member
Something that came to mind when I read this thread was an item I found in a 1993 Philadelphia Museum of Art bulletin:
"This edition of the Bulletin was published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art that explored the art and craft of millinery in Europe and the United States from 1900 to the time of the exhibition.
The introduction notes that the 1870's and 1880's French Impressionist images of the milliner are among the most enduring images of the trade, but those images conveyed to the contemporaries of the artists a subtle message of another trade – that of prostitution. Because of the seasonal nature of the millinery business and the low wages, many of the young women who made and sold hats apparently had to occasionally supplement their income with additional sources of revenue and at times that additional source was prostitution. In fact, the author notes that "millinery shops were frequently used as a cover for such illicit affairs." It was not until the early 1900's that millinery became a respectable occupation for young ladies."
"This edition of the Bulletin was published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art that explored the art and craft of millinery in Europe and the United States from 1900 to the time of the exhibition.
The introduction notes that the 1870's and 1880's French Impressionist images of the milliner are among the most enduring images of the trade, but those images conveyed to the contemporaries of the artists a subtle message of another trade – that of prostitution. Because of the seasonal nature of the millinery business and the low wages, many of the young women who made and sold hats apparently had to occasionally supplement their income with additional sources of revenue and at times that additional source was prostitution. In fact, the author notes that "millinery shops were frequently used as a cover for such illicit affairs." It was not until the early 1900's that millinery became a respectable occupation for young ladies."
I wish I had known about the Williamsburg workshop. Do you know if they will be having another one in the future?
BonniesVintageClothesLine
VFG Member
Yes, the issue of the trade of Millinery being associated with the world's oldest trade/profession was discussed by several speakers and touched upon in a little skit that was performed on the last evening!
Last edited:
BonniesVintageClothesLine
VFG Member
I posted a thread about the Symposium when it was first announced. Colonial Williamsburg is always having events for the public and you might want to keep check at their website which is: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/
Sorry you missed it....the discussions were wonderful and included a number of aspects about the millinery world that I knew nothing about!
Thank you. I don't think I was a member of this forum at that time, I'll keep an eye out for the next one.