CO-FOUNDER of the Assistance League of Los Angeles, Anne Banning, poses for a photo in 1918. Courtesy of Autry Museum
An online exhibit that honors the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage also recounts the origin of modern thrift stores using the extensive library of historical records compiled by the Assistance League of Los Angeles (ALLA) .
Visit “What’s Her Story: Women in the Archives” online at Autry Museum of the American West. The exhibition began physically in the museum and was later moved online for the foreseeable future.
Two Hancock Park women, Anne Banning and Ada Laughlin, founded ALLA in 1919. This women-led organization and its 100-year history had a tremendous amount of physical memories to share with the public. ALLA was looking for a place to keep his collection. L’Autry has long been telling women’s stories. When the leaders of these two organizations met in 2015, it seemed natural for ALLA to donate its archive collection to Autry.
The artifact collection is the largest archival collection at Autry, according to Liza Posas, head of research services and archives at Autry. She says Autry was honored to receive this gift from ALLA.
Browse this exhibition online. Interesting to see old photographs, documents, LA buildings and fashions from decades past.
The most interesting takeaways for me were learning about the origin of thrift stores and how ALLA came to be.
A WARNING for a fundraising activity at the Red Cross shop around 1917. Courtesy of Autry Museum
In 1917, Banning established the Red Cross Shop and Tea Room (the Shop) at Eighth and Alvarado streets to help citizens affected by World War I. Local residents donated – and volunteers collected – clothing, jewelry, furniture and household items. Items were skillfully displayed and resold in the shop.
You think “frippery”. And yes, that’s the idea, but it was new a hundred years ago. Today, thrift stores are usually associated with charities, but in 1917 it was a new concept. The shop looked more like a modern department store and was extremely profitable.
The shop also served as a community center where mostly women volunteered and where local residents learned to make surgical gowns which were dispersed to hospitals to further aid the war effort. Cups of tea were available at no cost to the customer.
After the success of the store, Banning and Laughlin co-founded the Assistance League. Within a few years, the duo opened another highly successful thrift store in Los Angeles to help support ALLA. It was extremely lucrative for many years until it closed in the early 2000s.
Check out the exhibit on theautry.com and find the interesting facts that interest you.
Category: Entertainment