California Shop Records
name: label: Creator
content: California Shop.
label: Creator
content: Kemp, Helen Misch, 1894-1948 (store owner/manager)
label: Donor
content: Kemp, Barbara
place: label: Place
content: California -- Fashion -- 1930-1940
label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.) -- Fashion -- 1930-1940
topic: label: Topic
content: advertising -- 1930-1940 -- California
label: Topic
content: advertising -- Clothing and dress -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: advertising -- Clothing trade -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: advertising -- Fashion -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: Women in business -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: Women -- Employment
label: Topic
content: Women -- History -- 1930-1940 -- New York
label: Topic
content: Consumer goods
label: Topic
content: Jewelry
label: Topic
content: Cookware
label: Topic
content: Advertising, magazine -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Barbara Kemp
creator: label: Creator
content: California Shop.
label: Creator
content: Kemp, Helen Misch, 1894-1948 (store owner/manager)
setName: label: See more items in
content: California Shop Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Records documenting the history and retail activities of the California Shop created to offer California craftsmanship to the eastern consumer market. Located in New York City the shop primarily sold women's clothing but also offered household products, pottery, and jewelry.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Helen Misch Kemp opened the California Shop on November 15, 1938 at 677 Madison Avenue in New York City.  Kemp was born April 22, 1894 in New York to Moses and Jennie Misch but had moved to California in 1936 where she worked in the women's clothing trade. Some time later she moved back to New York and noticed a distinction between the clothing and merchandise created in California as opposed to what was being offered in New York. California was also gaining a reputation in the fashion industry for its women designers who were combining chic styles, comfort, and unique colors for the American female market. Armed with a keen eye for fashion and shrewd business sense Kemp opened her shop to provide California craftsmanship to an eastern market. Kemp took annual trips to California to select what she considered was the best for her customers. While the California Shop sold mostly women's clothing it also offered products such as preserves, copper household utensils, cookware, trays, wastebaskets, spice jars, wall pockets, flower containers, pottery, and jewelry. On October 15, 1940, the shop moved to 674 Madison Avenue, where it occupied a larger space. Kemp closed her shop in 1942 due to war time difficulties in getting merchandise from California. Helen Kemp died on February 13, 1948, at the age of fifty-four.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (2 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1938-1942
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: Donated by Barbara Kemp, 1997.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0572
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Invitations
label: Type
content: Announcements
label: Type
content: Newspaper clippings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Materials are arranged in one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, August 1997.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 1930-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1930-1940
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Invitations
label: Genre/Form
content: Announcements
label: Genre/Form
content: Newspaper clippings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Collection consists of a bound volume used as both a log of visitors to the shop and a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, ephemera, magazine articles, announcements, and invitations to fashion shows.  The first few pages of the volume are the guest book. The remaining pages were used as the scrapbook and is in reverse chronological order. There are also loose pages from the volume and its wooden covers, with a portion of a map of the Audencia of Guadalajara used as the cover illustration. Of particular interest are the typewritten manuscripts documenting Kemp's ideas for starting the California Shop. In addition, there are photographs of the shop, possibly in 1941, and Helen Kemp.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution


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