PC: Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
On 20 March 2023, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History announced the addition of Vernon’s business materials and personal papers to its national collections. The collection also included nearly 400 archival materials, a teenage scrapbook, early merchandise examples, including a monogrammed girl’s purse and a belt, as well as papers and audiovisual materials documenting the growth of her company and her philanthropy. The museum announced that the objects would go on display in October 2023 in the Consumer Era (1940s–1970s) section of its American Enterprise exhibition, located in the Mars Hall of American Business.
Hochberg, and included the original yellow Formica kitchen table from which she had launched her business. The donation was made by her sons, David and Fred P. The original tabletop still contained pencil marks made by her son Fred when he was young. Kathleen Franz, project director for the museum’s American Enterprise exhibition and chair of its Work and Industry Division, explained the significance of the table, saying it was an evocative example of female entrepreneurship and the additional responsibilities women often managed while running a business and a household. Vernon’s story was also to be presented alongside that of advertising pioneer and civil rights activist Byron Lewis, who founded UniWorld Group. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Lillian Vernon, a Holocaust survivor who escaped Germany with her family as a young girl, built a multimillion-dollar business from her kitchen table after starting a handbag venture in 1951. At the time, she was a young married woman looking to earn an extra $50 a week to support her family. Born Lilli Menasche in Germany in 1927, Vernon escaped the Holocaust with her family as a young girl. In 1951, while still a young married woman, she decided to start a business to supplement her family’s income. Her initial target was to earn an additional $50 a week. The company gradually expanded its merchandise and operations, moving beyond the small home-based enterprise she had established in 1951. The company was eventually sold in 2003, marking the end of Vernon’s ownership of the business she had established from her home.
She began the enterprise from her kitchen table, selling monogrammed accessories aimed at teenagers, according to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It became the first business founded by a woman to be publicly traded on an American stock exchange, according to the Smithsonian. Her first product was a handbag manufactured by her father, which she advertised in Seventeen magazine. What began as a small business selling monogrammed accessories to teenagers gradually expanded into a major catalogue company. The Lillian Vernon Corporation later became the first business founded by a woman to be publicly traded on an American stock exchange. She later settled in Mount Vernon, New York, from where she took the business name, Lillian Vernon. Her first product was a handbag made by her father. She advertised it in Seventeen magazine, marking the beginning of a business that would eventually grow into a major corporation. The original kitchen table later became part of the Smithsonian’s national collections. Vernon spent the first year of her business fulfilling customer orders and looking for new products. Two important features of her approach were personalised merchandise and direct-mail marketing. The business offered monogrammed accessories, allowing customers to purchase products with individual personalisation, while its direct-mail strategy helped establish its catalogue operations. Personalisation and niche marketing through direct mail were among Vernon’s key business innovations. These approaches helped her develop a distinctive catalogue business. Vernon’s business expanded considerably over the following decades. What had started as a small operation selling personalised accessories for teenagers eventually developed into a large catalogue company. By the 1990s, the business had grown to generate tens of millions of dollars and was operating multiple catalogues. The Lillian Vernon Corporation also achieved a significant milestone in American business history.