Hattie Carnegie was the young prodigy of Macy's Department Store.  She received most of her formal training and fashion education at the Department Store and with the Holiday Season here. It is the perfect time to discuss Hattie's formative years and Macy's Department Store.

(and how it led to her establishment of Hattie Carnegie Inc.)

  Please Note: For the purpose of easy organization. I stated above the text whether the particular story has to do with Macy's and/or Hattie Carnegie Inc

                        Macy's and Hattie Carnegie Inc

It also talked about how Hattie got her job working for  "Macy's Department Store." She walked in there one day just to check it out. Because Hattie's friends thought she was wasting her obvious talent working in the factory on an assembly line.
She went into the clothing department and saw a dress she didn't like. She suggested to anybody that would listen that she thought that the dress could be improved upon by adding a fur collar and cuffs.
They told her in no uncertain terms,

That she was absolutely crazy!!!! "You don't put cuffs and a collar on a beaded evening gown!!!"

Hattie said, "Fine, If you don't want to take my advice, You can at least give me a job!" stating her name and left. 

Macy's decided to try and sell Hattie's idea, and the design sold like hot cakes. He said, "Get me that girl and offered her a job."

Hattie accepted and stayed working there till she left to open up her own shop in 1909 at age twenty-three
It isn't any wonder Lucille Ball was the way she was she learned so much about the business world from Hattie.
Personality wise they were so much alike it's just amazing.Like when Lucy said, "This is NOT right!!!" that was how Hattie was, "Fine, If you don't want to take my advice!!!" Vintage Lucy. LOL!!!!
Neither one of them took "NO" for an answer.
Even down to Hattie's gambling addiction, She too was serious about her games. "Lighted table and all" LOL!!!! Hattie loved gin rummy and slot machines and we all know Lucy loved backgammon.

 The article didn't state what the problem was, but I could just picture that scene. It had to be so funny.

 Hattie Carnegie Inc

Hattie Realizes her Dream

On July 16, 1919- Hattie Carnegie officially became an independent businesswoman when she bought out business partner,  who was named,  Rosie Roth.      Roth-Carnegie Inc was now known as Hattie Carnegie Inc

Hattie Carnegie Inc

When asked, Hattie admitted that one of her worst traits was that she had a fiery temper.
Hattie was also a perfectionist and expected the same behavior of those around her.
One day Hattie decided she would check up on her employees to see how things were going. She decided to go into the sales department on this particular day. She spotted two of her sales girls,just sitting around talking and laughing. She walked outfiguring they were just taking a break as they were entitled to one. She spent a lot of time focusing on the sales department on that day. Yet by the third time she walked through, She noticed the sales girls were still goofing off.

Hattie yelled, "I want to speak with you both NOW!!!!!"

The three of them walked out of the room and Hattie hit the ceiling she was so angry.
Upon their return Hattie still looked VERY ANGRY and frustrated at her employees She must have let them have it because the girl'swere in tears. Not saying a thing to anybody, Hattie walked off. Still crying the girls got back to work. Hattie returned a couple minutes later with some tissues and water for the girls.

Telling them, "Alright, I'm sorry I lost my temper, apoligized but added,

"There's a time for fun and a time to work. No crying allowed on my time. Now is the time to get to work!!"  
 

Hattie had a fiery temper, she would blow up at someone, she was quick to lose it, Yet quick to calm down.

All would be better in Hattie's mind later in the day, but she couldn't understand why the other person who was on the receiving end of her hot temper was still on pins and needles in her presence.

                   Hattie Carnegie Inc

Hattie was one of the first designers to hire an African-American as a model.She walked into Hattie's shop, one afternoon and asked to speak with her. She told Hattie how much she admired her and thought her clothes were absolutely beautiful, and in her opinion, Hattie was the greatest designer.  At the time, Hattie happened to be looking to hire a NEW model.

Hattie smiled and said,  "Oh Thank you, Have you ever modeled before?"

The girl said, "No."

Hattie asked, "Would you like to?"

She was surprised, and asked Hattie, "Are you sure you want to hire me with your customers and all?"

Hattie replied, "You are beautiful, If my customers, don't like it, I don't want them for customers."

Hattie then told her, She knew all about bigots as she was an Austrian immigrant and Jewish and if they were NOT coming into her shop at the time then they never would, as she knew how prejudice people were and thought it was so sad.

The girl, liked Hattie's comments and accepted the job. 
   

                 Macy's Department Store

When Hattie started to learn a little bit more about business, 

Macy's gave her a job and training in regards to millinery work, .creating hats

She decided to put her training to good use and started making hats to bring income into the household, while she was learning her future trade.  The Kanengeiser family consisted of seven children and their little house was already overcrowded as it was. Mrs.Kanengeiser was getting a little tired of tripping over fabric, finished hats and half finished hats.
Hattie's brothers and sisters were constantly bugging her when she was trying to work, so she felt like she had no place to go to have peace and quiet, She couldn't get anything accomplished.  She used the kitchen table as a working table when the family wasn't eating there. Still ev every single time they had breakfast or dinner. Hattie's mother would have to have her move everything out of the way, and then sit would have to be moved back there to allow Hattie to work again. Plus Hattie was always concerned about misplacing her important ordering records.

Hattie's mother finally told her, "Henrietta, I don't want to discourage you, I admire your ambition and you have a lot of talent, but you are just going to have to find somewhere else to have your hat business as we are just too overcrowded in this little place."

With that Hattie had to give up her private enterprise at least till she opened a shop of her own, because she had too much work to do for Macy's Department Store,  they wouldn't appreciate it, if she was found to be working on her own projects during their time.

          Macy's Department Store and Hattie Carnegie Inc

In 1909 when Hattie was twenty-three. It was a successful year for the young girl, she had just opened up shop, and she was gaining overnight success the money started pouring into the shop. She obviously took care of her mother and siblings like she promised her father that she would and always gave her mother a share of the profits to make sure that the family had the essentials, but yet Henrietta the little girl who never had any money while growing up, was a young adult now and very successful but on the downside, she also didn't know how to handle the success.

Hattie mentioned that because she never had any money growing up, when it got to the point that she actually had a business of her own, a bank account with more money than she had ever seen in her entire life. Hattie continued, "Starting out as young as I did, I didn't really have all that much money, but to me, it looked like a fortune" she said, "and when you are young and foolish, like I was, I'd go into the market, and buy stuff for my family, that I thought they would like, especially my younger brothers and sisters. 

 I would buy items for my business, spending so much money at times, that I never knew how I was gonna pay for it all when the bills came in. Something would always happen, somehow I always paid the bills, but I would worry so I'd be sick, I was so foolish."

                 Hattie Carnegie Inc

Various items that Hattie sold in her shops located at 42 East 49th Street included the following...........

COSTUME JEWELRY
COSMETICS
ANTIQUES
BAGS AND PURSES
SLIPS
BED JACKETS
SWEATERS
BLOUSES
SLACKS
PERFUMES
SCARVES
DRESSES
HATS
AND CHOCOLATES LOL- The chocolates were only sold because Hattie had a fabulous recipe that she wanted to put to good use.

             Macy's Department Store                                   

                                                                              Isidor Straus- Hattie's boss at Macy's with his Beloved Wife, Ida

                                                  (pictured below) 

                                            Took over after R.H. Macy's Death in 1877

                                               Isidor Straus Died in Titanic Accident-1912

Conducting my usual research I found out something VERY SAD!   
Isidor Straus, One of Hattie's original bosses at Macy's Department Store when Hattie begun working and training there,

Years that Hattie was with Macy's-1902-1909

 Well, Lets just he was instrumental in training the young girl and encouraging her to pursue her dreams.

Hattie's former boss and his wife, tragically drowned in the Sinking of the Titanic in April of 1912.
I just think that is so sad, and I'm positive that this incident deeply saddened Hattie, who a few short years, before had decided to try to make a go of it with her own business, due in part to her bosses encouragement.   In fact, He was the one who yelled and screamed at Hattie when she was a young teenager and said that she hadn't any sense, but Hattie impressed him with her ability, drive and determination, and his view of her soon changed and Henrietta Kanengeiser would quickly become one of Macy's Department Store's Greatest Success Stories.
She was known as Henrietta, and only Henrietta until her Macy's internship, Her co-worker's NOT her parents, gave her the nickname of Hattie. 

Hattie's boss was tough as nails with her, but she always held the highest respect for him. He was impressed that when she wanted a job, she just said, "WELL, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE MY ADVICE AT LEAST GIVE ME A JOB THEN." He was shocked by her straight forward nature, but Hattie got the job, they went looking for her.

Isador Straus who thought that Hattie was a foolish young girl in the beginning and used to become so aggravated by her independent nature, changed his opinion about her over the years she worked there (1902-1909)  He grew to really respect her as one of Macy's most gifted employees ever. He encouraged her to follow her dreams to open her own shop.

             Macy's Department Store

Macy's was also one of the first department stores to put women in major management positions.  

 HATTIE WAS EMPLOYED BY,  SHE WAS A MACY'S DEPARTMENT STORE TRAINEE FROM 1902-1909

HATTIE HELD MANY POSITIONS AT MACY'S DEPARTMENT

First as a salesgirl

Secondly a mannequin/clothing model

..........and finally a milliner (A designer who creates and sells hats)

                  Macy's Department Store

It was a battle of wills between Hattie and her father (who was a tailor) it got worse once Hattie got her job at Macy's. Hattie's father was very proud of her that she found employment at such an important store.

At the same, he was distressed and held a strict dress code with his daughters, especially Hattie,  because she was a teenager. When Hattie came home and announced that Macy's gave her a free wardrobe if she would wear the wardrobe provided as an advertisement for Macy's, thus she modeled their fashions. Hattie's father asked to see the wardrobe, and he found it to be acceptable and said she could wear it. 

What he didn't know was that Hattie was raising the hemlines above the knee.

When her father found out what she was doing he lowered the hemlines again. Hattie still not wanting to cut the clothing but still determined tried one more time, to roll the hems, When it didn't work, she took scissors to all the dresses and cut the material so everything so all her wardrobe for Macy's was the way that she wanted. When Mr. Kanengeiser found out what his daughter had done. He was absolutely furious with her, but Hattie ended up winning that battle, because she was REQUIRED to wear her wardrobe while working. 

Note: Macy's wasn't too thrilled with young Hattie either, and she argued about hemlines with her co-workers. That all changed when her design idea begun selling like hotcakes and Macy's adopted yet another one of young Hattie's ideas. Hattie was the FIRST designer to raise hemlines above the knee.her ideas brought the store a lot of sales and customers.

 Other Macy's Department Store employees always valued Hattie's opinion and fashion sense after that. 

                  FASHION DESIGNER OR FASHION EDITOR?????

Although Hattie Carnegie was known as one of The Greatest Fashion Designers of her time.
Hattie was not really a designer at all as she couldn't draw, cut a pattern nor sew in a straight line. What Hattie was according to her staff and trainees was a fabulous teacher and educator. Hattie knew enough about fashion, style, The garment industry and the business world that she could educate other people to carry out the ideas that she wanted implemented.

That in itself took a special skill.

What Hattie was a fashion editor and teacher, she would edit the designs her design students gave to her to look over, and fix them and try to improve upon them. She also gave her students assignments to create the ideas she dreamed up and relied upon them to create a finished product.  she also gave them creative license to create their own designs, and ulitize it as a learning expirience, but she would offer them advice, whether they wanted it or not
She was also a fabulous businesswoman and loved the business world and wanted her own dress and hat shop since she was a little girl that was still playing with dolls.
Macy's Department Store taught Hattie the ins and outs about how to succeed in the business world and  also taught her how to run a business efficently.
Hattie's formal book education ended after sixth grade, but Macy's was her trade school of sorts and she also attended countless seminars to learn what would be her future trade of choice. Hattie's beloved father was a tailor by trade, so it kind of surprises me that he never really taught her how to sew correctly, especially since she was interested in her father's trade since she was a little girl,  She always wanted to help her father as he took a lot of work home.
Although maybe because her father needed the sewing machine for work and the Kanengeisers were far too poor to afford another one if that one was accidently broken because one of the children was playing with it as if it were a toy, maybe she was forbidden to touch it. Therefore she never learned. That's just my theory. 

HATTIE CARNEGIE WAS A BUSINESSWOMAN, EDUCATOR AND A FASHION EDITOR, BUT CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF SHE WAS NEVER A FASHION DESIGNER, ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE MISTAKENLY THINK THAT SHE WAS!!!!!!
_________________

     HISTORY OF MACY'S DEPARTMENT STORE

      Infomation can be found on New York.com http://newyork.com

         http://www.newyork.com/visit/attractions/macys.html

    Rowland Hussey Macy, a former whaler, opened a small store at West 14th Street in 1857. The red star logo is actually borrowed from a tattoo, which Macy got when he was a sailor. By 1877, the store had expanded to a row of eleven buildings. Macy died in 1877, but the store continued its growth under the direction of Isidor and Nathan Straus, who had headed Macy's china and glassware department.

 
After outgrowing its original site, the firm acquired the present site in 1902. The ornate entrance at 34th street still has the original caryatids standing guard at the entrance. The clock and the original lettering are there, too.

A plaque at the main entrance commemorates the death of Isador and his wife, who died aboard the Titanic in the tragic sinking of the famous ship in 1912.

             Macy's Department Store    

              Henrietta aka Hattie

Henrietta started out as a model and mannequin for Macy's Department Store,  although she loved the wardrobe that she was given as a trade for modeling the fashions and promoting Macy's, she hated it at the same time.

Henrietta was very embrassed when it came to modeling assignments, because she was so teeny tiny.

Hattie herself stated, that she had no figure to speak of. She was very insecure about how she looked.

When they saw her people would always comment how cute or adorable that she was.  Henrietta would always be gracious and thank them, but she always hated being called cute.it was worse for her when people would speak to her and she would answer them and they would say that

"The little blonde girl has an accent isn't she cute"

Henrietta wanted to be taken seriously, just like her co-workers, but because she didn't quite have a handle on the English language yet, and because of her accent, and the fact that she was so little, she was not taken seriously and regarding as adorable.

At least adorable was a compliement as she was also ridiculed by a few mean spirited customers who thought that she was stupid or naive because she was an immigrant. Henrietta wanted to prove them wrong, she set out to do just that.

Henrietta was about to get a promotion. She was going to get to learn a trade next, a trade that she was introduced to early on by her beloved father. She was going to get the chance to learn how to design. Henrietta's father was a tailor, but he never taught her how to sew, and I really don't know why, but he didn't.)\

Macy's was going to give her millinery training. Hence she was going to learn how to design hats.  Henrietta felt like this was a way to express herself, to create something that was uniquely hers. As much as she dreaded modeling, she equally loved the millinery work,  the prospect of a career in milliney work was something that she desperately wanted to pursue and couldn't wait to learn. She showed so much enthuasism with the training and was a quick study.  Henrietta shined in this new field that she was studying, she always completed the tasks that she was taught faster than the other employees.

She was also very creative with her hat designs, They showcased beautiful colors, lace, ribbons and flowers. 

She quickly became known for her unique and interesting hat designs.

         The Tiny Milliner

(Her talent for hat design became her trademark.)

Her co-workers begun to call her "Hattie" and the nickname stuck for the rest of her life.

Hattie thought that hats were an important part of a stylish wardrobe, here is where she contradicted herself, again. 

 Hattie seldom wore hats herself. At least when she was an adult because as a child and little girl she was always playing dress up by the mirror with her mothers hats, and always draping colorful cloth or any type of fabric that she could locate over her head to make hats and scarves out of the material.  She often found herself in trouble when she would take the fabric that her father was using to make suits out of as he often took work home with him to complete. He would find her looking in the mirror with the cloth draped over her head. Not being able to stay upset at her for long her father compromised, gave her some fabric to play with. 

Hattie credited Macy's Department Store for teaching her a valuable trade that she put into good use when she finally acheived the dream of her own shop. She felt like all the trades she was taught via Macy's helped her acheive success Because she had worked as all of the above a salesgirl, model and milliner, she liked millinery work the very best.

                     Hattie Carnegie Inc 

What retail cost Hattie in 1949

Hattie Carnegie stated these facts in a 1949 interview.

At that current time, She was making two wholesale collections per year at a cost of around $125,000 each.

Her smaller custom collections cost her $75,000 a piece.

The fabrics that she bought were expensive, high quality and had to be exclusive.

Hattie would not allow any print to be carried over to a second season. Any fabric left over was sold to retail stores.

Even though was proud to be an American designer, she also loved French designs,

She was known to proudly showcase a few French imports along with her own collections.

 Hattie thought her style and taste mirrored that of French designers and commented in the pre-war years that she was a very big importer.  She had this to say about importing.

“Those trips overseas, I used to return from Europe and all my customers gathered around to see what I had brought back from Paris, “ she said nostalgically.

Today, French things are too expensive. A Dior coat cost me $750.00, The duty on it was about $450.00 more, therefore I had to end up selling it for $850.00. Slips land at $100.00 and I must get at least $165.00 for them. People used to buy for those prices, but they can’t anymore, so I don’t either.”

Hattie also knew her trade so well, That she guessed on all things that were fashion related.

She could quickly tell you what designer created what, what year it was made, how much it cost. 

 She also had several details on the various costume jewelry or other accessories that went with each outfit.

                                HATTIE CARNEGIE INC

                 HATTIE'S  FASHIONABLE SALON IN NEW YORK CITY

                          Courtsey of Life Magazine-November 1945

                                http://www.life.com/Life/

                       Hattie advises a customer on her fashion selections

                       Hattie's secretary and assistant Josephine Hughes

                                           (Seated at right)