Comments and Tags
Be the first to comment on this item!
Clothing and Accessories
Women's Clothing ➔ Woman's Jacket
Identifier:
2015.20.3Description:
A fashionable black lace jacket from the turn of the century, this ensemble is important for its association with Mrs. J.C. Nora Carr of Grand Rapids, an early Michigan entrepreneur and businesswoman who was the founder of the Marietta Stanley Company. The company manufactured cosmetics and was a highly successful national brand.This jacket has historic significance as a garment Mrs. Carr owned and wore, likely while working in business or one of her many philanthropic causes. She traveled extensively and promoted her business around the country, sometimes visiting Hollywood stars. This lace jacket is a representation of a garment that would have been worn by well-to-do women at the turn of the century.
Date:
circa 1900Materials:
Lace, CottonCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift of Irene QuinnRelated Entities:
Irene Quinn (donor)Irene Quinn is the great-grandaughter of Mrs. J.C.(Nora) Carr (b. 1845 - d. December 23, 1915) a prominent early businesswoman in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mrs. Carr was the founder of Marietta Stanley company, a maker of cosmetics. J.C. Nora Carr (used by)
Alternate names: Nora Bresnahan Husted
Nora Carr and Nora Husted were a mother and daughter team that founded and operated a
Grand Rapids cosmetics business for over 50 years. When the elder Nora Husted moved to Grand
Rapids from Lowell, Michigan, in 1885, shortly after she and her first husband had divorced, she
opened a boarding house to earn money to care for her five children. To bring in more income, she
began to make soap and perfume in the family kitchen and, with the help of her children, sold her
products door to door. Later, after marrying James C. Carr, she sold the boarding house, but kept her
toiletries business.
In 1895 Nora Carr founded the Marietta-Stanley Company to manufacture and sell her
cosmetics. Adopting the product name "Sempre Giovine" (Italian for forever young), she built a
manufacturing plant on Grand Rapids' West Side that employed 70 workers at its peak. When Mrs.
Carr died in 1915, her daughter and namesake Nora assumed management of the company. In
addition to running the business, Husted was active in many local organizations, including the Zonta
Club, Women's City Club, and St. Mary's Catholic Church. Following Nora's death in 1935, a second
sister, Elizabeth, took over the firm, eventually selling it to a Chicago company, which kept the plant
going until 1951, more than a half-century after its founding.
(Source: Biography found in Grand Rapids History and Special Collection, GRPL, Collection #264, Making a Difference: Outstanding Women in Grand Rapids History Exhibit) Marietta Stanley Company (is related to)
Marietta Stanley Company was founded in 1895 by Nora Carr. It was located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
