Asheville’s Refugee Shop
This little second-hand shop is doing its
part toward aiding the w ar stricken peoples
of Europe, the servicemen and their fami¬
lies in the United States, and the American
Red Cross.
Abroad - brimmed picture
hat of faded pink chiffon
attracts attention to the little
show window of the Refugee Shop.
Some of the clerks affectionately
refer to it as the MEET-ME-IN-ST.-
LOUIS hat because it is very much
like the one worn by Mama Smith
in the popular picture of that
name. It will sell for perhaps as
little as a quarter because it has
seen its best days, and is now ready
for the scrap bag. except for the
white plumes on top which may be
recurled and used again on a new
hat.
The Refugee Shop is run by the
Asheville Association of University
Women, entirely by donations of
clothing, and a little bit of every¬
thing else. The club women them¬
selves who have free time serve
as clerks, two in the morning, two
in the afternoon, each woman serv¬
ing once a week. There are also
substitute volunteers who help in
this worthy cause.
Aids War Victims
The Shop was started in 1940
for aid to war victims in Britain,
and since then has given over ten
thousand dollars to Russia. China.
Greece, Bundles for Britain and
America, the U.S.O.. Red Cross,
and Army and Navy Relief.
People come into this unpreten¬
tious store on College Street, be¬
tween a restaurant and a shoe re¬
pair shop, and browse around as
if they were in a museum or at a
fire sale because there is such a
variety of donations. Several de¬
partment stores contribute new
articles.
Not many of the browsers leave
the store without making at least
some small purchase, two cents
for an odd button, or some strands
of embroidery thread.
The main attraction, however,
is clothing of every kind and size,
for men, women, and children, and
the turn-over is very quick.
Women who sew well, often buy
dresses of good pre-war material
which is superior in many cases to
THE STATE. August 4. 1945
By THELMA V EKIN’ Ell
that which the department stores
are able to get now. and re-make
them into something smart and
attractive.
They often find men’s dress suits
of excellent material and re-style
them into suits for themselves or
a member of the family. One
woman was undecided as to which
of three dress suits she wanted.
Imagine her surprise when she re¬
turned to make her purchase and
found all three coats there, but
the trousers missing, satin stripes
down the trouser legs and all!
Evening dresses with their
abundance of material are bought
at a low price, re-styled, or even
made into street clothes when the
material is suitable.
Men are good customers. Many
a man walks out with a Knox or
Stetson hat which he bought for
a song. After a trip to the clean¬
ers, it will be almost as good as
new.
As all the clothes are second¬
hand. and have no sizes marked on
them, the clerks keep a tape meas¬
ure on hand and tr£ to gauge the
sizes, especially for the men who
come to buy not only for them¬
selves, but also their families.
Seek the Unusual
Almost every day there are
those who come to seek the un¬
usual, or even in the hopes of find¬
ing something in the way of rare
oddities.
One customer bought a quaint,
black velour costume coat just be¬
cause he liked to look at it. When
he took it home his wife announced
that she had no more room for his
museum collections, so she had
him give the coat back to the shop.
He had his eye on an old. odd.
high-buttoned leather shoe, ex¬
tremely narrow, with a beaded de¬
sign up the front, but he resisted.
One prominent out - of - town
woman who is a regular contribu¬
tor, also buys frequently from
the store. She says when she ar¬
rives home with her purchases,
usually of a sentimental nature,
her husband points to a special
shelf where her booty is kept for a
season, then returned to the shop.
Women customers were recent¬
ly interested in a large, out-of-date
bed jacket made of the finest linen,
without a break in it. One woman
who examined its inserted trim¬
ming said it was exactly the same
pattern as that on her grandmoth¬
er’s wedding clothes a hundred
years ago. Yet it sold for very lit¬
tle and was probably cut up into
napkins.
A piece of old pewter that
doesn’t look like much to the aver¬
age on-looker will be prized by
one who does know its value.
Then there is the artificial leg
that has remained on the back,
lay-away table for many months
with a note attached saying that
a Negro woman said she would
probably return for it later. It
was presented by a doctor. There
is a pair of crutches too.
Magazine Collection
One man was delighted to find
some missing back copies to fill in
his ten-year collection of Reader's
Digest magazines, and at five cents
each. Textbooks on many sub¬
jects. novels, and magazines of
every kind, some foreign, are do¬
nated.
One woman was quite happy
when she found a book for twenty-
five cents, that she had enjoyed as
a girl, and hadn’t run across since.
One day an iron contraption
came in that no one could identify
until on accommodating gentle¬
man put it together and announced
that it was used to extract juices
from meat and fruit. From its
size, it must have been used in a
hospital or other large institution.
There is a constant demand for
picture frames, and many are con¬
tributed. A cunning baby will look
out wide-eyed from a frame be-
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