So, this holocaust survivor (from Leipzig, Germany) started a company when I was born. One that curried my curiosity enough to have purchased from it more times that I would probably care to admit. And, I was pretty confused as a tyke (I first purchased from this firm when I was 8), thinking I was dealing with a firm in the Virginia suburbs.
But, no. Lillian Vernon (nee Lilian Menasche) located her company in Mount Vernon, New York. (Right near another company from which I purchased lots of stuff- FR Chemical [the photography supplier]- which also became a client.) And, she grew her business from nothing to some $ 300 million in annual turnover and got it listed on the stock exchange- which made Lillian Vernon the first woman owner of a public company on the American Stock Exchange. (By the way, she sold the company for more than $ 60 million in 2003, of which she and her two sons recouped $ 24 million.)
Lillian Vernon was among the very best known mail-order businesses. She “Americanized” her first name and skipped using her last one (Hochberg), choosing instead the Vernon of “Mount Vernon”, so no one would know it was a Jewish firm. (This was America in the 1950s- and she was a holocaust survivor, to boot.) The firm started out by selling handbags- and grew it to sell every tchotchke known to man (at least until the turn of the century)- welcome mats, bookmarks, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, etc. She mailed out her catalog every month, with a selection of some 750 items to households across the US. And, the firm continued to thrive, trying to make the transition to the internet (with an AOL storefront in 1995), followed by proffering an online catalog-website. But, the dot-com bubble did her in, which is why she sold her firm to Zelnick Media.
She served on the board of NYU (during the time it was in financial trouble and was forced to close its engineering school- which they recently restarted by convincing the state to change the NYU bailout agreement, which allowed NYU to gobble up my alma mater- Brooklyn Poly) for years. She also endowed a creative writing program at NYU- the Lillian Vernon Writer’s House. (By the way, she she only attended NYU for two years, quitting her education to start her firm).
Besides her political activities (an avid Democratic Party supporter) and NYU service, she served on the boards of Lincoln Center, Citymeals-on-Wheels, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (the American Friend unit). She also promoted the civic functions of the Toys for Tots Foundation (US Marine Corps) and the Literacy Volunteers of America, among them.
And, earlier this month, her son, Fred Hochberg (Chair and President of the Export-Import Bank, formerly the head of the Small Business Administration) announced her death at 88 years of age.
A woman who made a difference. And brought smiles to many a household.
