Commentary—

The VNA Thrift Shop’s Storied History

By Mae Schmidle

Not as old as the flagpole, nor as glitzy as the colorful Victorian ladies on Main Street, the Newtown Visiting Nurse Thrift Shop has created history in its own unique and charming way, enabling Newtowners to help Newtowners. The year was 1938, and the town of Newtown had 3,800 full-time residents. The community was well aware of the importance of the Newtown VNA from its valuable and heroic work during the great Flu Pandemic in 1918. But health needs continued to increase and the VNA needed to raise more money. Up until then, the VNA’s primary source of revenue was an annual fund drive with board members going door-to-door for donations, the average of which was 50 cents per home.

A loaf of bread cost 7 cents, a pound of hamburger was 13 cents, the cost of a gallon of gas was 10 cents, boy’s corduroy pants and breeches were $1.98, girls woolen hose was 25 cents and the average cost of a new home was $3,900. Newtown High School, located on top of Hawley School, graduated its biggest class – 32 students. But most significantly, this was the year that the Newtown Visiting Nurse Association board of directors launched their biggest endeavor — the Thrift Shop.

The board of directors worried that young children’s teeth needed dental care and attention and free milk in schools was needed. So board members rolled up their collective sleeves and organized a Thrift Shop to sell outgrown clothing and unneeded household items donated by local people. Initially, it was the board members’ closets and pantries that were foraged.

One of the most popular ways the VNA stocked the Thrift Shop and raised money was through a Bundle Bridge Party. Local ladies were invited to come and play Bridge, Pinochle or Chinese Checkers. But if they also brought a bundle of clothes for the Thrift Shop, they could play for only 25 cents, otherwise it would cost them 50 cents to play cards, with their own cards, of course.

So the VNA Thrift Shop, and its concept of “Newtowners helping Newtowners” was met with open arms and much enthusiasm. Mr and Mrs Joseph Chase, who owned the largest commercial building in town (then known as the Chase building but now known as the Gold Building right at the flagpole), provided the VNA Thrift Shop a selling space in the lower level of their building for more than 30 years, until the shop moved to Edmond Town Hall. Thirty years of the Chases’ rent-free, electricity-free generosity is almost unheard of today.

The original Thrift Shop had all the ambience of an old country store. Right in the center was a black potbellied stove; there were wide plank wooden floor boards and tables loaded with merchandise, with the better clothing hung from the old oak ceiling beams. An old-fashioned wooden barrel sat right outside the shop door. No one quite knew what the purpose of the barrel was but several generations of young people believed it was just there for the pleasure of their kicking. Famous Newtown artist Betty Christensen immortalized the VNA Thrift Shop entranceway and the old wooden barrel in a famous oil painting that now hangs in Edmond Town Hall.

The whole first floor of the then-Chase Building on Main Street housed an A&P Grocery Store, the newest and largest grocery store in town. The space the Chases donated to the VNA Thrift Shop was directly below the busy A&P Butcher Shop, with an entrance from the back parking lot.

Generally, the Thrift Shop was only open on Saturday and people wishing to make donation during the week could stop at the prestigious Hawley Manor Inn and Restaurant (now known as the Inn At Newtown) and leave their bundles of used, old clothes in the lobby. Imagine, bundles of old clothes in the lobby of our finest restaurant.

In the shop, the clothing and household goods were arranged, sometimes not so neatly, on the tables — nothing was ever priced and no offer was ever refused. The first chairman and organizer of the shop was Marion Olmstead Duncombe. Immediately following her, the very wonderful Anna E. Clow agreed to run the Thrift Shop for a short time and wound up staying more than 30 years. She collected dimes and nickels and made astounding money. She ran the shop with an iron fist and an undebatable attitude. When Anna Clow decided to move to an apartment in Brookfield (there were no apartments in Newtown), she continued to come to Newtown to run the Thrift Shop, condescending to engage a taxi cab only when the weather was inclement rather than leave the Thrift Shop unattended and unopened. Today, we close the Thrift Shop if the schools have a snow day or there is snow on Saturday. When Anna Clow was no longer able to volunteer at the shop, the VNA board proudly established a nursing scholarship in her name.

At that time, The Newtown Bee opined that the Thrift Shop was a splendid opportunity for passing on clothing and other articles no long needed by present owners. The Thrift Shop Committee urged everyone to “Be a Customer — if not, be a Contributor.” Interestingly enough in the early days of the thrift shop, The Newtown Bee consistently reported Thrift Shop activities on the front page of the newspaper — usually close to the church news but always on page one!

As a new board member and on one of my first adventures in volunteering at the Thrift Shop, I was amazed to see an old friend from Vogue magazine arrive at the Thrift Shop with several New York guests on their way to skiing in Vermont. Thirty minutes and $4 later, they left with a station wagon loaded with a ton of woolen and Icelandic sweaters, and three men’s long black cashmere overcoats.

On still another occasion when I had Thrift Shop duty, my Vogue friend and her New York guests came back. This time, among other things, she picked up a rather seedy, soiled old quilt and asked me the price. In those days, nothing was ever priced in the shop — our policy and motto was whatever the traffic would bear. Because she was so interested in this dirty old quilt, I hesitated and gently asked if maybe $5 was OK. She shook some more of the dirt and dust out and turned to me and said, “I’ll give you $25.” Imagine getting $25 for one old, dirty quilt. Sometime later when I ran into my friend at a social occasion, she took me aside and explained that she had the quilt I sold her appraised and since it was so valuable, she donated it to a museum.

By 1970, the Thrift Shop was fortunate to be able to move to Edmond Town Hall where originally the VNA nursing and clinic offices were located. We now have heat year around but cannot hang clothing from the heating pipes; we no longer have Bundle Bridge parties or supply milk to the elementary school. Christmas is always a big sale event for us and we try to have at least one very special thing. One year we had an enormous, two-ton solid brass table. One year I received from a very famous and important Newtown lady a huge antique basket. When I finally figured out the name and spelling of this overly large basket full of holes, a collector from Philadelphia gave us $1,600 for it, sight unseen.

To this day, board members volunteering at the Thrift Shop still take the risk of having their coats and handbags sold out from under them. I’m still unhappy about losing two of my favorite well-worn coats. People no longer leave bundles of clothes at the Inn At Newtown… but then I haven’t checked lately.

But most gratifying is that every single red cent of the money raised is used to provide nursing and health services for Newtowners and to benefit needy residents. The nostalgia of good old Bundle Bridge parties and pot bellied stoves may be gone, but the dedication and quality of the VNA nursing services is still making history.

Mae Schmidle is treasurer of the Visiting Nurse Association of Newtown.