[RACIST IMAGERY] [TEXTILES] Apron Kit

Springfield, Illinois: Kay Kits, 1954. Cards. Blue cards, various colored paper. Near fine. 9 pages. 14.5 x 7 cm. Blue Cards holding seven individual pages of description and illustrations, along with an order form and an introduction to the business. Kay Kits was part of Handicraft House, a retail store in Springfield, Illinois. This mail order section of the business offered a multitude of designed aprons - already cut and ready to sew. A few of these "designs" were extraordinarily racist - Mammy Apron Kit & Watermelon Apron Kit. The company drew a formal protest from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) when an advertisement, in American Home, was published. Walter White, the NAACP's executive secretary at the time, expressed shock to the advertising agency that the magazine would accept and print such an ad. Clean, crisp copy. Stamped and addressed envelope lightly soiled.