Papers document Henry Booth's invention, use, and marketing of the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system.
Scope and Contents:
The Henry Booth Collection, 1942-1974, focuses primarily on the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system. It consists of advertisements, brochures, photographs, glass slides, a 16mm film, correspondence, financial records, meeting minutes, an operating manual, scrapbooks, magazines, and a guest register.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into five series.
Series 1: PhotoMetriC Apparatus Materials, 1948-1965
Series 2: PhotoMetriC Advertising and Press Materials, 1942, 1948
Series 3: PhotoMetriC Retail Materials, 1958-1974
Series 4: PhotoMetriC General Business Materials, 1947-1974
Series 5: Hillandale Handweavers, 1960-1962
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Booth was a textile jobber who invented the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system in the 1940s, an innovation which temporarily revolutionized a small corner of the custom clothing industry.
Henry Booth (1895-1969), son of a Methodist minister, was born in Canada and raised in England where his grandfather, General William Booth, founded the Salvation Army. In 1911, Henry Booth came to the United States from England on the Lusitania. He worked in the textile industry for a few years; specifically as a manager for John B. Ellison jobbing offices in Portland and Seattle. In 1922 he formed his own firm with Harry Kemp and Robert Walker. By 1929, Booth moved east to New York City in order to pursue his career in the textile industry. He formed Amalgamated Textiles Limited with John and Blake Lawrence. In 1938, Booth met Curt Erwin Forstmann and entered into an agreement whereby Amalgamated Textiles Limited became fabric stylists and sole agents for the Forstmann Woolen Companies.
In the early 1940s, Booth came up with the idea for the PhotoMetriC camera system to be used in the custom tailoring industry. The system consisted of a specially-designed arrangement of nine mirrors. Eight mirrors reflected separate views of the customer and one mirror reflected the customer's name and other information. These angled mirrors allowed a photograph to be taken which showed the customer from the front, back, side, and top. A slide of this photographic measurement would be sent, along with the customer's garment order, to the manufacturer. When the order arrived, the tailor would project the customer's image on a special screen which facilitated the taking of certain physical measurements. With the aid of the PhotoMetriC calculator, the tailor translated the measurements into specifications for a customer-specific garment. When finished, the garment would be mailed directly to the customer's home. According to testimonials in the collection, the garments fit perfectly the first time, every time. The PhotoMetriC system both saved the tailor money and relieved the customer of the inconvenience of having to return to the tailor again and again for time-consuming fittings, alterations, and adjustments.
The camera which supported this invention needed to be virtually foolproof, enabling the average shop clerk to reliably collect the necessary data. To this end, Booth took his idea to the Eastman Kodak Company, where he worked with Dr. Kenneth Mees, Director of Research and Fred Waller, a camera expert. Waller designed the camera; the remainder of the system design was done by Booth. The PhotoMetriC system made its debut in two Richard Bennett stores in New York City on May 17, 1948. It was subsequently licensed to other select retailers such as: The Custom Gentleman (Englewood, NJ); Nathan's (Richmond, VA); The Golden Fleece (Point Pleasant Borough, NJ); and Joseph's (Terre Haute, IN).
Hillandale, a Brooklyn, CT farm which Booth purchased about 1940, was later used to produce hand woven wool fabrics. These fabrics were used extensively by various PhotoMetriC retail outlets. Henry Booth's son, Robert (b. 1924), took over farm operations circa 1960 and opened a retail outlet on the premises which featured a PhotoMetriC fitting room which provided custom tailoring until the mid-1970s. Robert Booth, with his wife, Jimmie, operated the Golden Lamb Buttery Restaurant in Brooklyn, Connecticut. It closed in 2017.
Patents of Henry Booth:
United States Patent: #2,037,192/RE #20,366, "Visible inventory and sales recording device, April 14, 1936
United States Patent: #2,547,367, "Method and apparatus for testing fabrics, April 3, 1951
United States Patent: #2,547,368, "Cloth rack," April 3, 1951
United States Patent: #2,563,451, "Photographic fitting method," August 7, 1951
United States Patent: #2,624,943, "Proportionally balancing garments," January 13, 1953
United States Patent: #2,664,784,"Apparatus for measuring objects by photography," January 5, 1954
United States Patent: #2,688,188, "Apparatus for proportionally balancing garments," September 7, 1954
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, 1936-1998 (AC0729). Jimmie Booth is the wife of Robert Booth and she was a buyer for Lord and Taylor.
Materials in the National Museum of American History
The Division of Work and Industry holds a PhotoMetric camera, stand, and measuring harness in the Photographic History collection.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Henry Booth's son, Robert Booth, in April 2000.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Papers relating to Virginia "Jimmie" Booth's career as a buyer for Lord and Taylor, where she worked for Dorothy Shaver. Papers include correspondence; photographs; original drawings by designer Clare Potter; printed material including articles, magazine advertising and catalogs; a scrapbook of clippings and memorabilia.
Scope and Contents:
Collection primarily documents Booth's career as a buyer for Lord & Taylor. It includes correspondence, photographs, drawings, clippings, and a scrapbook. There are materials relating to American born designers Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905- March 22, 1958) and Clare Potter (July 7, 1903- January 5, 1999). There is also information relating to European designers including Irish born Sybil Connolly (January 24, 1921- May 6, 1998) and Swedish born Countess Ebba Von Eckermann (April 19, 1921-February 2, 2018). In addition, materials relating to textile manufacturing and weaving, particularily in Ireland, can also be found among the materials. The collection is arranged in seven series: Series 1, Personal Papers, 1936-1999, undated; Series 2, Hillandale Handweavers, 1948-1949, 1972, undated; Series 3, Lord & Taylor Country Clothes Shop, 1950s-1960s, undated; Series 4, Irish Materials, 1958-1999, undated; Series 5, American Designers, 1944-2000, undated; Series 6, European Designers and Textile Manufacturers, 1955-1997, undated; and Series 7, Miscellaneous, 1962.
Arrangement:
Collection is organized into seven series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, 1936-1999, undated
Series 2: Hillandale Handweavers, 1948-1949, 1972, undated
Series 3: Lord & Taylor Country Clothes Shop, 1950s-1960s, undated
Series 4: Irish Materials, 1958-1999, undated
Series 5: American Designers, 1944-2000, undated
Series 6: European Designers and Textile Manufacturers, 1955-1997, undated
Series 7: Miscellaneous, 1962
Biographical / Historical:
Virginia Wagoner Booth, known as Jimmie Booth, was born June 20, 1922 in Bronxville, New York, the daughter of John and Josephine Wagoner. She studied printing and engineering at Syracuse University. An engineer with Pratt & Whitney during World War II, she entered the fashion world as a bridal consultant at G. Fox in Hartford in 1945.
In 1952 Dorothy Shaver, of Lord & Taylor, hired Booth for the Hartford store and asked her to develop and manage The Country Clothes Shop in the 5th Avenue store in New York. There, Booth collaborated with and promoted such American designers as Clare Potter, Bonnie Cashin, and Claire McCardell. Booth also worked extensively with European designers.
Married to H. Robert Booth (Bob) Booth of Hillandale Handweavers, Jimmie promoted the use of both American and European hand-loomed fabrics by her designers. She frequently modeled the fashions herself. Her casual, yet elegant, style is the epitome of "the American Look" still popular today.
In 1998, Jimmie Booth, Dorothy Shaver, and other creators of The American Look were saluted in the exhibition, "Designing Women: American Style 1940-1960" at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
In addition to her design work, Booth was a violinist with the Hartford Symphony in the 1940s, and later became the chef at the Brooklyn, Connecticut, Golden Lamb Buttery, which she and her husband, H. Robert Booth (Bob), owned and operated. She died January 2011 at the age of eighty-nine in Hartford, Connecticut.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Dorothy Shaver Papers NMAH.AC0631
Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection NMAH.AC0752
Estelle Ellis Collection NMAH.AC0423
Joseph Magnin Poster Collection NMAH.AC0355
Ming-Ju Sun Garfinckel's Fashion Drawings NMAH.AC0897
Henry Booth Collection, NMAH.AC0726
Priscilla of Boston Collection NMAH.AC0557
California Shop Records NMAH.AC0572
National Cotton Council of America Photographs and Films NMAH.AC01177
Division of Costume Audiovisual Collection NMAH.AC0801
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana NMAH.AC0060
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Virginia "Jimmie" Booth, in May 2000.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Consists of advertisements, articles, and correspondence relating to the company founded by Booth's father-in-law, Henry Booth. Hillandale Handweavers was a textile manufacturing company that operated out of an old carriage barn in Brooklyn, Connecticut. It produced hand woven wool fabrics used by PhotoMetriC (a custom tailoring system) retail outlets. H. Robert (Bob) Booth Sr. opened a retail outlet on the premises which featured a PhotoMetriC fitting room that operated until the mid-1970s. In addition, there is information relating to the Golden Lamb Buttery Restaurant operated by Jimmie and Bob Booth. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Henry Booth Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
