Abstract
The Willard H. George Furrier, Ltd. Scrapbooks are comprised primarily of three leatherbound scrapbooks containing black-and-white and sepia toned photographs taken from the 1920s through 1955. The scrapbooks feature actresses from Hollywood, California wearing furs designed and created by furrier Willard H. George. Actresses of note include Lucille Ball, Rita Hayworth, and Greta Garbo.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Willard H. George Furrier, Ltd. Scrapbooks are comprised primarily of three leatherbound scrapbooks containing black-and-white and sepia toned photographs taken from the 1920s through 1955. The scrapbooks feature actresses from Hollywood, California wearing furs designed and created by furrier Willard H. George. Actresses of note include Lucille Ball, Rita Hayworth, and Greta Garbo. Most of the photographs are captioned with the names of the actresses. Willard George was the son of Sadie Kiel George, and great grandson of early Las Vegas, Nevada settler Conrad Kiel, owner of Kiel Ranch in North Las Vegas.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Willard H. George (1889-1956) was a Los Angeles, California based furrier who designed, created, and supplied furs to movie studios during the Golden Age of Hollywood (1920s-1960s). George was the son of Sadie Kiel George, and great-grandson of early Las Vegas, Nevada settler Conrad Kiel, owner of the Kiel Ranch in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
Born July 20, 1889 in Lincoln, Nebraska, but raised in Los Angeles, George attended Manual Arts High School. He also spent time at Kiel Ranch in North Las Vegas as a boy, during which he met Jim and Tweed Wilson of Wilson Ranch, later known as Spring Mountain Ranch. It was during his time in Las Vegas that George learned about about being a furrier from the Wilsons. Later, when the Wilsons were about to lose their ranch, George purchased the property and allowed them to stay there.
In 1910, he was working as a furrier at a retail store in Los Angeles, California. By 1918, he owned and operated his own fur business, Willard H. George Ltd. at 701 West 7th Street in Central Los Angeles. By 1942, George had moved his business to 3330 Wilshire Boulevard, a building noted for its Art Deco architecture. He became a known expert on chinchilla fur and was also a breeder of the Southland Chinchilla. George died October 24, 1956.
Source:
Willard George. Geni. Accessed October 11, 2018. https://www.geni.com/people/Willard-George/6000000052982487014.
Preferred Citation
Willard H. George Furrier, Ltd. Scrapbooks, approximately 1920-1955. MS-00538. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Permalink
Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2007 by Hampton George; accession number 2007-26.
Processing Note
In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Douglas Emery created the finding aid and entered data into ArchiveSpace.