The White Elephant: Find a bargain, help a child From its earliest days, the White Elephant resale shop has been a favorite stop for Chicago bargain-hunters.
For bargain hunters searching for practical items, exotic objects or “just looking,” a visit to the White Elephant, the Founders’ Board of Children’s Memorial Hospital’s resale shop, is a must. This year marks the shop’s 90th year of supporting the Board’s fundraising efforts.
“As Children’s Memorial has grown exponentially as a world-class hospital over the past 90 years, the White Elephant continues to provide a direct link to the volunteers who preceded us,” says Founders’ Board president Leslie Newman. “They too shared the goal of ensuring the children of Chicago receive the best possible medical care,”
The 12,000 square foot “White El,” as it’s known to regulars, is located across from the hospital at 2380 N. Lincoln Ave. It carries a wide variety of new and gently used merchandise, including designer clothing, household items, china, silver, furniture, books, musical instruments, jewelry, toys, artwork and much more. Merchandise comes to the shop from many sources, including individuals, businesses and estate bequests. The White Elephant also receives new merchandise each year from the International Home and Housewares Show.  Leslie Newman, president of The Founders’ Board, and Leonard Muircroft, Children’s Memorial’s director of retail operations, look at one of the thousands of items at the White Elephant resale shop.
A celebration to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the White Elephant will be held on September 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Most merchandise will be marked at 50 percent off, and there will be a raffle, entertainment and refreshments.
Throughout the years, the White Elephant has seen its share of rare and unusual items, including a 1903 bronze figure lamp of famed actress Sarah Bernhardt that sold for $26,000, and a 17th century hand-carved linen box that fetched $5,000. And then there was the fierce-looking yam harvest ceremonial mask from New Guinea, which required an appraisal by experts from the University of Chicago.
“This is much more than your typical resale shop,” says Leonard Muircroft, Children’s Memorial’s director of retail operations and manager of the White Elephant, which raises about $300,000 each year for the Founders’ Board. “All the items are clean, many of them are brand new, donated directly by businesses, and, of course, there’s always the chance of discovering the valuable or exotic.”
The Board of Lady Managers, the founding board of the hospital and the predecessor to today’s Founders’ Board, originally opened the shop at 27 E. Ohio St. in downtown Chicago to help families affected by the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The White Elephant has relocated several times in the intervening years, and opened its doors at its present location in 1978.
In the early years, browsers could find such varied items as mink coats, player pianos and even a 1917 Packard automobile. During World War I, when the driver of a White Elephant collection truck was called up to active service, a female volunteer took a driving test to replace him. She passed the test and is said to have become the first woman in Chicago to receive a driver’s license.
During the Great Depression in the 1930s, when donations to the hospital dropped off, the Woman’s Board appealed to area businesses for help. Marshall Field’s contributed two truckloads of curtains, and rival retailer Carson, Pirie Scott donated lace, shoes and underwear. Additionally, meatpacking giant Armour & Co. contributed 100 cases of creamed chipped beef.
Through the years the Board’s volunteers at the shop have been quite resourceful. During the 1950s they created their own White Elephant perfume by taking the contents of 20 half-filled bottles of expensive perfume and bottling it in attractive flasks.
Whether it’s specially bottled perfume, designer and children’s clothing, artwork or something in the “What is that?” category, the “White El” remains a treasure.
“If you wait long enough, you’ll probably find whatever you’re looking for here,” says Muircroft.
For information about store hours and to arrange for pickup of merchandise donations, please go to: http://www.childrensmemorial.org/friends/white_ele.aspx
The Founders’ Board of Children’s Memorial Hospital is made up of 95 active members and 94 associate members who are committed to supporting the hospital through active participation in hospital governance, volunteerism and advocacy. In just the last decade, the Founders’ Board has provided critical funding totaling more than $22 million for a number of endowed chairs for Children’s Memorial staff and faculty. In addition to raising funds for these chairs, members have served on numerous hospital fundraising committees and have helped to secure gifts in support of, or personally given to, many other hospital-wide initiatives. |
