2 Vintage Harmony House Wood Hangers: Suit and similar items

The Harmony House Resort was built on land seized from Prussian barons during World War I and subsequently sold to a blouse-makers union in 1919. The union (whose members included survivors of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire) found it difficult to manage the 655 acre resort and turn a profit, so they turned it over to the international union several years later. Union members could enjoy dancing, operas, lectures, and performances by popular and classical musicians or canoe and swim in the eighty acre lake. The resort was extremely progressive, not only in terms of labor issues but also women's rights and racial equality. A fire in 1936 destroyed Harmony House, and it was rebuilt only to burn again in 1969, resulting in the destruction of murals by celebrated artist Diego Rivera. It was a low cost vacation destination that offered a weekly retreat with high class food and service for half of the going rate of other area resorts. It attracted famous visitors like Eleanor Roosevelt, Guy Lombardo, and Glenn Miller and periodically played a role in negotiating union contracts. Harmony House could host 1,200 visitors; as years passed Harmony House went from being a destination for singles to a resort geared towards entire families. In the 1970s overseas production began gutting the garment unions and younger visitors were less inclined to visit the sedate resort. In its final days Harmony House was losing a million dollars a year; Philadelphia garment manufacturers had dwindled from 300 to 30. Numbers were similar elsewhere and union membership had declined to well under half of what it had been during the peak years.