Official Souvenir Programme, Annual Bazaar Given by the Professional Woman's League

Softcover. Very good. Souvenir program for an event held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on December 10-12, 1908. 8" x 10.5", [32] pp, with many ads and half-tone photographic illustrations. Old vertical folding crease, one photograph circled in ink; otherwise very good. The Professional Woman's League was formed in 1893 "to bring together women engaged in dramatic, musical, and literary pursuits with the purpose of rendering them helpful to each other." Based in New York and composed primarily of actresses, the League held weekly meetings devoted to different literary topics as well as business matters. Their main philanthropic efforts included maintaining an "extensive stage wardrobe, continued by donations of dresses by celebrated actresses" that members could purchase at minimal or no cost and offering small loans and/or donations to those "overtaken by sudden grief or misfortune." Their funds came from dues, benefit performances, and the proceeds of this annual bazaar. The program includes a list of current officers (the President in 1908 was stage actess and producer Amelia Bingham), photographs of many of the members, and a list of booths at the bazaar and the women responsible for them. Among the booths were an "Art Booth," "Racing Wheel," "Psychic Department," "Book and Stationery Booth," "Candy Booth," "Doll Booth," and "Fish Pond." At the end is a list of contributors that includes (among many others) Samuel Clemens, David Belasco, Frances Willard, Walter Pulitzer, and several major publishers. There are many ads for women's clothing, as well as theatrical performances, and theater and fashion-related publications.