Hattie Carnegie (1880-1956) was born Henrietta Kanengeiser in Austria. In 1886 her family emigrated to New York where they worked in the garment industry. While working at Macy’s hat department in her twenties she appropriately earned the nickname `Hattie` which she topped off with `Carnegie` from the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
In 1913, Hattie opened her first shop `Carnegie-Ladies Hatter` which led to exclusive boutiques across the United States and eventually a world renowned fashion empire. Carnegie created the `head-to-hem` look with complimentary accessories such as hats & costume jewelry. Her official line of marked jewelry hit the market in 1939. Some of Carnegie’s top jewelry designers included Kenneth Jay Lane, Norman Norell, Nadine Effront & French sculptor George Braques. Hattie Carnegie vintage jewelry from before 1956 is most valued. In the late 1960s Larry Josephs took over the firm and in 1976, the company was acquired by Chromology American Corporation until 1979. The Hattie Carnegie brand was still being used in the late 1970`s on designer lines like Yves Saint Laurent for Carnegie (1978), Anne Klein for Carnegie (1979), and Valentino for Hattie Carnegie (1979).
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