The Original Hats, Gloves, and Bag Ladies
The tagline, "Hats,gloves, and bags are still part of our tradition" originated with a GFWC club's respond to a 2001 photo contest, which challenged clubs to recreate or re-imagine popular David Robinson painting The Woman’s Club, which first appeared as an illustration in McCall’s magazine in 1927.
Janna Virden, the Arkansas clubwoman who came up with the idea for the original photo and tagline says: “I looked at the original picture—The Woman’s Club—and thought, ‘That’s interesting, but we don’t really do that,'" Unlike the women in the painting, who are depicted as engrossed in an unseen speaker or program, her club—GFWC Century League of Morrilton, Ark.—was more actionoriented. "We couldn’t recreate the photo, but when I noticed that the women in the painting had their bags with them, and were wearing hats and gloves, I had the idea.”
Top row, from left to right are: Alice Fleeman, Janna Virden, Karen Cree, Ann Stobaugh. Bottom row, from let to right: Gwen Myatt, Susan Dumas, Penny Morrow. (Photograph by Bart Virden)
