A Beautiful Purse from Helen Burton’s The Camel’s Bell, Peking
Posted: February 7th, 2023 | 1 Comment »Sadly Helen Burton and her great store The Camel’s Bell (which once stood in the lobby and third floor of the Peking Hotel (now the Nuo Hotel) is largely forgotten now. She is important though – an American woman entrepreneur in inter-war China, a very famous store at the time, she also ran trunk sales of her Chinese stuff (purses, furs, dresses, various jewellery and objet etc) across America. I think she was from Bismark, Nebraska. She was briefly interned by the Japanese in WW2 in China but swapped for Japanese citizens in America and returned home. She never married but adopted about half a dozen young Chinese girl orphans. She should be much better known. Her parties at her hutong home and an old temple she rented in the hills outside Peking were legendary!
Many thanks to a ChinaRhyming reader for sharing this beautiful purse – if you’re interested by the way, it may be up for sale, so let me know and I’ll connect etc….
My mother knew Helen Burton during her stay in Beijing from September of 1939 until February 1941, when she was ordered to return to the US. For several months she oversaw the operation of the shop, though the staff of course did all the work. This was when Helen Burton returned to the US to finalize her adoption of her daughters. I have photos a few things from that shop–a rubbing, a print by Bertha Lum, a small round box, a set of brassware with bone handles–and a picture of my mother with the staff, including three of the daughters. I can provide copies of them if you are interested.