Aleene: A Tacky Lady by Aleene Jackson
© Michelle Troutman
ISBN #-9656271-0-1
1997
paperback
311 pages, illustrations
A craft industry pioneer and self-made woman ahead of her time, Aleene Jackson was once dubbed the "Poor Woman's Martha Stewart," or as her youngest son Tony calls her, the "Mother of All Crafts."
She started selling corsages when she was nine or ten. Also in entrepreneurial fashion, she often initiated her own projects, such as a local horse club. She fought her school principal over the rule that students weren't allowed to create clubs not under "school auspices." She loved horses so much she skipped high school often in favor of horseback riding.
While still in high school, she met her future husband Woody Hershman. His domineering, "stuck up" mother, as she describes her, disapproved of her. His mother even tried to stop him from seeing Aleene -- she offered him a motorscooter if he broke up with Aleene, and he accepted, yet they later resumed their romance.
Inspired by the floral arrangement at her wedding, Aleene became interested in becoming a florist. Her passion and motivation landed her jobs at florist shops where she soon learned the trade. She then took a six-week course and decided to open her own shop selling floral arrangements and supplies. The supplies, not usually available to consumers, sold well. The California Floral Association tried to dis-member her for it -- it was "illegal" to sell floral supplies. She ended up winning her legal battle with them.
She also branched out, teaching classes which helped promote her business. Her determination and promotion skills led to regular local TV segments in the late 1940s, when TV was in its infancy. She used Styrofoam in her arrangements to good results, so much so that her father created machines for cutting it into shapes and they started a division of her company called Snow Foam. After Woody returned from the war and she became pregnant with her first child Candy, she sold the shop and later opened a retail store selling supplies. Her best-selling Formosan Wood Fibre was used to create realistic-looking fake flowers.
Her family was important to her and she always involved them in her businesses, however, discussions didn't always flow smoothly between them. The Formosan Wood Fibre sales slowed, and family members believed that with more promotion, sales would increase. Aleene had already settled on promoting a new glue that didn't soak through silk. The inventor sold her the rights to the formula. It became a big seller, and Aleene's Tacky Glue still sells today.
Despite a warehouse fire in 1959, Aleene returned to form. Family disagreements caused her to sell them the Snow Foam business. In the '60s, she moved from retail and
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