The Evanston History Center hosted a lecture Thursday on a 20th-century Evanston jewelry shop and its relation to the arts and crafts movement.

Curator Mary McWilliams came as a part of the center’s “Under the Buffalo” presentation series, which is in partnership with the Evanston Public Library, according to a news release. The presentation, which focused on the Cellini Shop, is the second installment of the lectures that focus on society after World War I.

“The Cellini Shop was a family business in Evanston for over 60 years,” said Jenny Thompson, the center’s director of education.

“The shop was beautiful, distinctive and unique to Evanston,” Thompson said. “(Evanston residents) were proud to have this beautiful handmade business in the community.”

The Cellini Shop was created in 1914 by Ernest Gerlach and Margery Woodworth and two others who wanted to focus on selling handmade jewelry and hollowware, McWilliams said. The Cellini Shop began around the peak of the arts and crafts movement, which emphasized simplicity and honesty in design and architecture.

In the early 1930’s, the Gerlach family decided to distribute their products nationally, McWilliams said. They hired more workers, separated their workshop from the retail shop and proceeded to expand on their success. At the time, the Cellini Shop was the only place to sell decorative aluminum hollowware in the Chicago area, she said.

Aluminum was discovered in the early 19th century, but there was no way to use it economically. During the Great Depression, however, hammered aluminum became readily available and was cheaper than silver products, which led customers to purchase more aluminum products than ever before, McWilliams said. Aluminum items became a popular choice for wedding gifts and many people went on to call hammered aluminum “Depression silver.”

The Cellini Shop thrived on people’s interest in hammered aluminum, and their products increased in creativity as they began selling aluminum toasters, chairs and lamps, McWilliams said.

Pieces produced by the Cellini Shop were distributed to customers in silver boxes, which were embellished with the profile of Benvenuto Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith who served as an inspiration for the Gerlach family.

The Evanston History Center also held an exhibit on the Cellini Shop and the Arts and Crafts movement in conjunction with the presentation.

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