# Joe Mitty

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{{Short description|British salesman (1919–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
[[Image:Oxfam shop on Drury Lane.jpg|thumb|An Oxfam charity shop in [Covent Garden](/source/Covent_Garden), [London](/source/London). Mitty established the first Oxfam charity shop in Oxford.]]
'''Joseph Sidney Mitty''' [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (7 May 1919 – 30 September 2007) was a British salesman and the man who turned the first [Oxfam](/source/Oxfam) gift shop into a national [retail](/source/retail) [network](/source/chain_store) of shops selling second hand clothing and other goods. This network put Oxfam on the high street map and has contributed substantially to Oxfam's income as well as presence in the public eye over the years. It was also an inspiration for many charities to follow Oxfam's lead.<ref name=tele>{{cite news |title= Joe Mitty |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/03/db0302.xml|work= [The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)|date=2007-10-03 |access-date=2007-10-07}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Mitty worked for Oxfam for 33 years, earned the nickname of "salesman of the angels".{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

By 2007, there were over 700 Oxfam shops throughout the UK.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==Early life==
Joe Mitty was born on 7 May 1919, in [Islington](/source/Islington), north [London](/source/London).<ref name=tele/> His father, an employee at [Royal Arsenal](/source/Royal_Arsenal), [Woolwich](/source/Woolwich), died when he was twelve years old and he was brought up by his mother.<ref name=tele/> He attended a local [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) school.<ref name=tele/>

After leaving school, Mitty became a [civil service](/source/civil_service) [clerk](/source/clerk_(position)). He joined the British [Territorial Army](/source/Territorial_Army_(United_Kingdom)) in 1938, before enlisting in the 7th Battalion the [Royal Berkshire Regiment](/source/Royal_Berkshire_Regiment) in March 1939.<ref name=tele/> in 1942, Mitty was admitted to the [Royal Military College, Sandhurst](/source/Royal_Military_College%2C_Sandhurst), for officer training,<ref name=tele/> following which he was commissioned as a [second lieutenant](/source/second_lieutenant) into the British Army's [Hampshire Regiment](/source/Hampshire_Regiment) and was sent to [East Asia](/source/East_Asia).<ref name=tele/>
On his way to the Far East, Mitty travelled through [India](/source/India), where he was moved by the [extreme poverty](/source/extreme_poverty) which he witnessed in the [slums](/source/slums) of [Calcutta](/source/Calcutta).<ref name=tele/>

In 1942, while still serving in the military, Mitty married Dorothy White. The couple had two sons and a daughter. Dorothy died in 1995.<ref name=tele/> His daughter Gloria died in 1989.

Mitty left the Army in 1946 and moved to Oxford with his wife.<ref name=tele/> He purchased a quarter-acre plot of land at [Cumnor](/source/Cumnor) for [£](/source/%C2%A3)75, and built a house, which he and his wife would live in for the next 60 years.<ref name=tele/> He initially worked for the [Ministry of Aircraft Production](/source/Ministry_of_Aircraft_Production). However, in 1949 he noticed an employment advertisement in the [Oxford Mail](/source/Oxford_Mail) newspaper seeking an administrative assistant for the [Oxford Committee for Famine Relief](/source/Oxford_Committee_for_Famine_Relief), an organization which would later become known by its current name, [Oxfam](/source/Oxfam).<ref name=tele/> Mitty decided to apply for this position.

==Oxfam and the Oxfam Charity Shop==
[[File:First Oxfam shop crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The first Oxfam shop, opened in December 1947 at 17 [Broad Street, Oxford](/source/Broad_Street%2C_Oxford)]]
Joe Mitty was hired directly by [Oxfam](/source/Oxfam) founder, [Cecil Jackson-Cole](/source/Cecil_Jackson-Cole), in 1947.<ref name=tele/> Mitty was instructed to meet Jackson-Cole in the lobby of the Grosvenor Hotel, in [Victoria](/source/Victoria%2C_London) with a [handkerchief](/source/handkerchief) over his face.  He was also told to address anyone who approached him with the question, "Are you Mr Jackson-Cole?"<ref name=tele/> Mitty was hired at the hotel by Jackson-Cole and received a starting [salary](/source/salary) of a little over £8 per week.<ref name=tele/> This made Mitty Oxfam's first paid employee.<ref name=tele/><ref>Oxford Committee for Famine Relief Council minutes, 1946–49, Oxfam Archive</ref>

Mitty's initial role at Oxfam was to oversee the distribution of donated [clothing](/source/clothing) to [European](/source/European_ethnic_groups)s who had been left impoverished during World War II.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} However, Oxfam soon saw an untapped financial potential in selling the donated clothing rather than just sending the donations to [Europe](/source/Europe).<ref name=tele/> This would allow Oxfam "to become a shop that sold everything but bought nothing," to quote [The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph).<ref name=tele/> Proceeds from the sales of the donated goods would be used to fund Oxfam's charitable goals.

Mitty's motto for the first gift shop was "If you donate it, we can sell it."{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} The shop took £500 during its first year of operation,<ref name=tele/> but by 1953 its annual profits were £10,000.<ref name=tele/>

Mitty's success with the first Oxfam shop gave him the opportunity to oversee and open several more charity shops throughout Britain by the early 1960s.<ref name=tele/> His growing success at Oxfam allowed him to recruit a number of celebrities including [Harry Secombe](/source/Harry_Secombe) who helped to draw attention to Oxfam's work.  By 1971, Mitty's Oxfam charity shops were making over £1 million and had become the largest charity shop chain in the country.<ref name=tele/>

Joe Mitty officially retired from Oxfam in 1982, though he continued to work as an Oxfam [ambassador](/source/ambassador).<ref name=tele/> In 2006, he appeared with [Victoria Beckham](/source/Victoria_Beckham) at an Oxfam charity shop in [Notting Hill](/source/Notting_Hill) where she presented him with an award and he sold her a black dress for £19.99 as part of a campaign to draw attention to Oxfam's work.<ref name=tele/> He also worked with the 20,000 [volunteer](/source/Volunteering)s who run Britain's over 700 Oxfam charity shops.<ref name=tele/>

Mitty was awarded an [MBE](/source/Member_of_the_Most_Excellent_Order_of_the_British_Empire) in 2003 for his work with the Oxfam charity shops and service to Oxfam.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In 2006, the then prime minister, [Tony Blair](/source/Tony_Blair), presented Mitty with a lifetime achievement award at the TV-Daily Mirror Pride of Britain event.<ref name=tele/> Blair declared to the audience that if Mitty had worked in the [private sector](/source/private_sector) he would have been a multi-[millionaire](/source/millionaire).<ref name=tele/> [Carol Vorderman](/source/Carol_Vorderman) called Mitty "the grandfather of British charity shops" at the same awards.<ref name=tele/>

==Death==
Joe Mitty died on 30 September 2007 at the age of 88.<ref name=tele/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071011071614/http://oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/impact/joemitty.html Oxfam: Remembering Joe]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071009113529/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/default.aspx Oxfam Charity Shops]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7024049.stm BBC News: Oxfam shop founder dies aged 88], [BBC News](/source/BBC_News), 2 October 2007
*[http://www.cafonline.org/Default.aspx?page=13959 Oxfam shop founder Mitty dies], Charities Aid Foundation, 2 October 2007
*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/03/db0302.xml, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 3 October 2007]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110524021530/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2583731.ece Obituary, ''The Times'', 4 October 2007]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,2186485,00.html Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 9 October 2007]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012140327/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3047594.ece Obituary, ''The Independent'', 11 October 2007]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitty, Joe}}
Category:1919 births
Category:2007 deaths
Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Islington
Category:People from Oxford
Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Category:Royal Berkshire Regiment soldiers
Category:Royal Hampshire Regiment officers
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:British charity and campaign group workers
Category:British activists
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Oxfam people
Category:20th-century English businesspeople
Category:People from Islington (district)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joe Mitty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mitty) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mitty?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.