from typing import List


def get_items_from_string(string: str, separator: str = ',', remove_blanks: bool = True) -> List[str]:
    """
    Returns a list of items, separated by a known symbol, from a given string.
    """
    items = [item.strip() if remove_blanks else item for item in string.split(separator)]
    if remove_blanks:
        return list(filter(None, items))
    return items