1906 Louisville Clothing Company "Battleship Brand" Billhead

Great illustrated billhead from the Louisville Clothing Company. The Louisville, Kentucky company manufactured "Battleship Brand" Clothing. Other than finding that the company planned to increase its output in 1916, there's no a lot out there about them.

Spotted on ebay: Salesman Samples

These two killer salesman samples are being offered by the same seller, lmarzil1. For the complete listings click here for the Spade & Stauffer shirt and here for the Freeland overalls. It's time to give your Buddy Lee a workwear make over.

1919 International Overalls Advertising Envelope

Here's an interesting cover that I recently picked up. It's from International Overalls, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and is postmarked April 17, 1919. I've dug around as much as I could and can't find anything on this company. The location of the company is right over the United States/Mexico border about a hours drive from Las Cruces, New Mexico. If anyone has any info, please pass it on.

1942 Old Kentucky Manufacturing Co., Advertising Envelope

Old Kentucky Manufacturing Company advertising envelope from 1942. The company made Old Kentucky Well Made Brand work shirts, pants, overalls, play suits and dress shirts. The company originally started out as the Kentucky Manufacturing Company in 1904 and and was succeeded  by Old Kentucky in 1909. At some point in the late 1960s the Old Kentucky name was re-registered by the Washington Manufacturing Company who manufactured the Dee-Cee brand.

Pictured below are various Old Kentucky packaging pieces obtained from The San Fernando Mercantile Co., a spot that all denim and workwear lovers should have bookmarked.

Workman and his dog Cabinet Photo

Unidentified studio cabinet photo of a workman and his dog.

1905 Headlight Overalls Letter with Great Content and Logo

October 18, 1905 letter from the Larned, Carter & Co., makers of Headlight Overalls, to Mr. A.F. Stauffer of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Stauffer was on of Mt. Vernon's earliest and well-known businessmen. The content of the letter is pretty amazing as it shows how well Larned, Carter & Company were doing at the time. So well that they couldn't fill orders fast enough. Along with the great content, the letter also shows a great variation of the company's logo.

Lee Denim - Burn Your Own Brand

In today's marketplace several clothing companies have "make your own" programs. Lee was probably the pioneer in this campaign. They let you design your own brand or pick a brand from a famous western ranch and apply it to a separate leather patch on their Lee Riders. I'm not sure how long they offered this, but I'd guess to was a 1960s to 70s thing. Years ago I remember seeing a branding gun, similar to a glue gun, from Lee being up for auction on ebay. Unfortunately I didn't grab any pictures.

Image from an old Etsy listing

Spotted on ebay: Denim and Workwear Display Pieces

There are some absolutely killer denim and workwear display pieces up for grabs on ebay right now. Pictured are just a few. Happy bidding.

September 1950 Coronet Magazine

Last night I was installing a new computer at home and had to move around several storage boxes for desk space. While doing this I rediscovered a few items that were tucked away. One was this small digest sized issue of Coronet from September 25, 1950. The only reason I have it is for the great illustration of a western family sporting their cuffed denim. The title of the piece is "The Great Open Spaces" and was illustrated by prominent artist J. Frederick Smith.

Coronet magazine was owned by Esquire and ran from October 1936 to March 1971.

J. Frederick Smith was born Pasadena, California in 1917; Smith attended the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles on a Walt Disney scholarship, where he studied painting and design. In 1938 he moved to New York City and joined the Charles E. Cooper studio, a prestigious illustration studio. There, Smith produced work for the Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Red Book, and other magazines. Perhaps his best-known work at this time came during World War II, when he contracted with Esquire magazine to do a monthly illustration featuring sexy girls in lingerie—the kind of art that ended up repainted on the nose of American bombers. His career changed in 1956 when Conde Nast editorial director Alexander Liberman called Smith into his office and gave him an assignment for Vogue. Smith assumed it would be another illustration, but Liberman, looking into the future, told him to shoot a photograph instead. It wasn’t that big of a stretch for Smith, who’d long used photos as the basis for his illustrations. Nonetheless, there were differences between the two crafts. “I never realized what a physical business photography was,” Smith said. “I had been sitting on my ass painting all these years. Now, after a day on my feet photographing, I was more tired than I’d ever been.” Smith went on the shoot for Cosmopolitan, Essence, Look, and Town & Country, as well as commercial clients like Ford, Cartier, Smirnoff Vodka, and Revlon. But it was his sensuous photographs of women for magazines like Playboy, Lui, and Viva during the 1970s that will probably be best remembered. Smith passed away in October of 2006 at age 88.

To check out more of J. Frederick Smith's work, there's a nice facebook page showing his illustration and photography skills. Click here for The Art and Photography of J. Frederick Smith

1884 Barbour's Thread Trade Card with Freeman Overalls ad on back

1884 Barbour's Thread trade card with a Freeman Overall Company (est. 1883) ad on the back.

1926 Red Diamond Overalls and Shirts Advertising Envelope

Advertising envelope from Red Diamond Overalls and Shirts dated October 9, 1926, St. Louis, Missouri. On April 13th, I did a post with a Red Diamond advertising envelope from 1913. It's interesting to see how their logo has changed. That piece is pictured below. I personally like the 1913 version.

1909 Fawn Brand Overalls Advertising Envelope

Interesting advertising cover for Fawn Brand Overalls postmarked November 15, 1909 from Fort Worth, Texas. This brand was produced by the American Manufacturing Company in Fort Worth. Apparently these were marketed to the female work force. The woman pictured looks very similar to the Sweet Orr girl and Joplin Overall girl. The company also produced Bell Brand Overalls. I couldn't find to much history on the American Manufacturing Company. At some point after 1909 and before 1922 they were bought by the Kingsbery Manufacturing Company. This is evident from the ad I found in the September 1922 copy of Texas Railway Monthly. While searching, I found a Fort Worth business directory from 1907 that had Bell Brand Overalls being manufactured by the Fort Worth Overall Company. I'm not sure if they were bought out by American Manufacturing or if the company changed it's name.

Below is the trademark for Fawn Brand Overalls from the 1908 Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office.

1897 A.L. Richardson & Brothers Advertising Envelope

Illustrated advertising envelope from A.L. Richardson & Bro., Woburn, Massachusetts,  dated 1897. The company made Richardson's Overalls, Shirts, Coats, Jumpers and all Workmen's Garments. Other than a few listings in various business directories, I really can't find to much information on the company. They stayed in business until at least the early 1900s.

1915-1920 Lee Union-Alls Poster Stamp

Nice Lee Union-Alls poster stamp, also known as cinderella stamps, from around 1915-1920.

H.D. Lee introduced the Union-All. Legend has it that Lee himself designed the Union-All after noticing his chauffeur needed a sturdy one piece outfit to wear over his uniform while servicing his cars.

1883 J.N. Ward Letter

Letter from J.N. Ward & Co., Peoria, Illinois to the Eagle & Phenix Mill, Columbus, Georgia. Ward was the manufacturer of The Royal Pantaloon-Overalls, Jackets and Shirts. He was formerly part of the firm Woodward, Ward & Co. which was established in 1877.

J.N. Wards biggest claim to fame seems to be all the press (mostly negative) he got in 1902 after 122 women from his company went on strike after he told them he wouldn't use any union workers. Just about every union trade magazine reported on the strike.

Below is the letter and union response which appeared in the April 1902 Locomotive Fireman's Monthly.

The strike was settled later that year, but to much less press.

1887 Oliver P. Hazard Letter

Letter dated April 23, 1887 from Oliver P. Hazard, manufacturers of pantaloons and overalls in Detroit, Michigan, to the Eagle & Phenix Mills in Columbus, Georgia.

It was a little confusing trying to dig up info on Oliver P. Hazard. Apparently he was a descendent of United States Navy Commodore, Oliver Perry Hazard. Doing a search on Oliver Hazard lead to a lot of hits on the later.

From what I could gather, Oliver P. Hazard went into the clothing business with James Brewster in 1871 and formed Hazard & Brewster. Hazard retired from the company in 1879. I couldn't find anything about him opening his own company after that. I did find several items about a prominent Detroit resident named O.P. Hazard as being one of the founders of the Globe Tobacco company in 1871. The other founders of Globe included Thomas McGraw, William Moore and Hiram Walker, Canadian Club whiskey maker.

1883 Weinstein, Arnold & Louchheim Letter

Letter from Weinstein, Arnold & Louchheim, St. Louis, Missouri to Eagle & Phenix Mills dated May 4, 1883. The letterhead states that they were manufacturers of jeans and staple clothing. This is pretty much all I know about the company. I've looked in St. Louis business directories from the later 1880s and have found no mention of the company. I did find an Arnold, Louchheim Company that also went by the name ALCO listed in several publications from the early 1900s. I'm not sure if this is what became of the company.

The "Strong" Pantaloon Overalls

Great piece I found on Library of Congress.

1886 Rider, Wallis & Company Letter

Shipping problems seemed to plague the Eagle & Phenix Mill in Columbus, Georgia. This time the issue is raised in a letter dated November 6, 1886 by Rider, Wallis & Company, the manufacturer of White Elephant Overalls.

Established in 1864 as a dry goods company, Rider, Wallis soon became a powerhouse in the work clothes industry with their White Elephant line. For more info on the company, check out the link below.

http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=RIDER-WALLIS_DRY_GOODS_COMPANY

1887 A. Rosenberg & Company Letter

A. Rosenberg & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio letter dated March 28, 1887 to the Eagle & Phenix Mills in Columbus, Georgia requesting samples and pricing of cottonade. I found no information on this company while doing an online search.

1887 D.S. Redelsheimer & Company Letter

Here's another letter to Eagle & Phenix Mills.. This one is from Ft. Wayne, Indiana overall maker D.S. Redelsheimer & Company. The letter is dated March 26, 1887. In this letter, Redelsheimer questions Eagle & Phenix pricing and shipping to Ft. Wayne.

There's not to much information on the Redelsheimer Company. It was owned by David S. Redelsheimer (1836-1907). He appears to have owned several other general merchandise stores in Ft. Wayne and Monroeville.

1883 Seaman Brothers and Company letter

Letter from Seaman Brothers & Company in Chicago, Illinois to Eagle & Phenix Mills in Columbus, Georgia dated July 12, 1883. The letter basically asks Eagle & Phenix to cancel remaining orders. Along with last Friday's post, I have several more letters from various overall manufacturers to Eagle & Phenix. I will be posting them this week and next week.

I can't find any information on Seaman Brothers other than they moved from Monroe Street to Market Street in the late 1890s. If anyone has any info. on this company please send it over.

1891 Harrison & Rudd Billhead

Nice illustrated billhead from Harrison & Rudd dated August 17, 1891. I have a few other pieces from this company that show they were established in 1876 in Evansville, Indiana. On one of the pieces they use they slogan " Bull Dog Make." I'm still doing some digging on the history of the company and hope to post more shortly.