| | Manuscript Collection | Requires cookie* | | 1 | Title: | Joseph and Feiss Company Records
| | | | Creator: | Joseph and Feiss Company | | | | Dates: | 1847-1960 | | | | Abstract: | The Joseph and Feiss Company was established in 1841, by Caufman Koch and Samuel Loeb, as a general store in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 1845 they moved the store to Cleveland, Ohio, and began specializing in tailored men's clothing. The company underwent several name changes before becoming Joseph & Feiss in 1907. The collection consists of Shareholders' and Directors' minutes, correspondence, legal and financial records, subject files, publications, scrapbooks and newspaper clippings. | | | | Call #: | MS 3886 | | | | Extent: | 5.20 linear feet (5 containers and 1 oversize volume) | | | | Subjects: | Joseph and Feiss Company (Cleveland, Ohio) | Clothing workers -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing factories -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Men's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Industrial relations -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
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| Manuscript Collection | Requires cookie* | | 2 | Title: | L.N. Gross Company Records
| | | | Creator: | L.N. Gross Company | | | | Dates: | 1907-1967 | | | | Abstract: | The L.N. Gross Company was a manufacturer and distributor of women's apparel founded in 1898 in Cleveland, Ohio, by a Russian immigrant, Louis N. Gross. Gross was president and manager until his death in 1941, when his sons, Nedward N., William V., and Julius S. Gross, and his son-in-law, Miltor E. Reed, became active in the management of the company. By the 1960s, the third generation of the Gross family managed the company. In 1919, the company built its headquarters at 1220 West Third Street in Cleveland. In 1929, additional production sites were acquired in Kent, Ohio, and in 1937 facilities opened in Fayetteville, Tennessee. During the Depression the company was troubled by strikes as well as the general business slump. The Welworth Realty Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the L.N. Gross Company, operated as title and leaseholder of the parent company's properties. An office was also maintained in the New York City garment district. Beginning in 1950, product manufacturing was performed by subcontractors in their own facilities. A wholly owned subsidiary, Bradley Knitwear Company, acted as sales outlet for the parent company. In 1974, company headquarters moved to Mayfield Village, Ohio. In 1984, after several years of financial difficulties, control of the company was turned over to an outside investment group, and the name was changed to Bradley Sportswear, Inc. The collection consists of a history of the company, an autobiography, passport and visa of Louis Gross, correspondence, reports, applications for patents, contracts, account books, and miscellaneous materials, including scrapbooks containing advertisements for garments made by the company. | | | | Call #: | MS 3823 | | | | Extent: | 4.00 linear feet (5 containers) | | | | Subjects: | Gross, Louis N. | Gross family. | L.N. Gross Company (Cleveland, Ohio). | Clothing factories -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Collective bargaining -- Clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Strikes and lockouts -- Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Women's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Industries -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
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| Manuscript Collection | Requires cookie* | | 3 | Title: | Joseph and Feiss Company Records, Series II
| | | | Creator: | Joseph and Feiss Company | | | | Dates: | 1858-1988 | | | | Abstract: | The Joseph and Feiss Company was founded in 1841 as Koch and Loeb, a general store in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The store moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1845, and when Samuel Loeb left shortly after the move, Kaufman Koch expanded the enterprise to three locations. Other partners joined the company, including Jacob Goldsmith and Julius Feiss in 1865 and Moritz Joseph in 1873. As Goldsmith, Joseph, Feiss & Company, an internal factory was opened in 1897 to begin the production of ready-made men's clothing under the Clothcraft label. After changing its name to the Joseph and Feiss Company in 1907, the company became fully incorporated as The Joseph and Feiss Company in 1920 when it moved into its new factory on W. 53rd Street in Cleveland. The company had originally balanced scientific management with benevolent corporate paternalism in order to keep workers happy as well as healthy. In 1934, the company was unionized by the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union of America and these paternalistic programs were ended. During World War II, Joseph and Feiss became an important manufacturer of uniforms for the United States army and navy. After the war, the company continued to expand its line of products, purchasing Samuel Spitz Company and its Cricketeer label in 1957 and Windbreaker-Danville in 1962. Joseph and Feiss also owned and operated several subsidiaries, including the Naval Uniform Service, Inc. In 1966, Joseph and Feiss merged with Phillips Van-Heusen Corporation and continued to operate under its own name. In 1989, it was acquired by the German clothing firm Hugo Boss. The Cricketeer label was discontinued in 1995 and in 1997 its Cleveland operations were moved to the Tiedeman Road facility in Brooklyn, Ohio. In 2010, the planned closure of that plant was averted after union negotiations. The plant continues to produce 150,000 suits a year. The collection consists of minutes, correspondence, news clippings, inventories, audit reports, tax records, contracts, legal deeds, blueprints, ledger books, personnel records, and booklets. | | | | Call #: | MS 5054 | | | | Extent: | 17.20 linear feet (11 containers and 15 oversize volumes) | | | | Subjects: | Joseph and Feiss Company (Cleveland, Ohio) | Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. | United States. Army -- Uniforms. | United States. Navy -- Uniforms. | Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing factories -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing workers -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Labor unions -- Clothing workers -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Men's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Men's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Marketing. | Fashion design -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Industrial relations -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Jewish businesspeople -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | World War, 1939-1945 -- War work -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Factories -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Design and construction.
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| Manuscript Collection | Requires cookie* | | 4 | Title: | L. N. Gross Company Records, Series II
| | | | Creator: | L. N. Gross Company | | | | Dates: | 1898-1990 | | | | Abstract: | The L.N. Gross Company was a manufacturer and distributor of women's apparel founded in 1898 in Cleveland, Ohio, by a Russian immigrant, Louis N. Gross. Gross was president and manager until his death in 1941, when his sons, Nedward N., William V., and Julius S. Gross, and his son-in-law, Miltor E. Reed, became active in the management of the company. By the 1960s, the third generation of the Gross family managed the company. In 1919, the company built its headquarters at 1220 West Third Street in Cleveland. In 1929, additional production sites were acquired in Kent, Ohio, and in 1937 facilities opened in Fayetteville, Tennessee. The Welworth Realty Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the L.N. Gross Company, operated as title and leaseholder of the parent company's properties. An office was also maintained in the New York City garment district. Beginning in 1950, product manufacturing was performed by subcontractors in their own facilities. A wholly owned subsidiary, Bradley Knitwear Company, acted as sales outlet for the parent company. In 1974, company headquarters moved to Mayfield Village, Ohio. In 1984, after several years of financial difficulties, control of the company was turned over to an outside investment group, and the name was changed to Bradley Sportswear, Inc. The collection consists of minutes, notes, reports, budgets, leases, ledgers, tax returns, catalogs, correspondence, agreements, bulletins, business cards, and surveys of the corporate records of the L.N. Gross Company. A small number of Gross family documents are included. | | | | Call #: | MS 4711 | | | | Extent: | 4.40 linear feet (5 containers) | | | | Subjects: | Gross, Louis N. | Gross family. | L.N. Gross Company (Cleveland, Ohio). | Clothing factories -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Women's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Collective bargaining -- Clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Strikes and lockouts -- Clothing trade -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland. | Industries -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
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