| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Joseph and Feiss Company |
| Title: | Joseph and Feiss Company Records, Series II |
| Dates: | 1858-1988 |
| Extent: | 17.20 linear feet (11 containers and 15 oversize volumes) |
| 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. |
| MS Number | MS 5054 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
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.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for this organization
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Moritz Joseph
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Emil Joseph
The Joseph and Feiss Company Records, Series II, ca. 1858-1988 and undated, consist of minutes, correspondence, news clippings, inventories, audit reports, tax records, contracts, legal deeds, blueprints, ledger books, personnel records, and booklets.
The collection is of value to researchers studying the history of labor relations, especially with the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers, and the history of the garment industry and Jewish-owned enterprises in Cleveland and Brooklyn, Ohio. Researchers examining changes in designs and promotions for men's clothing, including army and navy uniforms used during World War II, will also find this collection useful. Also of note are the blueprints for Joseph and Feiss properties, providing a guide to the scope of their operations. Of special note are the files on properties, dealing with the different plants and facilities operated by Joseph and Feiss, and the files detailing dealings with the United States Army, Coast Guard, and Navy during World War II.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 3886 The Joseph and Feiss Company Records; and PG 175 Joseph and Feiss Company Photographs.
Separated MaterialAll photographs have been removed to the Cleveland Picture File.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5054 Joseph and Feiss Company Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Hugo Boss in 1998.
Processed by Sean Martin and Samuel Milner in 2011.
Series I: Operations 1878-1989 undated |
|||||||||||
Sub-series A: Administrative Records 1878-1974 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Alfred Decker & Cohn, correspondence 1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Annual Meeting of Shareholders, minute book February 21, 1949-March 19, 1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Annual Meeting of Shareholders, minute book March 18, 1957-March 16, 1964 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Annual Meeting of Shareholders, minute book August 3, 1964-September 3, 1980 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Articles of partnership 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Board of Directors, minutes February 11, 1920-August 8, 1923 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Board of Directors, minute book January 9, 1961-November 14, 1966 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Board of Directors, minute book 1966-1974 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | C.B. Shane Corporation, correspondence 1939-1945 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Centennial, commemorative certificate (oversize material removed to Oversize Container 1) 1941 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Christmas, bonus 1943 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Christmas, dinner programs 1945-1947 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Conference of Executive Officers and Superintendents of The Joseph and Feiss Company September 19, 1922-December 11, 1923 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Corporate Philosophy, "Development of the Clothing Industry" ca. 1920s | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Goldsmith, Joseph, Feiss & Company, memorandum of agreement 1989 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Goldsmith, Joseph, Feiss & Company, articles of partnership 1901 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Illinois Merchants Trust Company, correspondence 1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Organizational chart 1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Proxy forms 1923 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Reports on purchasing and selling common stock 1922 1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Resolution on common and preferred shares 1921 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Ulrich. A.F., correspondence 1878 1887 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Advertisements 1941-1966 undated |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Designs (oversize material removed to Oversize Container 1) 1941 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | J. S. Halls Sons, radio advertisement transcripts 1944 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Johnson, Cornatzer & Aulbert, Greensboro, North Carolina, correspondence 1941 | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | "The Joseph & Feiss Company, in War and Peace" (oversize material removed to Oversize Container 1) 1945 | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | Labels ca. 1945 | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | Marketing materials undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | Men's Wear Magazine, 125th Anniversary Article, "125 Steps" 1966 | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | Nebraska Clothing Company, brochure for Clothcraft undated | |||||||||
Sub-series C: Industrial Relations 1986-1989 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union of America, award of arbitration and release 1986 1989 | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union of America, briefs 1988 | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union of America, correspondence 1986-1988 | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union of America, motion for summary judgment 1986 | |||||||||
Sub-series D: Legal Records 1886-1988 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Brown, Emma and Samuel Brown, quit-claim deed 1886 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | C.B. Shane Corporation, contracts 1939-1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Franklin Apparel Manufacturing Company, Inc., official statement, industrial development revenue bonds 1980 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Harris & Frank, Inc., lease 1988 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Joseph Family: Moritz Joseph, Will, 1901; Martha Joseph Eising, general release, 1905; Morris Joseph, will, 1905; Ernest Joseph, Will, 1915; and bill of sale, 1919 1901-1919 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Juster Brothers, Inc., indenture and retail lease agreement 1988 | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | National Association of Clothiers, correspondence 1920 | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Riegel, Oscar P., correspondence 1925 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Stock, correspondence 1921-1922 1936 | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Tolles, Hogsett, Ginn, & Morley, correspondence 1923 1925-1926 | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | The Union Trust Company, agreements on debt 1930 | |||||||||
Sub-Series E: Military Records 1941-1945 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Army-Navy Production Award 1945 | |||||||||
| 2 | 13 | Irving Trust Company, correspondence 1944-1945 | |||||||||
| 2 | 14 | Irving Trust Company, loan agreement 1944 | |||||||||
| 2 | 15 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 13063 1941 | |||||||||
| 2 | 16 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 13063 and related correspondence 1941 | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 14754 1941 | |||||||||
| 2 | 18 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 14754 and related correspondence 1941-1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 19 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 14971 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 20 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 14971 and related correspondence 1941-1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 16839 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 16839 and related correspondence 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 20074 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 20074 and related correspondence 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 21773 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 21773 and related correspondence 1942-1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 23529 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 23529 and related correspondence 1942-1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 22993 1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | United States Army, Contract W 669 QM 22993 and related correspondence 1942-1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | United States Coast Guard, contracts and purchase orders 1943-1944 | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | United States Navy, Contract NXs-9228 1942 | |||||||||
| 2 | 33 | United States Navy, Contract NXs-9228, correspondence 1942-1945 | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | United States Navy, contracts 1942-1944 | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | United States Navy, contracts and correspondence 1943 1945 | |||||||||
Sub-series F: Personnel Records 1941-1982 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 36 | Buyout compensation materials 1981-1982 | |||||||||
| 2 | 37 | Employee change of status forms 1960-1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | Employee change of status forms 1967 | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | Newspaper clipping 1972 | |||||||||
| 2 | 40 | Salary negotiations, correspondence 1926 | |||||||||
| 2 | 41 | Separation Report for Total Unemployment, A-K 1941 | |||||||||
| 2 | 42 | Separation Report for Total Unemployment, L-S 1941 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Separation Report for Total Unemployment, T-Z 1941 | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Timesheets May 10, 1982 | |||||||||
Sub-series G: Property Records 1916-1983 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Brazil, Indiana, correspondence 1981-1983 | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Brazil, Indiana, miscellaneous 1981 | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Brooklyn, Ohio, contracts, deeds, resolution, and statements 1967-1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Brooklyn, Ohio, correspondence 1967-1983 | |||||||||
| 3 | 7 | Brooklyn, Ohio, Industrial Development First Mortgage Revenue Bonds 1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 8 | Brooklyn, Ohio, map of survey 1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 9 | Brooklyn, Ohio, miscellaneous 1976 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 10 | Cleveland, Ohio, blueprints 1920-1927 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 11 | Cleveland, Ohio, correspondence 1916-1920 | |||||||||
| 3 | 12 | Cleveland, Ohio, illustration of plant ca. 1921 | |||||||||
| 3 | 13 | Cleveland, Ohio, newspapers 1921 | |||||||||
| 3 | 14 | Cleveland, Ohio, prospectus for first mortgage sinking fund gold bonds 1923 | |||||||||
| 3 | 15 | Utica, New York, Utica Chamber Review April 1963 | |||||||||
Series II: Joseph and Feiss Company Financial Records 1858-1971 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 16 | Account book ca. 1858 | |||||||||
| 3 | 17 | Audit, report 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 18 | Audit, report 1927-1929 | |||||||||
| 3 | 19 | Audit, consolidated balance sheet, income and expense and surplus 1930-1932 | |||||||||
| 3 | 20 | Audit, report and report of examination 1934-1937 | |||||||||
| 3 | 21 | Audit, report of examination 1938-1939 | |||||||||
| 3 | 22 | Audit, report of examination 1940-1943 | |||||||||
| 3 | 23 | Audit, report of examination 1944-1946 | |||||||||
| 3 | 24 | Balance sheet, Journal B (oversize material removed to Container 4) 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 25 | Bank statements 1925-1926 | |||||||||
| 3 | 26 | Check or voucher register, No. 1 (oversize material removed to Container 4) 1920-1921 | |||||||||
| 3 | 27 | Checking account 1927 | |||||||||
| 3 | 28 | Inventory 1864 | |||||||||
| 3 | 29 | Inventory 1865 | |||||||||
| 3 | 30 | Inventory 1866 | |||||||||
| 3 | 31 | Invoices, Naval uniforms (oversize material removed to Container 5) 1942-1944 | |||||||||
| 3 | 32 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Oversize Container 1) 1903-1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 33 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 4) 1918-1920 | |||||||||
| 3 | 34 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 1) 1910-1917 | |||||||||
| 3 | 35 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 2) 1918-1922 | |||||||||
| 3 | 36 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 3) 1922 | |||||||||
| 3 | 37 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 4 1923 | |||||||||
| 3 | 38 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 5) 1924 | |||||||||
| 3 | 39 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 6) 1925 | |||||||||
| 3 | 40 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 7) 1926 | |||||||||
| 3 | 41 | Ledger, general (oversize material as Oversize Volume 8) 1927 | |||||||||
| 3 | 42 | Ledger, general (oversize material as Oversize Volume 9) 1928 | |||||||||
| 3 | 43 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 4) 1932-1936 | |||||||||
| 3 | 44 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 6) 1944-1945 | |||||||||
| 3 | 45 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 6) 1946-1948 | |||||||||
| 3 | 46 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 6) 1949 | |||||||||
| 3 | 47 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 7) 1970 | |||||||||
| 3 | 48 | Ledger, general (oversize material removed to Container 7) 1971 | |||||||||
| 3 | 49 | Ledger, office (oversize material removed to Container 7) 1965 | |||||||||
| 3 | 50 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1942-1943 | |||||||||
| 3 | 51 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 10) 1943-1946 | |||||||||
| 3 | 52 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1947 | |||||||||
| 3 | 53 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 11) 1947-1949 | |||||||||
| 3 | 54 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed to Container 9) 1948-1953 | |||||||||
| 3 | 55 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 12) 1949-1951 | |||||||||
| 3 | 56 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 13) 1951-1953 | |||||||||
| 3 | 57 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 14) 1953 | |||||||||
| 3 | 58 | Ledger, payroll (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1966 | |||||||||
| 3 | 59 | Ledger, supervisor pay roll of the Clothcraft Shop (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1926 | |||||||||
| 3 | 60 | Ledger, trial balance (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1930 | |||||||||
| 3 | 61 | Personal journal (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1913-1924 | |||||||||
| 3 | 62 | Statistical record (oversize material removed to Container 8) 1915-1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 63 | Taxes, correspondence 1915-1931 | |||||||||
| 3 | 64 | Taxes, Ohio Annual Report of a Domestic Corporation for Profit 1921-1924 | |||||||||
| 3 | 65 | Taxes, tax returns 1911-1920 | |||||||||
| 3 | 66 | Taxes, tax returns 1921-1929 | |||||||||
| 3 | 67 | Weekly payroll report (oversize material removed as Oversize Volume 15) 1925-1928 | |||||||||
Series III: Financial Records of Related Companies 1926-1949 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 68 | The Kiebler Company, appraisal report and audit report 1926-1927 | |||||||||
| 3 | 69 | The Naval Uniform Service, Inc., report 1945 | |||||||||
| 3 | 70 | The Naval Uniform Service, Inc., cash receipts and cash disbursements, No. 1-2 (oversize material removed to Container 10) 1942-1949 | |||||||||
| 3 | 71 | The Naval Uniform Service, Inc., pay roll, no. 1-2 (oversize material removed to Container 10) 1942-1945 | |||||||||
| 3 | 72 | The Naval Uniform Service, Inc., petty cash, no. 1 (oversize material removed to Container 10) 1942-1945 | |||||||||
| 3 | 73 | Walworth Clothes, Incorporated, Annual Report of Domestic Corporation for Profit and correspondence 1929-1930 | |||||||||