Title: Phoenix Hosiery Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1897-1996

Creator:

• Phoenix Hosiery Company

Call Number: UWM Manuscript Collection 89

Quantity: 3.5 cubic ft. (6 boxes)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records, mostly dating from the 1950s, of the Phoenix Hosiery Company, which was located in Milwaukee. The collection includes advertising and promotional materials; annual reports; director's reports and board of directors' minutes; photographs, mainly documenting hosiery production; an anniversary booklet containing historical information about the Milwaukee Branch of the American Federation of Hosiery Works; and a publicity scrapbook, largely consisting of newspaper clippings. The collection also contains a detailed history of the company (compiled in 1996) which includes information about the company's finances, management, marketing, competition, production, and labor relations. Also found in the collection are hosiery boxes and nylon canisters, hosiery color samples, samples of stockings in various stages of completion, silkworm cocoons and silk samples, and a number of other advertising/promotional items. Information about the sale of the company to the Kayser-Roth Corporation in 1959 is also included.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0089

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The Phoenix Knitting Works was incorporated in 1897. Dates of the company's actual founding vary; some sources state 1890, others 1887. The business engaged in the purchase, manufacture, and sale of knit goods, such as gloves, scarfs, and mittens. Herman Gardner, one of the original founders, led the company's rapid growth. Between 1910 and 1920 the business expanded rapidly to include the manufacture of women's hosiery, and became one of the largest single producers of silk hose in the United States. In 1922 the name of the corporation was changed to Phoenix Hosiery Company.

In the 1940s, when nylon began to replace silk, Phoenix began the production of women's nylon hosiery. In the 1950s the company began to move to the South. The Phoenix Hosiery Company was sold to the Kayser-Roth Corporation in 1959.

Box 1 contains files organized alphabetically, then chronologically. Boxes 2-3 contain oversized materials and miscellaneous artifacts. Box 4 contains nylon canisters. Box 5 contains samples of stockings in various stages of completion. Box 6 contains silkworm cocoons, silk samples, and silk spools.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

A Milwaukee Public Television I Remember Milwaukee segment (program #161) features an interview with Ted Friedlander discussing the Phoenix Hosiery Company. It is available in the Media Library, call number VHS-2609.

Several books relating to the hosiery industry (received with the collection) were added to the UWM Libraries' general collection.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Ted Friedlander donated the collection to the Archives in August 1996 (accession 1996-009). Priscllia Pennington donated additional materials in January 2002 (accession 2001-049). Other materials were donated in November 2002 (accession 2002-044).

Processing Information

Christel Maass processed the collection at the Archives in August 1996. Bob Jaeger (supervised by Christel Maass) processed accessions 2001-049 and 2002-044 in July 2009.

	Advertising
Box   3	1929, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	1952-1959, undated
Box   3	1959, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	American Federation of Hosiery Workers, Milwaukee Branch 16, 1934, 1940
Box   1 Folder   3	Annual Reports, 1934-1958
Box   1 Folder   4	Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, and Stock Information, 1897-1959
Box   2	Box, Etchings, Texture in Stockings, undated
Box   1	Box, Limited Editions, undated
Box   2	Boxes, Black, Blue, Brown, Color (4 boxes), undated
Box   2	Boxes, Debs (3 boxes), undated
Box   4	Canisters, Modernage Nylons (4 canisters), undated
Box   3	Cigar Clipper, Phoenix Hosiery, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Competitors, 1955-1958
	Director's Reports and Board of Directors Minutes
Box   1 Folder   6	1952-1956
Box   1 Folder   7	1957-1959
Box   1 Folder   8	Financial Reports from Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and Baird, 1924-1955, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	The Full-Fashioned Hosiery Knitting Machine: The Significance of Its Technological Development, by Theodore Friedlander, Jr. to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, 1938
Box   1 Folder   10	History, 1940, 1956, 1993, undated
Box   1 Folder   11-12	History, Compilation, 1996
Box   3	Hosiery Box Colors (Black, Blue, Brown and Color) and Material Samples, undated
Box   2	Hosiery Colors, Spring-Summer 1958
Box   1 Folder   13	Hosiery Meeting Notes, 1957
Box   2	Hosiery Sketch, undated
Box   1 Folder   14	Hosiery Statistics, National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers, 1955-1958
Box   1 Folder   15	Memorial Resolution for Herman Gardner, 1947
Box   1 Folder   16	Men's Hosiery Catalogs, 1953-1959
Box   3	Pen, Leg-Shaped, undated
Box   3	Photograph, Japanese Visit, 1939
Box   1 Folder   17	Photographs and Plans, Plants, Exterior, 1951, 1956, 1983, undated
	Photographs
Box   1 Folder   18	Displays, 1958, undated
Box   1 Folder   19	Personnel, 1932-1956, undated
Box   1 Folder   20	Plants, Interior, 1945, 1950, 1957, undated
Box   1 Folder   21	Textured Hosiery, undated
Box   1 Folder   22	President's Month, Herman Gardner, April 1932
	Promotional Folders
Box   2	1958, undated
Box   3	1959
Box   3	Publicity Scrapbook, 1954-1957
Box   1 Folder   23	Publicity Scrapbook (Photocopy), 1954-1957
Box   1 Folder   24	Report on the Phoenix Hosiery Company, by Theodore Friedlander, Jr., to Wharton School of Commerce, 1936
Box   3	Ruler, Modernage, undated
Box   1 Folder   25	Sale of Company to Kayser-Roth Corporation, 1954-1959
Box   3	Sign Advertising "The Stocking Beautiful," undated
Box   2	Sign, Phoenix Hosiery, undated
Box   6	Silkworm Cocoons, Silk Samples, and Silk Spools, undated
Box   3	Stocking (Actual) Diagramed Noting Parts, undated
Box   5	Stocking Samples in Various Stages of Completion, undated