Author Archives: Collierheritage

April 6, 2017 marked the 100-year anniversary of the entry of United States into World War I. This post documents the involvement of Collier Manufacturing Company in the war effort.

In early 1918, the United States was gearing up to send troops to Europe. By the summer of 1918, US involvement would see approximately 10,000 Americans arrive on the continent each day. To outfit and supply the troops required a massive effort.

To that end, in spring of 1918, representatives of the US War Department approached Collier Manufacturing of Barnesville, Georgia, to supply the army with knit undershirts. According to an affidavit by J. C. Collier, President of Collier Manufacturing Company at the time, the government officials advised the textile manufacturer to work through Clift and Goodrich of New York, instead of directly for the government. The main reason for this was that Clift and Goodrich, regular sellers for Collier Manufacturing, had already posted a bond with the War Department, so much time could be saved by eliminating the time-consuming red tape of applying for a new bond.

Collier Manufacturing installed equipment for making the undershirts. According to government specifications, the garments were light-weight, short-sleeve pullovers, probably similar to today’s T-shirts. Clift and Goodrich secured three contracts dated March 7, May 7, and June 11, 1918. Each contract was for 120,000 undershirts. The price was for 52-1/2 cents per undershirt for the first contract, 56 cents for the second and 58 cent per garment for the third.

The first 60,000 undershirts were inspected, with only 6 garments being rejected (one every ten thousand), and shipping orders were issued by the government. By July 2018, the company had produced enough undershirts to fulfill almost all of the first two contracts, but the government was lagging behind in providing inspections and approving shipping orders. The accumulated undershirts congested available space at the mill, slowing production of these and other garments. Finally, in response to numerous complaints, the government sent three inspectors to the mill. Using testing and methods later deemed to be completely inappropriate by the government, the inspectors rejected many of the undershirts so that on September 5, 2018, the company was notified no more shipments would be accepted “until satisfactory garments could be delivered.” In October with the end of the War in sight, the War Department terminated the contracts with Clift and Goodrich. World War I ended three weeks later on November 11, 2018. Collier Manufacturing did not find out about termination of the contracts until May 14, 1919, some seven months after the contracts had been cancelled.

Collier Manufacturing sought to recover its losses through every available means.  They filed suit against the US Government in 1923, seeking over $61,000 in compensation.

The company sought legislative action.  Here is the report of a US Senate Subcommittee hearing on February 14, 1934 on Bill S. 2242, “A Bill for the Relief of Collier Manufacturing Company of Barnesville, Georgia.”

The Bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Claims on May 10, 1934 with the loss amount reduced to $48,719.70.  The Committee did not allow interest charges built into the original bill.

The US Senate approved the Bill but it failed to pass the House of Representatives.  It was resurrected in 1936 as Bill S. 1431.

Senate Bill S. 1431 (An Act for the Relief of Collier Manufacturing Company of Barnesville, Georgia) which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to compensate Collier Manufacturing $48,719.70 for its losses was passed by both the US Senate and the House of Representatives in 1936  . . .

. . . only to be vetoed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR dismissed the Collier bill with a regular veto. Online sources report Roosevelt used the regular veto 372 times during his 4 terms of office.

But that wasn’t the end of the story.  Neither was successful, but similar bills were presented before the Senate in 1937 and the House of Representatives in 1949 (over 30 years after the end of WWI).

Here is the Senate Bill (S. 1866).

And House Bill H.R. 5079.

And the unsigned Affidavit of J. C. Collier that was prepared in 1941.  J. C. Collier died in 1944, prior to submittal of the 1949 Bill..

High resolution copies of the above documents may be downloaded here:

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“The Collier Make” logo on envelope back and  “The Collier Made” hand stamp.

In 1912, the newly re-named Collier Manufacturing Co, with J. C. Collier at the helm and with the addition of D. C. Collier to management, was branding its products as “The Collier Made” and “The Collier Make”.

According to the late Virginia Collier Dennis, daughter of D. C. Collier, her father woke from a dream in which he had seen a way to economically make women’s knit underwear.  He sought to patent his idea which involved precise, cost-saving cuts.  J. C. Collier, a master marketer, had previously used a form of alliteration in his advertising, such as seen in the example below.

It followed that “The Collier Cut’ was chosen as the name of the patent.  The patent was granted in Canada in 1914 and in the United States in 1915.  This is the draft patent application for “The Collier Cut”, by inventors D. C. Collier and F. M. Murphy.

The Collier Cut was a marketing success.  This page from a 1916 publication shows eight mills licensed to make The New “Collier” Union Suits for ladies.  It also says that patents were pending in “all European countries”.

What had been marketed as “Collier Make Underwear” in these hanging cardboard store signs (approximately 10″ x 13″) . . .

. . . now became “Collier Cut Underwear”.

Collier Cut Union Suits were sold internationally, with an obvious appeal to those in colder climates.  Here is a fascinating 1918 picture of the shipping room of the Collier Mfg. mill in Barnesville.  These packaged ladies knit underwear were headed to Rottenberg, Sweden.  Notes about the photograph identify Walter Slaughter, Shipping Clerk, and J. R. Stotelmyer, Superintendent.

This is an equally fascinating original photograph of the model for Collier Cut Ladies Union Suits.  The notation is by D. C. Collier.

Prior to the sale to the William Carter Company (see the post “J. C. Collier – From Merchant to Manufacturer”), Collier Cut marketing took on a new look.   This 1922 note announces the appointment of a new selling agent in New York.

Here are two hanging cardboard advertising signs of a different style promoting Collier Cut underwear.

The advertisement (dated 1923 on the pennant) for misses and ladies underwear was updated to appeal to the younger generation and the 1920’s “flapper” style.  The meaning of the reference to “8 Point” is not known.

And 8 Point Collier Cut knit underwear was promoted for boys and men.

CHF knows of only one of the Collier Cut Ladies Underwear still in existence.  The underwear was sent along with the rest of the Collier Collection to Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia where it will be archived.

Ladies Collier Cut Union Suit

Ladies Collier Cut Union Suit from the Back

Roll of Collar Labels for The Collier Cut Union Suit

J. C. Collier – 1902

In 1897, 31-year old J. C. Collier was operating department stores in Barnesville and Thomaston, Georgia.  From an initial investment of $1350, in only ten years he had built up the largest merchandising business in Georgia south of Atlanta.  His net worth was over $37,000.

Not one to let his energies or his money sit idle, in 1898, he and his father, I. C. Collier, formed Oxford Knitting Mills in Barnesville.  The company was organized and the mill built with an initial investment of $7500.  J. C. Collier served as the company’s President and his father, I. C. Collier, was Vice-President.  F. Marvin Stephens (J. C. Collier’s brother-in-law) was Treasurer and General Manager.  Affordable Alabama coal, access to rail service, and a pool of dependable labor in an area where “Cotton was King” fueled the success of the mill.  The mill specialized in men’s knit undershirts.

I. C. Collier died on July 11, 1908.  There is no evidence his vacated vice-president position was ever filled.

In June 1911, 21-year old Durward Cuthbert (D. C.) Collier, son of J. C., joined the company as Treasurer and General Manager.  D. C. succeeded his uncle, F. Marvin Stephens, who had joined Marshall Field and Co.’s North Carolina Mills.  D. C. was a 1911 graduate of Georgia Tech, finishing with a degree in textile engineering and receiving the National Association of Textile Manufacturers’ gold medal for his academic excellence.

Also, in 1911, the company’s name was changed from Oxford Knitting Mills to Collier Manufacturing Co., Inc.

Here is a picture of the mill in 1911.

1911

And another in 1912.

1912

Portion of 1912 Photograph showing Name on Water Tank

This picture was probably taken between 1912 and 1920.

Here are some pictures of the inside the mill.

Spindles

Bleaching Area

Cutting Area

Seamstresses in the Mill

More Seamstresses

Packaging Area

Mill Management

In 1913, ladies’ lightweight union suits (underwear) were added to the product offerings.  The line of female garments resulted from a patent by D. C. and F. M. Murphy labeled “THE COLLIER CUT” (more to come later).

In early 1918, Collier Manufacturing, with its 20 years of experience in manufacturing knit underwear, was solicited by the U. S. government to make undershirts for the U. S. Army involved in World War I.  The company installed the necessary equipment and began production.  The effort was short-lived as the war ended later that year.

By 1920, Collier Manufacturing was operating six mills on a royalty basis.  THE COLLIER CUT had received a Canadian patent and production was underway there.

Cardboard Store Sign

The name of the company was changed to Collier Mills, Inc.  A new mill was added in Macon, Georgia to produce boys union suits.   The market share became international, and a New York office was opened for selling and billing direct to the retailer.  The mill in Barnesville, Georgia had a payroll of about 270 people in a town with a population of about 3,000.

In 1923, Collier Mills and the William Carter  Co., of Needham Heights, Massachusetts, began discussions about a consolidation of the two firms on a 50-50 basis.  In June 1923, Carter Collier Company was organized.  The preferred stock in the new company was owned exclusively by J. C. Collier and D. C. Collier.  On September 30, 1924, J. C. Collier and D. C. Collier sold their stock interest in the Collier Mills, Inc. and Carter Collier Co. at a premium to the William Carter Co., and ceased any further connection with the New England firm.