Bobbie Brooks was founded in 1939 by Maurice Saltzman and Max Reiter in Cleveland, Ohio. Originally called Ritmore Sportswear, Inc., the company was bought by Saltzman in 1953 and became Bobbie Brooks, Inc. (Note: The name Bobbie Brooks was used even before the name of the company was changed, possibly as early as 1941.) In 1959, it became the first woman’s garment-making company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. During the 1960s, Bobbie Brooks was one of the five largest garment manufacturers in the US, with fifteen factories producing 18,000,000 garments a year.
Bobbie Brooks used an organized plan of choosing which garments to manufacture. This plan utilized a consumer board made up of 600 of their targeted consumers – junior-sized teens and young women. The company is now owned by Garan, and as of 2010, was carried in Dollar General stores.
Written by Lizzie Bramlett, fuzzylizzie.com
From an early 1950s two piece dress
Courtesy of Melissa Moseley
from a 1950s full skirt/top set
Courtesy of hatfeathers
from a 1950s casual jacket
Courtesy of shopdesignarchives.com
from a 1950s gabardine jacket
Courtesy of uniquetextiles
from a late 1950s/early 1960s sweater
Courtesy of morning-glorious
from an early 1960s sweater
Courtesy of fast_eddies_retro_rags
from a mid 1960s sweater
Courtesy of jluthye
from a mid to late 1960s dress.
Courtesy of pinky-a-gogo
from an early 1970s sweater
Courtesy of fuzzylizzie.com
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