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NORWICH INDUSTRYON PARADEby TONY VELLAa. NORWICH KNITTING CO.aud naval forces.Currently, the companyCs line of garments includes such itemsi /In many ways the success story or the Norwich Knitting company^ T.sU1,.ts, polo Bh,rU. skivvies.and the ever popular characterin like a tale from the penHoratio AIjfm*sweat shirts At present the com-tsi11Bad; in the early 19Gn s twenty-■ pany’s brand names, foremost ofyear-old Kre 1 n OHhj«» was working in a knitting mill in Utica Like many young men his ambition was to start a business of lils own but unlike most men, ho set cm t to fulfill his dream In Ltica he became acquainted with George L Farrell, one of the founders of the Utica Knitting company In a few short years with FdireU's help youngO’Hara founded the Norwich Knitting company Here wan the beginning of a true history, much like the popular but untrue-to-llfe stories' of AlgoIt was 19«»7 when Fred O Havalaunched his company in an oldfurniture plant He started out -vith SlffOUO. 35 employe*, andwhich is Skivvies, are being promoted Some of the products are advertised in leading nationalmagazinesAfter the war the company expanded into the south, purchasing the Bartex Spinning company at Clayton, North Caroliup. hi 19 46, and now also operating a finishing plant in that city At present, about 550 are employed in both plants.About 700 are employed at the Norwich Knitting mill o large, up-to-date plant The enure com* nany has been described ns a •’cotton field to sales force” organization indicating the company s ability to maintain a self-mstalniug business.11 lt;IFRED H. O’HARA Chairman of the Board of Directors, Norwich Knitting Company,five years free rent granted by the city One of the company s first important products was * bal-briggan underwear then,a popular item In 1912 the building once occupied by the John Krskine Ribbon company was purchased, and within a year became the site of the organization's plantDuring World War I the company manufactured woo! and cotton underwear under governmentAll processes “from the raw yarn to the finished garment” are handled in the local plant. The factory maintains several hundred knitting machines of various types, a dyeing and finishing unit, a large sewing department, and other units incidental to a knitting mill It also houses a complete box factoryThe cloth used to make up the Norwich line of garments undercontracts After the conflict sev-{goes many processes Among themera! new products were added, pushing the Norwich Knitting company towards the top of the knitting industryThe next important phase in the company s history revolvedaround a character conceived in the imaginative mind of Walt Disney In 1931 the company introduced the Mickey House character sweat shirt What followed is* historyare bleaching, (in its natural color the cloth is grayish), drying, stretching, dyeing, and napping The last-mentioned process involves “fleecing ” which results in the material used for the sweat shirt garments.being processed in the“napper” machines, the cloth is stored in a “cloth control room “ From there it Is picked up by thecutting room, after which, depond-Alwfays searching for new ideas j ing upon the style and type, from O’Hara had hit upon the idea of 10 to 25 operations will produceusing Disney characters as decorations for sweat shirts Ho signedIT«-com-ract—w4t- g- -of—transfer ring—figures- - and—de-'the company exclusive rights to use Mickey Mouse as well as othercomic figures. Strangely enough, when the sweaters were first put on the market they aroused little interestAs luck would have it, the own*a finished garmentThe company has two methodssigns to shirts one an intricate process, the other, a simple application of heat upon an etched designWell-known for Us successful industrial relations policy, the company fcnjoys* a fine labor-man-er of a small grocery chain in agement relationship. A loutigingSKILLED OPERATOR, Frank Oaczza of Norwich, (left) cuts ‘‘T-Shirt*’ pattern a.s cutting room foreman Harry Charles* Norwich, watelics* Cutter enables- operators to_.wnrk on several dozen shirts at one time.iTthe Norwich area, saw the sweaters’ possibilities iThe final result of that groeei k business sense was the sale of between four and five thou band dozens of sweaters before the line was discontinued In time the idea of cou,rsecaught on The great demand for j the sweaters In the following* yours onablod the company to i maintain it« position in the industry during the country’s worstdepressionAfter the Mickey Mouse sensation other Disney characters decorated thousands of Norwich sweaters worn by American youth Donald Duck. Pinoechio. Snow Whlto and the Seven Dwarfs the Throe Little Pigs were ail emblazoned in the following vears.Although the Disnoy figures have now been abandoned, other comic book characters such us Superman and the Lone Ranger have replaced them It goes without saying that Roy Rogers is now the leading figure on decorated sweat shirts manufactured by the companyDuring World War II the company’s production facilities were almost completely turned over toar_ work, m an n fact n rlng_yarlQiia.typoa of underwear for militaryjroom Is provided where snacks may be purchased at cost Throughout the day music is played at spaced intervals over an inter-eommunication system.An example of the relationship between the company and its workers is the Loyai Workers* Association’s policy of taking a full page in The Norwich- Sun .every Christmas to publicly wish Fred O Hara a happy holiday season and a happy birthday. In 1943 the association presented blm with a plaque which is placed on the wall of a new* wifig, built to house the company’s offices.The organization maintains five ofilces throughout the country, in New York, (Empire State building). Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco. and BostonAfter 45 years. Fred O’Hara, us'clmlrman of the board of directors, is still* “at the helm” of his business. Other officers*are: president, Edward O’Hara; vice-president, Joseph A. Schoendorf; vice-president, Otis A. Thompson; secretary, Charles H, Pffanz; treasurer,JDonala E. Skinner; advertising manager, Edward J, Leahy^ comptroller, William C. Dillon: superintendent, John -Myers. andonleo .manager, Thomas Byrne’.
Newspaper Details
Norwich Sun
Norwich, New York, US
Fri, Jan 25, 1952
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Patricia R.
NY, USA 27 Jun 2021
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