Ad, Clothing - Munsingwear Nylons - 1954
The company was started by George D. Munsing, who came to Minnesota from New York in 1886 to set up a textile factory. The mention of underwear was taboo in American society at the time. The Company's ad for its products in the September, 1897 issue of Ladies' Home Journal was the first to display underwear on a live model.
Munsing was a technologist and the company received several patents, including those for a crocheting machine in 1891 and a union suit in the early 1890s. The union suit was the company's flagship product until the 1920s, when central heating made it less useful. It continued until 1969. The cream-colored garment became iconic and was featured in the company's advertising with children and adults outfitted in them.
In 1923 the company went public and changed its name to Munsingwear, Inc. At the time it was the largest manufacturer of underwear in the world. Its slogan was "Don't say underwear, say Munsingwear". At its peak it was producing 30,000 garments per day. Its knitting mill was the largest west of the Alleghany Mountains. The company expanded into women's underwear in the 1920s, and starting in 1931 offered Founders, which used an elasticized yarn to produce a combination foundation garment that combined a brassiere and a girdle.
Munsingwear was the largest employer of females in the state of Minnesota; at one point 85% of its 3,000 employees were ladies. By the 1920s, in part trying to avoid unionization, Munsingwear offered many benefits, some quite progressive for the time. It had a health clinic staffed by a full-time nurse, with regular visits from general practitioners, otolaryngologists (because of air quality problems), dental assistants, and dentists. All of this care was free. Mungsingwear also offered access to health insurance, a branch of the Minneapolis Public Library which circulated 7,500 books a year, a large, fully staffed kitchen which provided lunches to the entire work force (in shifts), an orchestra which performed during Thursday lunch breaks, an on-site gymnasium, sports teams, and other benefits.
Its flagship product of recent years, patented in 1943, was the "Kangaroo brief", featuring a horizontal fly and a contoured pouch.
In 1951 the company merged with the Vassar Swiss Underwear Company, which became the Vassar division of Munsingwear.
In 1955 the company began producing its Grand Slam gold shirt, with a Penguin logo. In the 1960s and 1970s these were the best-selling golf shirts in the world. Munsingwear also added a line of women's golf, bowling, and fashion shirts.
Declining business in the 1970s led to the Minneapolis plant's closure in 1981.
In 1991 the company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. In 1996 it changed its name to PremiumWear, and focused on specialty markets. Premiumwear was in turn bought by the Canadian clothesmaker John Forsythe, which sought bankruptcy protection in 2013. The Munsingwear and Original Penguin brands are currently owned by Perry Ellis.
The vacant Munsingwear factory on Minneapolis's North Side was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It reopened in 1985 as the International Market Square. In 2002, the Original Penguin brand was re-released. It featured the original Munsingwear penguin logo on a line of vintage style sportswear. Both the building and the Penguin brand stand as reminders of nearly a century of Munsingwear innovation in Minnesota.
Ad, Clothing - Munsingwear Nylons - 1954
The company was started by George D. Munsing, who came to Minnesota from New York in 1886 to set up a textile factory. The mention of underwear was taboo in American society at the time. The Company's ad for its products in the September, 1897 issue of Ladies' Home Journal was the first to display underwear on a live model.
Munsing was a technologist and the company received several patents, including those for a crocheting machine in 1891 and a union suit in the early 1890s. The union suit was the company's flagship product until the 1920s, when central heating made it less useful. It continued until 1969. The cream-colored garment became iconic and was featured in the company's advertising with children and adults outfitted in them.
In 1923 the company went public and changed its name to Munsingwear, Inc. At the time it was the largest manufacturer of underwear in the world. Its slogan was "Don't say underwear, say Munsingwear". At its peak it was producing 30,000 garments per day. Its knitting mill was the largest west of the Alleghany Mountains. The company expanded into women's underwear in the 1920s, and starting in 1931 offered Founders, which used an elasticized yarn to produce a combination foundation garment that combined a brassiere and a girdle.
Munsingwear was the largest employer of females in the state of Minnesota; at one point 85% of its 3,000 employees were ladies. By the 1920s, in part trying to avoid unionization, Munsingwear offered many benefits, some quite progressive for the time. It had a health clinic staffed by a full-time nurse, with regular visits from general practitioners, otolaryngologists (because of air quality problems), dental assistants, and dentists. All of this care was free. Mungsingwear also offered access to health insurance, a branch of the Minneapolis Public Library which circulated 7,500 books a year, a large, fully staffed kitchen which provided lunches to the entire work force (in shifts), an orchestra which performed during Thursday lunch breaks, an on-site gymnasium, sports teams, and other benefits.
Its flagship product of recent years, patented in 1943, was the "Kangaroo brief", featuring a horizontal fly and a contoured pouch.
In 1951 the company merged with the Vassar Swiss Underwear Company, which became the Vassar division of Munsingwear.
In 1955 the company began producing its Grand Slam gold shirt, with a Penguin logo. In the 1960s and 1970s these were the best-selling golf shirts in the world. Munsingwear also added a line of women's golf, bowling, and fashion shirts.
Declining business in the 1970s led to the Minneapolis plant's closure in 1981.
In 1991 the company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. In 1996 it changed its name to PremiumWear, and focused on specialty markets. Premiumwear was in turn bought by the Canadian clothesmaker John Forsythe, which sought bankruptcy protection in 2013. The Munsingwear and Original Penguin brands are currently owned by Perry Ellis.
The vacant Munsingwear factory on Minneapolis's North Side was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It reopened in 1985 as the International Market Square. In 2002, the Original Penguin brand was re-released. It featured the original Munsingwear penguin logo on a line of vintage style sportswear. Both the building and the Penguin brand stand as reminders of nearly a century of Munsingwear innovation in Minnesota.