So I did a little research, and the story is this: After the Triangle Shirt factory fire in NYC in the early teens, the shirt industry in America gravitated to cities that had no unions. One of the places they gravitated to was New Haven, CT. By the late 20s there were 40 plus shirt manufacturers in the small city. They flourished because of non union labor. Terry mentioned I think Par Ex and although I am not familiar with the name, apparantly that was one company. When I was a kid I remember Sero and Gant. In the late 60s the Duke of Windsor opened the Gant factory on Long Wharf. Now I think that is where they print the local newspaper. At the old Yale Co Op there used to voluminous shelves of Sero shirts in all sizes and lots of colors or stripes. BD Baggies replaced them when Sero went bust. By 1960 every clothing manufacturer in New Haven was a union shop. By the 1980s almost all had departed. You can blame the unions. But all of those families flourished. The companies paid a living wage and all of the kids went on...... to college, grad school, law school whatever. The factories were in the then italian section of the city. But the Italians in New Haven long ago made it in this country..... maybe immigration isn't a bad thing.

Last edited by tom222222 (2007-02-27 20:56:16)