The wabash / Stifel thread

[Iron Horse]

As mentioned in another thread, we don’t have a wabash/Stifel mega thread here.

First things first, the history:

“J.L. Stifel & Sons was an American textile and jeans manufacturing brand which became prominent from 1835 to 1956 and a precursor one in indigo-dyed cotton calicos. Smoother than canvas or denim but very resistant, calico made success in workwear clothing. Typical calicos such as polka dots, flowers and dotted lines on bandanas and ticking were the most popular motifs.^[1]

In 1833, Johan Ludwig Stifel, a young and poor German immigrant came to the United States after having been an apprentice dyer and calico printer in his homeland. Walking barefoot to preserve his shoes, he reached the burgeoning city of Wheeling in West Virginia and began to work for a local farm. However his interest in textile dying returned and in 1835, he spent all his savings on a single bolt of unbleached cotton from the local mill, hand-dyed and sold it, then repeated the process another time. A new business was about to blossom. 

Wheeling, as a growing industrial city, notably in the steel and cigar sectors required a large workforce and consequently cheap and reliable garments. Johan Ludwig Stifel decided to convert this demand in a business opportunity giving birth to a prosperous enterprise. Meanwhile, having been married to Barbara Becht, in 1859, his sons Louis and William joined the company which turned into J. L. Stifel & Sons. In the beginning of the twentieth century the third generation of Stifels was operating a 70,000 square foot manufacturing plant employing 50 workers.

The brand logo, a boot (meaning"stiefel" in German) with the word “stifel” inside, was definitely adopted. J.L. Stifel & Sons was associated with quality and their products were exported to Latin America, the Philippines, India, Canada and Africa reaching its peak with a monthly production of 3.5 million yards of clothes.^[2]”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.L.Stifel_and_Sons

Edited May 11, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

Period-correct advertising of Stifel fabrics (image sources vary, many from the vintageworkwear blog, nudge for credit):

Edited May 11, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

Stifel cloth advertised in catalogs, various photos from my own, small catalog collection:

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

[Iron Horse]

If you’ve noticed, the majority of Wabash/Stifel-fabric shirts were polka dot fabric; dot stripe was generally reserved for coats, overalls, pants and hats.

Here’s the only instance of dot stripe Wabash shirts off the top of my head:

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

On to vintage examples:

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

Two original 1920s photos I picked up recently:

[Duke Mantee]

@Iron Horse Thank you!

[Duke Mantee]

Some additional details here at  the Indian Head connection of indigo calico and bulldog

[Duke Mantee]

[Duke Mantee]

[Duke Mantee]

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Duke Mantee]

It’s not super clear but he’s wearing polka dot wabash

Edited May 11, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[bartlebyyphonics]

great thread... very interesting to hear pattern differences for shirts vs. jackets...

^ love that shot above... 

[Duke Mantee]

My scarf/muffler collection

[shredwin_206]

Will you be posting reviews of repro pieces in here? 
Ive always liked stifel and wabash

[Iron Horse]

26 minutes ago, ecsong187 said:

Will you be posting reviews of repro pieces in here? 
Ive always liked stifel and wabash

Anyone is free to post any wabash-related content they’d like here! 

[Maynard Friedman]

Here’s my sole contribution (had this since 2011). I’m interested in seeing Duke’s full collection, preferably stacked, aka the ‘Stifel Tower’!

[Duke Mantee]

@Maynard Friedman not quite a Stifel Tower but and oldie with the majority of the indigo wabash 

[Duke Mantee]

I think I’m right in saying you won’t find these trademarks on any repro other than Freewheelers (and this is Freewheelers cloth if anyone is thinking otherwise)

Edited May 11, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Duke Mantee]

[MJF9]

Pleased to see this thread - thanks @Iron Horse @Duke Mantee

The Hillside scarf and matching pocket square

Both about 4 years old but the scarf has seen a lot more wear and is due another wash now

The second photo shows the difference in wear

Edited May 11, 2020 by MJF9

[Duke Mantee]

Here’s an example of a pre-bankruptcy Joe McCoys which is definitely more Bootleggers than McCoys. The name ‘Bootleggers’ should be taken quite literally - Mr. Nakamura, Yasui and Komori did ...

Edited May 11, 2020 by Duke Mantee

[Iron Horse]

I don’t have much Wabash these days but here’s some:

The Rite Stuff Wabash scarf in 5 oz selvedge chambray. I have the sample version with the selvedge edge; through some miscommunication the factory cut the selvedge off all the final production scarves so I had a choice of having them remade (and God knows what would have happened to the amputees) or keeping them and selling them at a lower price. 

Modelled here by my wife:

 

The final version, sans selvedge:

Edited May 12, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Iron Horse]

Lofgren Wabash dot shirt:

Edited May 12, 2020 by Iron Horse

[Snake]

10 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

I think I’m right in saying you won’t find these trademarks on any repro other than Freewheelers (and this is Freewheelers cloth if anyone is thinking otherwise)

You are right. I believe FW owns the Stifel trademark.

[Iron Horse]

1922 ad:

 

[Duke Mantee]

5 hours ago, Iron Horse said:

Lofgren Wabash dot shirt:

One of 3 Lofgren shirts I owned - the memories 

[Double 0 Soul]

17 hours ago, Duke Mantee said:

I think I’m right in saying you won’t find these trademarks on any repro other than Freewheelers (and this is Freewheelers cloth if anyone is thinking otherwise)

You're wrong there Michael  ive seen them on some t-shirts over on DB, would this be a major, major copyright infringement?

[Duke Mantee]

51 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

You're wrong there Michael  ive seen them on some t-shirts over on DB, would this be a major, major copyright infringement?

Aye, I’ll phone Atsushi and grass on (was it) MajorMajor?