1940 to 2026
Effective September 3, 2026, and after eighty-six years, we have made the very difficult decision to close the company.
In 1940, Irving Hamburger started this company on a simple idea. The mills sold fabric in quantities that small manufacturers could not afford to buy or to store, so he bought the full lots himself and sold them on in whatever amount a customer actually needed. No minimums. Ship it today. That was the whole business, and it turned out to be enough to build a company that lasted this long.
The wool came first. Then came everything else that goes with the uniform. Belts and duty gear. Cuffs and restraints. Batons and nightsticks. Flashlights, gloves, whistles, badges, rescue supplies. Somewhere along the way we stopped being only a fabric house and became a supply house for the people who answer the call, and we were proud of both halves of that. Our own belts, duty gear and nightsticks were made in the United States, and we never stopped caring that they were.
Those years passed through three generations of one family, and through the hands of a great many people who were not family and might as well have been. The fabric changed, the product lines came and went, the phone gave way to email, and the industry around us grew smaller every single year. The idea never changed. Take care of the customer in front of you, and do it today.
Before the doors close, we want to say the only thing that really needs saying.
To our dealers and customers. Some of you have been ordering from us since your parents and grandparents ran your companies. You called, we pulled it, it shipped, and you called again the next week for thirty or forty years. We never sold around you and we never sold past you, because your relationships with your departments were the whole point. You trusted us with the goods your own reputations were made of. There is no way to earn that twice. Thank you for every order, the large ones and the single piece ones alike, and thank you for the patience on the days we needed it.
To our mills, manufacturers and suppliers. You gave us your quality and your patience, and often we asked for both in the same phone call. Partnerships that run this long are not really contracts. They are relationships, and ours were good ones. We are grateful to the ones who stood with us through the lean stretches, which is when you learn who your partners actually are.
To our employees, past and present. You are the company. The people who answered the phones, pulled the stock, checked the yardage, packed the cartons, chased the trucks, and closed the books. You did it with care whether or not anyone was watching, and you did it for people you had never met. Every kind word ever said about this company was really a word about you. We are sorry to bring it to an end, and we could not be prouder of what you built.
To the officers, medics and firefighters at the end of the line. You never bought from us directly and most of you never heard our name, and that is exactly how it should be. But it was our fabric in the uniform and our gear on the belt, and knowing where it was going kept this place honest for decades. Stay safe out there.
To our friends in the trade. Anyone still working in American textiles and American public safety supply knows exactly what the last few decades have asked of the people in it. We were glad to be counted among you, and we hope the ones still going have a long run ahead.
The doors close. Eighty-six years of work does not simply disappear. It went out into the world as the cloth of a uniform and the belt, the cuffs, the light and the whistle that went with it, carried by police officers, deputies, corrections officers, EMTs, paramedics, firefighters and security officers, on ordinary shifts and on the worst days of other people's lives. It is in the companies that grew up alongside ours and in the families supported by the work. That is a good record for any business, and it belongs to all of you.
Thank you, from all of us.
With deep gratitude.