Wilson Brothers — the shirt factory

South Bend 1883 – 1975

A Chicago firm, a South Bend factory: The Wilson Brothers menswear business was founded in Cincinnati in 1864 by the four brothers John, E. Crane, Hugh, and Milton Wilson, and moved its headquarters to Chicago four years later. South Bend's part began in 1883, when the company started manufacturing on the second floor of the post office building on South Michigan Street. In 1887 Wilson bought land from J. D. Oliver — of the plow works — south of Sample Street and west of Prairie Avenue, on the recorded condition that within ten years the factory would employ 1,000 women. The plant that rose there grew to 12.5 acres of floor space and, by 1926, seven large buildings.

The women's factory: Wilson made its signature white dress shirts and, in time, underwear, pajamas, neckties, and men's socks. Sewing was classed as women's work and paid at women's wages, and the South Bend factory was built on that arithmetic: by 1916 two of the company's five manufacturing departments stood in South Bend, reported among the cleanest and best managed, and the state history project reports 72,000 shirts produced in the span of an 8.5-hour work day at the plant's capacity. Employment ran to more than 1,600 people by 1926 and 2,200 by 1929. A later site history puts the plant's Second World War production at about 3.5 million pieces of clothing for the armed forces; the figure is printed as that account's.

Enro and the end: Uncertainty began in 1949, when Wilson bought the Enro Shirt Company of Kentucky — a second account dates the Enro combination to a 1957 merger, and both dates are printed. Enro's Kentucky plant took up the bulk of shirt production; South Bend continued with pajamas and bathrobes until 1975, when the location was no longer needed and the factory closed. The complex stood derelict for decades: one building, in use as a retail warehouse, burned in August 2019, and another has been taken down board by board for reclaimed building materials.

Sources:

1. Discover Indiana (Indiana Historical Society / IUPUI), "Wilson Brothers Shirt Factory" — the 1864 Cincinnati founding by the four Wilson brothers and the Chicago headquarters; the 1883 start on the post office building's second floor; the 1887 land purchase from J. D. Oliver and the growth to 12.5 acres of floor space; two of five departments in South Bend by 1916 and the 72,000 shirts in an 8.5-hour day; the 1949 Enro purchase, the pajama-and-bathrobe years, and the 1975 closing; the August 2019 fire.
2. South Bend industries survey (monon.org, from the Studebaker National Museum photograph collection) — the 1887 land sale's condition of 1,000 women employed within ten years; seven buildings and more than 1,600 employees by 1926; 2,200 employees by 1929.
3. Places That Were, "Wilson Brothers Shirt Company" (2017) — about 2,200 workers by 1930; the wartime figure of about 3.5 million pieces; the Enro merger dated 1957; the 1975 closing.
4. Southend Reclaimed, project showcase — 2,200 workers by 1929 and the present reclamation of the factory's timbers.