Hollering "Uncle!"

Dave Hindlemann & Associates, Inc., has been around for over 78 years.  It will continue.  However, Custom Uniform Company, a subdivision of the corporation, continues to narrow its focus as manufacturing in the United States dwindles to a trickle.  Garment manufacturing in general, is as old as mankind itself; with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the invention of the cotton gin, and the sewing machine, plus the use of trains, steamships, the automobile, the telegraph and telephone, in addition to automation; garment manufacturing, along with many many other types of construction, boomed.  The United States became the world producer of merchandise, made in the U.S.A.  Apparel was no exception.  Seventh Avenue in New York City, became the Garment District of the world.

However, with a general trend in American society toward welfare and white collar jobs; as the rest of the world has caught on to American know-how, and become production savvy; the tide has turned.  America, like most other nations around the globe, has become a consumer nation rather than a producer nation.  We absorb rather than provide.  There are multiple reasons for this, including the tremendous advancements in technology, which virtually render the blue-collar worker obsolete as robots take over so many of the tasks that ordinary humans used to do.

Bottom line is that Custom Uniform Company cannot sustain itself with the dearth of a labor market that is either retired and too feeble to work, or has passed on.  There is virtually no skilled labor in this country, any more.  

The kind of work we at Custom Uniform Company did was about tailoring, about expertise, about production in multiples; always with individuals who could manage a particular task beyond piecework. There was that knowledge from the Old Country that brought gifts and abilities and a thoroughness that today's workers no longer possess or even know about.  Speed used to come fourth after quality, precision, and pride in one's workmanship. Now, it's first.  For that kind of manufacturing, the $2.00/day or $.98 cents an hour knock-offs are perfect for offshore creations.

You look in your closet, and see how many American flags you find in your clothes; everything today is made elsewhere, except perhaps small orders of boutique items that cost a slight fortune. It's not a terrible mis-statement to say that if we were to go to war with the Chinese tomorrow, we would have to wait until China made our fighting uniforms for us, first. Yes, it really is that sad, and that poor.

This blog will take on the history and the reality, the thoughts about the United States in the garment industry through it's rise and its decline over the years.  It is both a triumphant, and  tragic tale, of the American Dream and the American Nightmare; what has become of the once greatest nation on earth...

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If you have particular questions or thoughts about any specific garment or order, feel free to contact me below, and I will do my best to find a manufacturer for you, suggest a replacement in terms of ready-to-wear, or in fact, continue with the few contractors we have who may be able to help out.  Thank you for your loyalty and support for my father and me, over all these years; for your patience and good humor.  I wish you well.