Valley Girl Views: West Branch Hosiery, Milton Pa

West Branch Knitting Mill, Center and Maple Streets, Milton PA
(One of the three buildings still stands today, the other two were torn down in 1991. Today, the American Rescue Workers Thrift Store is in the building that remains.)

Lot 240 of Shimers Addition, located on the corner of Center and Maple Streets, was purchased by the Milton Knitting Company in 1888, for $3,500. The Milton Knitting Company was incorporated on October 3, 1888.

In In 1892, Shimer, a major shareholder in the knitting company, sold the failing enterprise to the West Branch Hosiery Company, which was under the leadership of Solomon Silverman of Williamsport.

Under this new ownership, the business continued to struggle. They moved into the new (middle) building, and leased the center street building to the Reed Tobacco Company. (Reid remained there until they completed their new warehouse on Hepburn Street. See more about Reid Tobacco here: https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/04/marshall-reid-his-tobacco-company-milton.html)

1910

On December 12 1905, businessmen from Lock Haven, Williamsport, Philadelphia and Milton incorporated the West Branch Knitting Company. This company made cotton, wool, thread, and yard to be used in a variety of textiles. They were awarded a contract from the US Government to furnish the Army & Navy with Hosiery. The monetary value of the contract was $75,000, with 40,000 pairs of hose being shipped from the factory each month.

On January 6, 1916 Edward Hecht and John Knoell became sole owners of West branch knitting Company. They reorganized the entire plant, installed new machinery, added new facilities to make their plant one of the most modern knitting mills in the state. A new dye house was added and with other improvements, the production of the hosiery department exceeded 1000 dozen pairs per day. West Branch Knitting Company's quality hose for men and women were made from Japan silk, fiber silk and fine lisle yarns. They claimed none better anywhere.

1912

West branch knitting also manufactured the famous Twintex Underwear for men and boys, sold all over the United States and in many foreign countries. Comfortable long underwear found ready markets. Produced from the best cotton yarns in mesh fabrics and in balbriggans, it was ideal for summer wear.

“In 1917 through World War I, the mill made men's underwear, called “long johns”. Sometime after the war's end, possibly in the early 1920s, they retooled the machines and switched over to women's hosiery. Men's hosiery may have been made also. I remember only women's. In those days, women's stockings were of rayon or lisle. When silk stockings were first manufactured, they were too expensive for the general market. The hosiery made at West Branch Knitting was seamless, made on tubular machines. Eventually, full fashioned silk stockings made in flat pieces and seamed up the back commanded the market. My grandfather evidently felt it would not be cost efficient to change the machinery again or buy new. The operation was shut down in the early 1930s. Of course, as we all know, seamless stockings came back into vogue a couple of decades later.” - Jacqueline Hecht White, daughter of Eugene Hecht.