Troy in Rensselaer County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Welcome to the Collar City!
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, July 12, 2013
1. Marker Detail
The detachable shirt collar was invented in Troy in 1827 by a local housewife, Hannah Montague. For more than a hundred years, various styles of the stiff cotton collars were worn by merchants, businessmen and other "white collar" workers.
Troy produced over 90% of the collars worn in America. By the early 1900s, this part of the city was almost exclusively collar and cuff factories and commercial laundries.
Over half of the workers in the collar industry were women. Many of them were immigrants, like the Irish-born Kate Mullaney, who organized 500 female laundry workers in 1864 into the nationally recognized Collar Laundry Union.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Labor Unions. A significant historical year for this entry is 1827.
Location. 42° 44.179′ N, 73° 41.241′ W. Marker is in Troy, New York, in Rensselaer County. Marker can be reached from River Street. Marker is beside the parking lot between River Street and the Hudson River, opposite Jacob Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Troy NY 12180, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Locking Through (approx. ¼ mile away); The Great Fire of 1862 (approx. ¼ mile away); Uncle Sam Monument (approx. 0.3 miles away); W & L E Gurley Building
this page online
Also see . . .
1. "Developer marks former Troy shirt factory's 100th anniversary". Times Union website article by Eric Anderson; Dec. 8, 2017 (Submitted on May 9, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
2. Sanford Lockwood Cluett. (June 6, 1874 – May 17, 1968); an American businessman and inventor known for developing Sanforization (1928), a process to pre-shrink woven fabrics. (Submitted on May 9, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, July 12, 2013
2. Marker Detail
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, July 12, 2013
3. Marker Detail
The Arrow Man helped sell the many styles of collars made by Cluett, Peabody and Company. After their 1930s invention of the "Sanforization" process to preshrink cloth, Cluett Peabody became one of the largest shirt and collar producers in the world, employing almost 6,000 workers in their riverside factory, to your left. [Rensselaer County Historical Society photographs]
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, July 12, 2013
4. Welcome to the Collar City! Marker
The large building with the red brick smokestack once housed the Cluett, Peabody & Company, Inc., makers of Arrow shirts and collars. Shortly after World War I, inventor Sanford L. Cluett, a nephew of the company owner, determined that shrinkage occurred because shirt fabric which had become stretched in the manufacturing process returned to its normal size after washing. In the 1920s, he developed the "compressive shrinkage process" which became known as "Sanforizing" after its inventor. Cluett, Peabody then licensed the process to the entire textile industry. After the company left Troy in the late 1980s, its factory was transformed into the Headley Park Place office complex. The bridge to the left of the building is the Collar City Bridge, which carries NY Route 7 over the Hudson River.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 9, 2021. It was originally submitted on July 18, 2013, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. This page has been viewed 829 times since then and 62 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 18, 2013, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
