C. F. Hathaway Company was a private manufacturer of shirts for men and boys, located in Waterville, Maine. The company was founded by Charles Foster Hathaway. Its early history is unclear. Though often described as starting in 1837, there is little evidence of this date. It is well-documented that in 1848 Hathaway built a shirt factory with Josiah Tillson in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Waterto ...

, his share of which he sold to Tillson for $900 on March 31, 1853. On April 1, 1853, he wrote in his diary that he had agreed to form a partnership with his brother George to create a factory in Waterville to be incorporated as C. F. Hathaway and Co. On May 18, 1853, he purchased an acre of land on Appleton Street for $900 from Samuel Appleton, which was the site of the Hathaway Shirt Factory for more than one hundred years. On June 1, 1853, ground was broken for the shirt factory, and it was in full operation by the end of October. Employees worked 60 hours per week, from 7 A.M. to 6 P.M., six days a week, with an hour off at noon. It later made uniform shirts for Union soldiers during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Hathaway is most famous for its "man with an eye patch" advertising campaign created by

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based advertising agency, agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging wit ...

in 1951. Inspired by a picture of public servant

Lewis Douglas Lewis Williams Douglas (July 2, 1894March 7, 1974) was an American politician, diplomat, businessman and academic. Early life and education Douglas was the son of James Douglas, Jr., a mining executive employed by the Phelps Dodge Company, and h ...

, who had lost an eye in a fishing accident,

David Ogilvy David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

recruited Baron George Wrangell, a Russian aristocrat with 20/20 vision, to appear in the ads. The campaign portrayed the "Hathaway man" as sophisticated and elegant, with a lifetime of interesting experiences. The campaign was selected by

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...

as #22 on its list of the greatest ad campaigns of the 20th century. The "Hathaway man" reappeared in a 1993 sketch on

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

, played by

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

sans moustache. The Hathaway man works to get a discouraged

hand model A hand model is a person who models (poses or displays) their hand or hands for the purposes of art, fashion, products or advertising. Hand models are used in advertising where advertisers want close ups of the product being handled. Most hands ...

who lost part of a finger in a car accident back into modeling. C. F. Hathaway Company closed its Maine factory in 2002, making it the second to last major American shirt company to produce shirts in the United States. Only

Gitman Bros Gitman Bros is a men's shirt and necktie manufacturer. It is one of the few remaining made in America clothing companies. History Based in Ashland, Pennsylvania, the original Gitman Bros was founded in 1978, with a history going back to 1932 as ...

in northeast Pennsylvania continued at that time.

References

External links

Example of "man with an eye patch" advertisement
Hathaway Company Hathaway Company Hathaway Company Hathaway Company Hathaway Company Waterville, Maine Hathaway Company Hathaway Company 1837 establishments in Maine Hathaway Company {{Fashion-stub

Further reading

References

External links