Julius Kayser (1838–1920) was an American businessman and founder of The Julius Kayser Company (now

Kayser-Roth Kayser-Roth Corporation (a subsidiary of ) is an underwear and hosiery manufacturer based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company currently markets three owned brands in North America, No Nonsense, Hue and Burlington. History Julius Kayser & ...

Biography

Slaner was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

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, the son of immigrants from

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. His family moved to Hornell, New York where they manufactured silk gloves. Kayser developed and patented a unique glove with reinforced fingertips that set him apart from the competition. In the 1880s, he opened a factory in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. In 1911, he expanded into silk underwear, veils, and lingerie. Recognising the power of the new media (as large circulation

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion i ...

magazines such as

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and

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

were exploding in popularity), Kayser devoted a great deal of time and energy into domestic and even international advertising - a move that brought immediate returns and rapid expansion. By 1913, he had over 2,500 employees and by 1916, he had 14 mills employing over 7,500. In addition to his large mill in

, most of the mills were in New York state (Hornell, Walton, Sidney, Owego, Schenectady, Binghamton, Amsterdam, Syracuse, Buffalo, Monticello and Rockville Center). In 1958, his company was merged into the

Chester H. Roth Chester H. Roth (April 13, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was an American businessman who founded the Chester H. Roth Company and served as president and CEO of its successor Kayser-Roth Corporation. Biography Roth was raised in a Jewish family in New Y ...

Hosiery Company in 1958 to become

with Alfred P. Slaner as president. In 1975, Kayser-Roth was sold to

Gulf and Western Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...

and in 1993, it was sold to Mexican hosiery manufacturer Grupo Synkro for US$230,000,000.

Personal life and philanthropy

He was a prominent donor to Jewish causes including the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Hebrew Hospital. He was married to Henrietta Kayser; they had one daughter who remained unmarried. He died in 1920.

References

1838 births 1920 deaths American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople American textile industry businesspeople American company founders {{US-business-bio-1830s-stub