Nelly Don Inc. was a clothing manufacturer and distributor from 1956 to 1978. It was founded by Nell Quinlan Donnelly Reed in 1916 as a brand of the Donnelly Garment Company. The Donnelly Garment Company was renamed to Nelly Don after the founder retired and sold her interest in the company. in 1956. The company was headquartered in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

and had additional factories in that state. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it designed the pattern for and made many of the uniforms for women in the military and factories, and made all of the underwear for men in the US military. Nelly Don manufactured 75 million dresses from 1916 to 1978 making it the largest dress manufacturer of the 20th century. They were one of the first companies to apply assembly line techniques to clothing manufacturing. It was reported that she only had to dismiss one employee in the entire history of the company. By 1947, the company employed over 1,000 people, the majority of which were women. Due to favorable working conditions, nearly 400 individuals worked for the company over 20 years. After the sale of the company in 1956, the brand declined in popularity over the next 20 years and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 1978. A documentary film was made about this company titled ''Nelly Don: A Stitch in Time''. In March 2019, an original production, ''Nelly Don: the Musical'', by the playwright and lyricist Terence O'Malley, debuted at the MTH Theater at

Crown Center Crown Center is a shopping center and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri between Gillham Road and Main Street to the east and west, and between OK/E 22nd St and E 27th St to the north and south. The shopping center is an ...

in Kansas City,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

References

External links

Documentary website
{{Commons category, Nell Donnelly Reed Clothing companies of the United States Companies based in Missouri 1919 establishments in the United States 1978 disestablishments in Missouri