OshKosh B'gosh is an American children's apparel company founded in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Carter's Carter's, Inc. is a major American designer and marketer of children's apparel. It was founded in 1865 by William Carter. Carter's sells its products through its own Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh retail stores, its website, and in other retail ...

. OshKosh B'gosh has become best known for its children's clothing, especially bibbed overalls. The original children's overalls, dating from the early 20th century, were intended to let parents dress their children like their fathers. According to the company, sales of the product increased after Miles Kimball, an Oshkosh-based

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

catalog, featured a pair of the overalls in its national catalog in 1960. As a result, OshKosh began to sell their products through

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

and expanded their children's line.

History

The company was founded in 1895 as the Grove Manufacturing Company by Frank E. Grove, J. Howard Jenkins, and James Clark. Grove was soon bought out of the company and it was renamed Oshkosh Clothing and Manufacturing Co. in December 1896. OshKosh B'gosh's most notable product was hickory striped overalls. The term "B'gosh" began being used in 1911, after general manager William Pollock heard the tagline "Oshkosh B'Gosh" in a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

routine in New York. The company formally adopted the name OshKosh B'gosh in 1937. Children's clothing made up less than 50 percent of the company's sales in 1980; by 1984 that number had grown to about 80 percent. Oshkosh 3t striped shortalls front

OshKosh B'gosh's Wisconsin plant was closed in 1997. Downsizing of domestic operations and massive outsourcing and manufacturing at Mexican and Honduran subsidiaries saw the domestic manufacturing share drop below 10 percent by the year 2000. OshKosh B'gosh was sold to Carter's, another clothing manufacturer, in 2005 for $312 million, though it still operates under the original name. Today the company sells accessories,

jeans Jeans are a type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by ...

pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian and Australian English) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separatel ...

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...

sweater A sweater (North American English) or pullover, also called a jersey or jumper (British English, Hiberno-English and Australian English),

s, t-shirts, tank tops, and its trademark overalls. The company produces clothing for infants and children aged 1–14; however, it no longer manufactures clothing in adult sizes. The company also has over 300 stores in the United States.

Headquarters

The company is headquartered in Phipps Tower in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Buckhead Buckhead is the wikt:uptown, uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within ...

district.2014 Annual Report
" Carter's, Inc. "Phipps Tower 3438 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1800 Atlanta, Georgia 30326 (Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)"

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1895 establishments in Wisconsin 2005 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1895 American corporate subsidiaries Children's clothing brands Clothing brands of the United States Clothing companies established in 1895 Manufacturing companies based in Atlanta Manufacturing companies based in Wisconsin Oshkosh, Wisconsin Retail companies established in 1895