Tipton Manufacturing Co. (1937-1990)

Moniteau County, Missouri

Tipton Manufacturing Co.

(1937-1990)

From the 2000 History of Moniteau County:

Tipton Manufacturing Co.

One of Tipton's first industries was a pants factory located on the corner of Moniteau Street and Moreau Avenue in a 25 X 80 foot building bought from Mrs. Phillipine Steinkraus and started by Mr. A. F. (Al) Martin on April 5, 1937 with 53 employees. By the end of the month the factory was producing 60 dozen garments daily with a payroll of four to five hundred dollars weekly.

In January of 1942, Mr. Martin was awarded a new government contract for 135,000 pairs of twill and serge Army trousers. Mr. Martin had just finished a government order of 100,000 pairs of Army trousers.

In 1944 the plant was leased to Oberman & Company of Jefferson City, MO. In 1947 it was leased to the Biltwell Co. of St Louis.

On January 31, 1955 a fire of undetermined origin destroyed part of the building and some machines.

Biltwell was a manufacturer of tailored men's apparel and had been a division of the Interco Corp., based in St Louis since 1969 when it was purchased from Saul Brodsky, the company founder.

In 1964 the cutting, pressing and shipping departments were taken out of Tipton to the Biltwell plant in Salisbury, Mo. The sewing department was later moved downstairs.

On July 17, 1972 the Tipton Slack Outlet was opened on the second floor of the pants factory. They sold first quality overruns and irregulars. Besides men's slacks, they sold dress suits, leisure suits, leisure jackets and sports jackets. The Outlet Store was later relocated to a building on Hwy. 50.

In 1988 the Biltwell Co. had sales in excess of 60 million dollars. The Biltwell Co. was sold in 1989 to the Hartmarx Corp. of Chicago for about 42 million dollars making it part of the Jaymar-Ruby Group in Michigan City, IN. The Jarmar-Ruby Group is one of the largest slacks manufacturers in the United States.

The Tipton facility, being the oldest and smallest of all the Biltwell factories was closed in June of 1990 due to economics, imports, etc., leaving 125 people unemployed.

By 1999, three of the four Biltwell factories in Missouri had closed. The closing of Biltwell ended nearly 54 years of garment manufacturing in Tipton.

Moniteau County Homepage