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 (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

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, the son of immigrants from

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. His family moved to

Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. The City ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

magazines such as

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and

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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

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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 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. The company originally focused on manufacturing and resource extraction, but it began purchasing a number of entertainment companies beginning in 1966 ...

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