Online Exhibitions:

Documenting Change: Industry and Business in Troy and Rensselaer County, NY

Cleutt, Peabody & Company

Records, 1879-1982 (inclusive), 1900-1960 (bulk)

Extent: ca. 415 cu. ft.

Historical Note: Cluett, Peabody traces its origins in Troy back to 1850, and it grew to be the largest of Troy's collar and cuff manufacturers. It manufactured Arrow shirts in Troy for many years and continued to maintain a research facility in the city until about 1990.

Scope and Content: The Cluett, Peabody archives consist chiefly of financial records and advertising materials documenting the collar and shirt manufacturing business based in Troy. The collection is strongest for the first half of the twentieth century. Financial records include cash journals and receipts, expense ledgers, stock ledgers, sales records, and bank records. SomeBoard minutes and payroll records are also present. There are also files for Cluett, Peabody, Canada and other records documenting the company's extensive international activities. Advertising records include scrapbooks, salesmen's catalogs, trade catalogs, photographs, and product samples. Copies of patent records from the U.S. Patent Office document many clothing patents including those of numerous Troy patentees. The collection also includes the personal papers of Sanford Cluett, documenting the development of the Sanforizing process, and including diaries, scrapbooks, correspondence, and photographs.

Location: Rensselaer County Historical Society, 57 Second St., Troy, NY 12180.

Advertisement from Troy City Directory, 1950

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