| HISTORY
Brittany's founder, George Joblon, began
his career working as a colorist for a New York textile printing plant
while studying nights at the Pratt Institute.
During the 1930's, color matching relied
on the creativity and precision of colorists to formulate specific dyes.
It wasn't long before Mr. Joblon became one of the most respected
colorists in the United States.
When he learned of a small mill for sale
in 1939, Mr. Joblon invested $300.00 to open Normandy Print Works, a
fabric printing business in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Normandy Print Works began printing fabrics using only hand screens on
small tables.
During the 1940's, Normandy's reputation
for ingenuity, quality and reliability drove them to become the largest
hand-screen printing company in the country resulting in their expansion
and relocation to their present facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Also during this period, development and
design of camouflage prints for the World War II effort began as well as
production of other items such as flags, draperies, scarves, ties and
women's apparel. The business also expanded into fabric dyeing and
finishing.
In the 1950's, Normandy purchased roller
printing equipment and developed a special dyeing and printing process
for acetate knits. In 1959 Normandy changed its name to Brittany
Dyeing & Printing Corporation and Jack Edreich joined the company as
principal and treasurer.
Brittany's wash-and-wear finish for silk
fabric was developed in the 1960's and Brittany became one of the first
companies in the United States to purchase the Johannes Zimmer automatic
flat screen printing machine.
George's son, Kenneth, joined the company
as an executive trainee in 1968.
The 1970's saw the installation of rotary
printing machines and Brittany expanded its production to provide volume
merchandise to large wholesale distributors. In collaboration with
DuPont, Brittany developed the process for printing Quiana, a synthetic
silk.
In 1979, Kenneth Joblon assumes the
position of president and chief executive officer.
With the addition of state-of-the-art
technology and computerization, printing capacity increases and Brittany
becomes one of the largest printers of cotton and cotton blend fabrics
in the United States and receives worldwide recognition as a leader in
textile printing and dyeing.
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