Haggar Clothing

Haggar Clothing is a Dallas, Texas-based menswear brand sold in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In addition to its outlet stores, Haggar clothing is sold at retailers such as Macy's, Target, and Belk and its labels include Kenneth Cole men's apparel. Haggar supplies exclusive induction jackets for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. History Joseph Marion Haggar, Sr. (1892-1987), an immigrant from Jezzine, Lebanon, moved to Dallas in 1921. He worked as a traveling overalls salesman for several years before establishing his own company in 1926 in a one-room office with four employees and two sewing machines. Within two years, he had 500 employees manufacturing 75,000 pairs of pants each year. His son Ed Haggar started working in the family business at 14 years old and later published a book, "'Big Ed Haggar' and the Family Behind an Apparel Giant" (2001), about his experience working in his father's shop with his siblings Joe Jr. and Rosemary. By 1938, Ed Haggar was working as a full-time salesman and returned after serving in World War II as a captain. Haggar factories ran 24 hours a day to supply an adequate amount of clothing for the military; by the end of the war, more than ten million garments had been produced. By the end of the 1940s, Haggar was the largest producer and marketer of slacks in the world and Ed Haggar had moved from his role as vice president to president, where he stayed until 1971. Since the 1940s, the company has inaccurately claimed to have coined the word slacks to reflect their use during "leisurely 'slack time'". Slacks referring to pants are recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary as dating back to 1824, originally to refer to military clothing. They may, however, have popularized the word in the United States. Haggar's pre-cuffed slacks were a major seller in the 1940s as they no longer required alterations from a tailor after purchase. Claims that Haggar created the first pre-cuffed pants are oftentimes alongside those attributing the etymology of slacks to the company, meaning that while it is reported, its accuracy is unclear. During the 1950s, Haggar became the first menswear brand to advertise on national television when their ad aired during the Today Show.