We are losing that generation of heroes who helped make our country and our world a better place. Beginning with this issue, Made to Measure would like to honor those individuals still with us who built the uniform industry into what it is today.
David Cahn: M.J. Cahn Co., Inc.
In the late 1800’s, David Cahn, prominent New York synagogue cantor, decided that his 13 year old son, Moses Jacob, would never go into music—it was an unsteady profession. He apprenticed the boy to an uncle in woolens. Despite his love for music and a degree in musicology, Moses Cahn took his father’s advice: After partnership, his own firm, the stock market crash of 1929 and a tough comeback, he founded M.J. Cahn Co., Inc. in 1933. He sold woolen suiting ends.
David Cahn, born in 1917, graduated from City College of New York with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting and business administration at the age of 19.
Like his father and grandfather, he loved the arts and humanities most. “Being a history professor would have been my first choice,” mused David, “but times were very hard then, and who could make a living off of knowing the things I knew? Today, I watch Jeopardy. I’m good at it.”
Moses Cahn wanted young David to go with Standard Oil—a large, prestigious firm—anything but the “shmatah” business. But David took his first job with Macy’s. A couple of weeks before he was to start, however, he offered to give “Pop” some extra help. That was the end of Standard Oil, and R.H. Macy.
What the elder Cahn had begun, David refined, organized, expanded. From the modest start in a rented office on old 4th Avenue, piece goods were added, the ends done away with; more employees were hired, and 2 moves later M.J. Cahn now resides in its own 50,000 sq. ft. building--warehouse and offices combined.
Men’s and women’s suiting declined, woolen mills dried up and gave way to synthetics and cottons, the Woolen Jobbers Assn. dropped from 125 to less than 10: Cahn adapted with the changes. He brought in different fabrics, and diversified his clientele.
When he returned from his 5 years in Europe during World War II, demands of the clothing business had changed. “Seasonable,” and “stylish” were replacing terms like “continuity,” “steadiness,” “always-in-demand.” The latter had a secure and familiar ring; the shift from street-wear to uniforms was made.
David states, “The greatest impact I have had on my business is to hire the right people. I pay them very well, and I make certain they are people on their way up. We grow and climb the ladder of success together.” His 2 partners, Tom Leahy (formerly of JP Stevens), and David’s son, Dan, complete the corporate structure. A small, culturally diverse staff works closely together for quick service and same-day delivery.
David Cahn and his second wife, Jean, boast 2 children and 5 grandchildren. He speaks 5 languages, which have been of great assistance in his trade of goods. “I’m not a bad salesman,” he adds, “and I have a nice way with people.”
He’s a player of chess and bridge, enjoys wood-working, and music. If he’s not listening to classical, he’s pumping out showtunes himself on his piano.
“The business will survive me because we’ve changed with the times, and because I’ve chosen the right people to succeed me. I have no intention of retiring, says the 79 year-old Cahn. Why should I? I enjoy what I do, and it gives me great pleasure to watch and help other people on the way up.” Leahy remarked, “David’s been wonderful—he’s like my own father.”
When asked how he had changed over the years, David smiled, “I’m a modest person. It’s important to be modest. People who are successful should always be modest. As the years have gone by, I’ve become more modest. And more confident.”
Dave Hindlemann: Bell Mfg. Co. & Custom Uniform Co.
1916 New York City, where a kid made a living by the seat of his pants. Dave Hindlemann, entrepreneur, began at the age of 10, juggling 3 paper routes and an elementary school career. Whether it was his first bicycle, his Model T Ford with a crank which he bought for $50, or his upgrade to a roadster with a gear shift and a rumble seat, Dave always paid his own way. He grew up in Mount Vernon, NY where his dad was a contractor in the garment business. The Wall Street crash, with its domino effect, destroyed elder Harry’s own career when his clients went bankrupt.
The family headed West. Dave abandoned his hopes for a future in engineering or law, apprenticing with his father in a small Denver-based clothing factory. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Denver. Working by day and learning at night, 20 year-old Dave Hindlemann started his first company, Bell Tailors, in 1936. “I’ve never regretted owning my own business,” Dave states. “I never go to sleep at night worrying that the next morning some executive will tell me my job has been abolished.”
Dave’s success allowed him to bring his parents, sister and brother into his own business. He saw to it while he was in Europe for 3.5 years during the War, that the company continued by converting its skills to the manufacture of military uniforms.
1945 came; the boys returned home—not to proprietous pinstripe suits, but to open-collar shirts, slacks, and sport-coats. Custom tailoring for the masses had become a thing of the past.
Dave adapted the military uniforms made during the War, this time for marching bands, parochial schools, and ceremonial groups. He converted from the cost-prohibitive wools to the new technology of synthetics. His tailoring shop became a factory of mass-production: Five or six tailors mushroomed to 50 or 60 sewers. Bell Tailors became Bell Manufacturing Co.
In 1981, he was offered a buy-out, readily gave up the high overhead and the stresses of operating a large factory, went back to a smaller staff and shop, again modifying as the baby-boomers graduated from school, and budgets for band uniforms got smaller. “Flexibility is everything in the manufacturing business,“ he notes. “If you can’t change with the times, you get left behind.”
Today, after 15 years in partnership with his daughter, Deb, Dave’s “smaller” business, Custom Uniform Co., Inc. is bigger, more challenging than ever. All types of custom-designed garments are manufactured for national distribution under private label and under the Custom Uniform label; he complements his inventory with ready-made uniforms when a customer desires a more generic style and fabric.
“I like being a big fish in a small pond. We can make small quantities, lots of different things. It’s fun. Having fun is more important than making the most money. If you don’t enjoy coming to work every day, you’ll never be a success at what you do.”
Married for 50 years, Dave and his wife, Phyllis, have 3 children and 3 grand-children. He states without hesitation, “Family has always been first. Even in the early years I always tried to make time for my family.”
Dave insists that he is retired. “Retirement means doing what you want to do. I love to work, travel, read, enjoy my family. I’m doing all of those things, so I guess I’m retired.” At the age of 80, he still works 6 days a week.
Proud that his business will succeed him, Dave feels that his greatest impact has been the production of a quality product. “We’ve always had a very conscientious quality control. Delivering a good product to the customer, learning as much as I can about things as I go, that matters to me. I like to learn from people, ideas, and products.” “Dave knows so much, he has forgotten more than most people know,” chuckles Evelyn Hart, his foreman for 27 years.
“So many things have changed,” Dave Hindlemann reflects. “It used to be a handshake was a man’s word. Now, it’s lawyers and contracts—cut and dried. The personal element is missing. I’m fascinated by all the technological developments, but I sometimes question our priorities and our values—if objects have become more important than people.”
Lloyd Hamburger: Hamburger Woolen Co. / HWC Police
Tough, caring, pragmatic Lloyd Hamburger was born in 1928 Brooklyn. He, his brother and sister, went through the public school system in New York. Lloyd’s father started his own business after working for a cap manufacturer. He realized that people enjoyed “one-stop-shopping:” If a man bought a cap, he generally needed the uniform to go with it; the same goods which could make a cap could make a uniform, too.
Hamburger Woolen Co. sells and distributes fabric for the uniform and career apparel trade. When Lloyd was a kid, his only desire was to go to work with his dad. Every holiday, every vacation, the boy was working for his father—from the shipping department up. He was not allowed to join the firm, however, until he had a college education; hence, a degree in business administration from the University of Florida. Still, Lloyd is adamant. “There’s nothing like experience. Schooling is OK, but experience is worth its weight in gold.”
Hamburger got out of school in 1950, and was sent to the Korean Conflict where he served for 2 years. “It was the most valuable experience of my life,” emphasizes Lloyd. “My experience in the Army made me who I am today. My ghetto upbringing didn’t prepare me for the real world. In the Army, I had to learn to get along with all types.”
Finally, with school and the service behind him, he was ready to do what he wanted most: Enter the family business. His father suddenly died 3 months later; Lloyd was more on his own than he had anticipated. “My father left me his customers and his support. But I had the desire,” said Lloyd. “I took it from there.”
With the same concept that his father used to sell goods to accompany caps, Lloyd Hamburger began to sell police equipment to accompany the goods for law enforcement uniforms. “We now sell all over the world,” he admits proudly.
“Timing and ‘mazel’ are everything. You can be the best, the brightest, the most interesting, but if you’re not in the right place at the right time—if you don’t have good luck on your side, forget it.”
Married for over 46 years, Hamburger and his wife, Judy, have raised 3 daughters, and now have 7 “delicious” grandchildren. “I absolutely adore my family,” he insists. Daughter, Ilene agrees. “What we missed with him, he has more than made up with his grandchildren.”
He does not consider himself a workaholic, but admits than when he was younger, he spent a tremendous amount of time with the business. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t stop working,” Lloyd emphasized. “I just did what I had to do, and in those days, it took a lot of time and travel.”
Ilene has joined Hamburger Woolen Co. which now has a large warehouse / office facility on Long Island, moving out of the City after 55 years. The company prides itself on same-day delivery and service, shipping within 48 hours. Continuity and durability are the criteria for the fabric which it sells. “My father taught me the importance of personal service. I maintain that with our customers,” said Lloyd.
Insisting that retirement is what other people do, 69 year-old Hamburger spends one day a week with his grandchildren. His most recent commitment was a second-grade poetry recital with his grand-daughter. “I love fresh-water fishing, tennis, travel. Most of all, I love to watch the faces of my grand-children,” he says with as much vigor as he describes the success of his business.
Asked what he has contributed most to the business, Lloyd says without hesitation that it’s his sincerity and his personality. “When a customer comes to me, he knows exactly what he’s going to get. I don’t disappoint him and that makes me feel very good. I never forget that without the customer, I wouldn’t be here.”
