Van Raalte Buildings

Niagara Silk Mill postcard 1928. From 1898-1918 the building at 84 Sweeney Street was known as Niagara Silk Mills; from 1918 to March 8, 1963 operated by the Van Raalte Co. Old North Tonawanda. From Agenbyte on Flicker

Van Raalte Offices 1960s Main Street between 4th and Lincoln Ave - photo from Tim Donnelly Places I remember - Dunkirk

Van Raalte Mill - Saratoga Springs. Saratoga.com

Van Raalte Gloves

Van Raalte made so many styles of gloves over the years and did not trademark glove names, so it's often difficult to date them accurately. I've used the newspaper archives and vintage advertisements as a rough guide to dating.

Silk Gloves and Leather Lined Silk Gloves: (1913 to approx 1930):

First of all a correction: My timeline info gives 1918 as the date Niagara Silk Mills was purchased by Van Raalte Silk Mills , however I recently found the following advertisement on Ebay dated a year prior. I can't find any trademark or patent info on "Niagara Maid" or "Niagara Silk Mills", so we need to assume VR bought them sometime in the late teens. I've never come across any silk garment with the Niagara Maid label, so please contact me if you have one.

Van Raalte "Niagara Maid" Silk Underwear Ad from Oct 6th 1917 Dry Goods Economist Magazine, courtesy of Millcliff

By 1920 VR seems to have abandoned the "Niagara Maid" name in it's advertisements. But I did find one newspaper ad for Dec 16th, 1925 advertising 600 pairs of Niagara Maid silk hose on Sale for $1.65!

1920 Double Tipped Silk Gloves ad also from Millcliff

The very last advertisement I can find for Van Raalte Silk Gloves is dated Oct 20, 1930 from The Argus, an Australian newspaper. They mention only having a table full of oddments, so we can assume this was a clear out of old stock.

Rayon Gloves (1939 to early 1950s):
I found an article in the New York Times dated Dec 2, 1939 which appear to have been their introduction...

"Gloves knit of nylon and rayon have gone on the 'market at $8 a dozen to retail at $1.25 a pair. They are manufactured by the Van Raalte Company..."

"Hands Away Sleight of hand glove fashion which frees fingertips at will but keeps arms glamorously deep in rich rayon jersey", 1945 (art work by Leisin Lenin), ad courtesy of Adventures Into The Past

The last reference I can find of VR rayon gloves is in 1950; an ad for amer-suede, sueded finish rayon gloves.

Nylon Gloves: (1939 to 1960s???)
Manufacturers only really started using nylon on a mass scale after WWII. Women loved it for it's terrific fit and ease of care. Some of the glove styles were incredibly glamorous!

1948 ad (artwork by Henry Luhrs), main image features evening gloves of black ruched nylon net embellished with sequins. Courtesy of Adventures Into The Past


By the mid 50s Van Raalte was advertising Nylon gloves in an astonishing array of colors and styles.

1956 Nylon Gloves ad - courtesy of Adventures Into The Past

In checking the Newspapers archive the last advertisement I found for nylon gloves was in 1958, however I know Van Raalte continued to make gloves into the 60s, and probably well into the 70s. See this blog post for a look at a cool pair of 60s mod thumbless gloves. And note the 60s font is different.

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Van Raalte TIMELINE

This is a work in progress, so if you have any additional information, or if you see any errors please let us know.

• 1902 or 1907 (conflicting dates at to start of company on VR family website) - Emanuel and Zealie Van Raalte start E. & Z. VAN RAALTE COMPANY in New York City 
• 1910 - First American made veiling produced in a new factory built by Van Raaltes' in Lakeview, NJ
• 1913   - accrording to the US trademark database this logo was first in use 1913

• 1918
  Van Raalte Silk Mills takes over Niagara Silk Mills who are known for their "Niagara Maid" line of gloves, stockings and underwear.
• 1927 "Because you love nice things" advertizing campaign starts
• 1937 - The Van Raalte Mill in Boonton NJ manufactures the first fully fashioned nylon stockings as part of the testing process for Duponts new nylon fiber.
• 1938 - E. I. du Pont de Nemours (Dupont) announces the invention of nylon to the public.
• 1939 - Dupont promotes nylon at the NY World's Fair.
• 1940, 15 May - "N" DAY declared by Dupont. Nylon stockings first go on sale and 5 million pairs are sold in a single day!
• 1941, 26 July - US Government bans use of silk except for military use.
• 1945 - Van Raalte counterfeit "nylon" stockings are sold by profiteers and company gets complaints.
• 1977 - Kellwood Company acquires the US rights to the Van Raalte brand of women's hosiery and bodywear
• 1994 - Warnarco acquired Van Raalte trademark for apparel sold to Sears Roebuck
• 1995 - Sears announces their exclusive Van Raalte Lingerie to be sold in their stores