Vintage FLINT Chore Coat with Chin Strap Mfg. by Schramm & Schmeig Co.

photos courtesy of skating911

This beautiful FLINT coat made of ERWIN BLUSERGE DENIM just ended with a crazy final bid of $5,525... without meeting the sellers reserve. 

The coat was listed as circa 1915 which I believe to be incorrect due to the fact that along with the WWII war era wreath and star buttons, the label (not so) clearly states SANFORIZED. The SANFORIZED fabric shrinkage control process trademark was first registered in the USA in 1930. According to Paul Trynka the highly knowledgeable author & denim aficionado, whose book DENIM FROM COWBOYS TO CATWALKS was an early inspiration for yours truly, the SANFORIZED process was first used by Erwin Mills in 1936 to make denim for overalls marketed under J.C. Penney’s Big Mac label.

Just over one year ago we shared an ERWIN Blueserge Denim Coat that is part of the vintageworkwear.com collection. The coat along with a bit of history on the Erwin Mills can be found here.

A nice piece on Flint Hill Overalls manufactured by Schramm & Schmieg Dry Goods Company can be found at the great blog UNION-MADE here.

Another informative piece on Flint Hill Overalls can be found at one of our favorite blogs YOUR OLD PAL, JIM here

ERWIN COTTON MILLS CO. VINTAGE BLUSERGE DENIM CHORE JACKET

The Erwin Cotton Mills Co. of Durham North Carolina was founded in 1892.  The two-story brick factory included a picker building, dyehouse, boiler room, and engine house. The mills had 11,000 spindles and 360 looms producing a variety of fabrics.

Rows of houses were built for the workers. By 1895, some 375 families were living in the mill village. The end of the line for Erwin Mills came in 1986.

 Erwin Mills Machine Shop circa 1967.

Vintage 1950's era ERWIN Work Jacket / Chore Coat constructed using BLUSERGE SANFORIZED indigo dyed selvedge denim. From The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. archive . 

The SANFORIZED Shrunk process was patented in 1928, and was first used by Erwin Mills in 1936 to make denim for overalls marketed under J.C. Penney’s Big Mac label.

The community of Erwin began with the erection of a cotton mill in 1903.
The Erwin Mills Company was formed in 1892 by a group of financiers who included W.A. Erwin and J.B. "Buck" Duke. Construction started in the spring of 1903, and the mill was in full operation by the latter part of 1905. The site had been selected because of the proximity of the Cape Fear River, the proximity of the cotton fields, and the probable supply of adequate labor.


The town which was constructed to house the workers of the mill was originally called Duke, but its name was changed to Erwin in 1926 when Trinity College in Durham became Duke University.


The mill hosted an annual celebration for the mill employees called “Overall Days” and from there the Erwin chamber of commerce started sponsoring a fall festival that is now called “Denim Days”. This festival is held each fall, the first weekend of October.