SUMMERTIME

Workingman's break time treat long before this summers must have

 Watermelon flavor cream OREO'S

SETTING SUN....One Sun Sets Allowing Another Sun to Rise, THE RISING SUN & CO. Move Part I

I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon and evening helping our friend Mike Hodis, proprietor of RISING SUN & CO., get started with the relocation of his work shop and retail space. Known as one of the finest denim & canvas tailors in the nation if not the world, RISING SUN & CO. is moving from their Old Town Pasadena location to what will be their new home, just a few miles down the street to East Pasadena.

While it is a shame to see Mike have to dismantle his wonderful old shop of 5 years, the new space has as much if not more of the same flavor and character that has complemented the RISING SUN & CO. line of vintage inspired, fine tailored goods so well. Rest assured that as the sun sets on the old location, a new day will dawn and a new sun will rise, giving birth to a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of the iconic brand.
 

I believe the shop will be open for business thru the end of the week or till the end of the month so by all means do your part and purchase some goods to help lighten the load. Best to call 1.626.793.3479 or email info@risingsunjeans.com to confirm their status before you drop in.

The once clean & organized Rising Sun workshop, reduced to a mere shell of its former glory

The Motley Moving Crew L to R, Alex, Mike, Brendon and hiding behind the tree...Marion

The Crew joined at halftime by Julian, moving a few of what must have been 100 rolls of selvedge denim and duck canvas

The taking of these shots accounted for roughly 10 minutes of what was to become a 9 hour day. While I worked up a bigger sweat than I have in a quite a while, picking up a nice blood blister on one of my digits and offering a bit of knuckle flesh as a sacrifice to the moving gods, it was all good. And I thought I worked hard...Mike's brother Alex took time off from his day job of building-out stores for the likes of Levis & other well known brands to raise the work ethic bar and show how it's done. A tip of the old engineer & workman cap to Alex for busting some serious ass!  It was truly my pleasure to lend a hand to help a friend and hopefully make what must surely be quite the daunting task a little less daunting.

Marion sporting one of Rising Sun's Racer Tees

Julian's friend Thaddeus switched out of his street clothes and donned a Rising Sun chore coat and some vintage hunting pants to get dirty while lending a hand hauling some fabric

The photos here provide a brief glimpse behind the scenes of a very long and busy Saturday. The beginning stages of the relocation focused on moving the work shop and the many vintage sewing machines and the rolls upon rolls of selvedge denim and canvas duck fabric used to construct so many wonderful garments. These photos will be even more interesting to look back at and provide perspective once the dust settles and the phoenix rises from the ashes. Look for more on the new shop in future posts.

The sweat soaked darker portions of the tongue and ankles on my Red Wing Iron Rangers show just how much effort was expended. Seen a few hours after getting home Saturday night

My trusty Salt & Pepper convert cloth cap seen at about midnight Saturday night, some 3 hours after wrapping up work.  Had kind of the old stanky gym clothes thing going on. This hat's gonna need a soak

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.

WORKERS K & T H Co Round Collar Wabash Shirt

Just received my Wabash Polka Dot Round Collar Work Shirt from Takashi of WORKERS. I have been impressed with his work on so many levels for some time and am happy to be able to finally add one of his fine pieces to my wardrobe. Now if only I could convince him to add some larger sizes to the fine black pin check Coltex fabric / Stifel Cloth pants, jackets & vests that he does so well. Check him out.

Besides the additional plastic bag that the shirt was placed in and a few staples, this is how it was shipped with no problems. Takashi even provided his homage to the Allied Printing Trades Council UNION LABEL, seen just above the Lot No. 1010 on the K&T H Co bag above.
This man is an inspiration. How excited was I to get this in the mail!

So many nice details on my new K & T  H  Co Wabash shirt

Watch pocket and xtra "button hole" for chain

Very cool shawl type round collar

Nice button details only seen from the bottom side

Thank you very much Takashi & congratulations on your new WORKERS Retail Store!