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The Way We Were
The 1920s was a time marked by art, extraordinary industrialism, jazz, and the First World War. It was also the time, when in 1922, Charles Nathan Williamson, C. Don Williamson and Colonel E. E. Dickie purchased the U.S. Overall Company of Fort Worth. Two days after acquiring the company they changed the name to the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company and started the world’s top brand of professional quality workwear. While Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. started with only 35 people, within a few years they had more than 400 employees. By 1926, only four years after the company started, the Dickies® brand name became the company's registered trademark. Four short years later, by 1930, Mr. Williamson and Colonel Dickie reinvested their own salaries helping the company add another 250 workers by 1933.
Known to consumers as “Dickies” throughout World War II, the work wear company secured multiple contracts with the U.S. government, producing over 9 million Army uniforms. The standardized look remained popular post war too, as Dickies unveiled a more extensive collection of clothing including denim, protective outerwear, overalls and shirts. The Dickies khaki work-set became the unofficial uniform for working men. From 1947-1949, Dickies continued to lead the industry unveiling "Wear-N-Forced" fabric to hold a crease longer and eliminate baggy knees; zippers in work trousers were introduced followed by the patented, first permanent press, "Shape Set," a revolutionary new non-iron process. By the 50s, the brand name ‘Dickies’ became even more established with endorsements from such famed film celebrities as Henry Fonda in "The Grapes of Wrath," Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity," and Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not".
Spanning the generations, the 1960s had the crooner Pat Boone in Dickies slim British Tab slacks; 70s college students favoured the chartreuse bibs and bellbottom jeans and by the 80s, the Dickies painters trousers and cotton denim jackets dominated the fashion scene.
Professional Quality Workwear
In the 1980s a whole new wave of Dickies fans and loyalists sprung to the scene. By the 1990’s, stars in the surf and skate movement, major musicians, celebrities, models, and a new generation of fashion darlings began to embrace the brand. As the popularity of workwear blossomed, Dickies became not only a global name but an entire lifestyle brand known for its durability, comfort, and affordability as well as its signature look and style. These days, it’s just as likely that a major rap or television star doing a photo shoot is wearing Dickies as it is that an electrical lineman or construction worker is using them for their own brand of work. Dickies professional quality workwear is still made for hardworking men and women in more than 60 countries, and it remains an authentic, affordable, high-quality brand that appeals to everyone who appreciates no-nonsense clothing.
In 1989 Dickies® (UK) was formed, bringing tough, durable and affordable workwear to the British worker. From its base in Radstock, Somerset, the brand has continued to develop its range and markets to achieve its current status as the leading workwear manufacturer and supplier in the UK, offering coveralls, work shirts and trousers, jackets, body-warmers, foul weather protection and high visibility garments, and a comprehensive range of safety footwear.
In January 2009, The ‘Dickies 22’ range was introduced into the UK, continuing the fashion theme for those who wish to enjoy the versatility of being equally comfortable and looking good in both working and social environments.
At the company’s UK headquarters there is a manufacturing facility and an 80,000 sq ft distribution centre that manages 2 million products each year. Dickies Workwear is now available at over 4,000 outlets throughout the UK and Ireland with increasing distribution within Europe and the Middle East.
For more information on Dickies (UK) Limited and the company’s products, visit: www.dickiesworkwear.com or your local Mole Valley Farmers branch!
As Dickies Sew, So in Comfort, Shall Ye Reap
Since its launch in 1983, sales of the Dickies Reaper Trouser have always been mainstay of the agricultural and horticultural communities and known for their toughness and practicality. Available as a standard poly cotton trouser or for winter, lined with brushed polycotton for extra warmth. Now these two trousers styles are joined by the Super Reaper Trouser.
The new product incorporates many useful features such as reinforced knee area, cargo-style pocket with button fastening, two pockets front and rear with buttoned flap closures, hammer loop, rule pocket and key fob.
Made from comfortable 65% polyester and 35% cotton, the Super Reaper Trousers have both button and YKK zip fastening plus added strength, triple-stitched seam detailing. They are available in green and sizes: Leg R 32”, T 43” and waist 30”-42”.
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