Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Freedman Company Limited fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1879-1981 (Creation)
- Creator
- Freedman Company Limited
Physical description area
Physical description
0.85 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The family business of Freedman Company Limited was originally founded in 1887 as S. Freedman Sons and Co. Ltd. It was taken over in 1906 by Lyon Cohen, a Montreal industrialist, who in 1913 also took over the business of Friedman Bros. which had been an early pioneer in the men's clothing industry in Canada. In 1937 Mr. Lyon Cohen died and Mr. Horace Cohen, his son, became the Managing Director. From 1941 to 1947 Horace Cohen served as Federal Administrator of Fine Clothing for the Canadian Government during which time the company, in addition to their regular business, became the largest manufacturer of officers' uniforms in Canada. The company was reorganized and officially incorporated as a joint stock company in 1948, with Mr. Horace R. Cohen, and Mr. Moe Levitt acquiring control. In 1952 David D. Cohen, son of Horace, joined the company and was appointed Director in 1962, with particular responsibility for advertising, styling and presentation of the company's products.
In 1955 the company moved to its own building at 5300 Molson Street which served as its head office housing all offices, showrooms and manufacturing facilities. Freedman employed over 650 people and had a capacity of over 3,500 garments at its production height. It was an Amalgamated Clothing (and Textile) Workers of America shop for over 50 years and the recipient of the only citation ever given by the Retail Clothing Merchants Association of Canada for business integrity.
In the 1960's Freedman broadened its market to include Great Britain and the United States. The British market was expanded for several years until a change in the tariff act and devaluation of the pound caused it to dwindle. The American market continued to exand. Freedman clothing was sold through specialty and individual fine men's wear stores and the better clothing divisions of major department stores, such as Eatons and Simpsons, throughout Canada as well as to certain select accounts in the United States.
The Freedman Company Limited dissolved in 1982.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of both textual and photographic material created and distributed by Freedman Company Limited pertaining mainly to the advertising, promotion and sales of their clothing lines. Included in the business records is material relating to the trademarks owned and patented by the company. There is also some earlier family material relating to some of the founding members of the company. The fonds has been arranged alphabetically within the following series: Business material and Family material.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
David D. Cohen - November 2002
Arrangement
Material arranged by archivist.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
5006.2
F3 C3.4
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Open
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Copyright resides with donor.
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected