Gitman Bros
"With roots tracing back to the 1930s, the Gitman name is synonymous with a rich heritage of American manufacturing. Today, we are one of the few remaining shirt makers with all our production still based in the USA. Our methods have evolved with the times but the trademark aspects of our business remain. We are committed to delivering the highest quality products that uphold our dedication to craftsmanship and dependability.
At Gitman, we see value in the long lineage of inherited knowledge that is passed down through generations of workers. Our shirts and ties are made by skilled artisans who bring all their history and experience to each individual garment we make. We’ve seen more than our share of trends, and may have even started a few ourselves, but firmly believe that quality and comfort will always be the hallmarks of true style.
In the roaring twenties and soon after The Great Depression, several great shirt makers, mostly first generation immigrants, banded together to move en masse out of New York and away from its urban problems, high costs and rackets. They decided upon a rural area about four hours outside of New York City in Pennsylvania, either in or around Schuylkill County. Among them was Max Gitman, a Brooklyn native who moved his family and business to the coal-mining town of Ashland and established the Ashland Shirt & Pajama Company in 1932.
The speciality that ensued was the foundation of a precise and special kind of shirt making dictated by the largest customer to these factories during their early years, the U.S. military. This resulted in the development of a new type of dress shirt that was softer and more comfortable while remaining durable, dependable and low maintenance.
Alfy and Shelly Gitman were the twin sons of Max Gitman and joined their father’s business in 1950. Shelly ran the cutting room and the front half of the factory and Alfie ran the finishing area and the back half of the factory. Their presence and precision produced a pristinely cut, sewn and packaged product that overwhelmed customers with the meticulous attention to detail.
The factory remained a contract shop, making private label shirts for the most prestigious haberdashers in the USA, until 1978, when a band of young sellers, who loved and wore the product, proposed to Alfy and Shelly that they take the shirts directly to the market under their own label. And so, the Gitman Bros. brand was born.
Today, the Gitman brand holds true to its heritage of American manufacturing and the nuances established in the production of thousands of shirts for military personnel. We are, and will always be, a boutique shirt maker rather than a mass producer and our core values of quality and service remain perfectly intact."