A Brief History of Holeproof Hosiery
Carl Freschl, a European immigrant to the United States, founded Holeproof Hoisery Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1886. The idea for the company took shape after Freschl became frustrated over the unsatisfactory loom that his father had been sold; Freschl’s father had been promised a product that would make well-made hosiery for the entire family, but was instead sold something miserable in comparison. So, Freschl took the failing loom and tinkered with it until he managed to produce a decent stocking – Holeproof’s first product. Soon he coined the Holeproof guarantee: “six months without holes, or a new pair free.”
The company came to Canada in 1910 after J.W. Little bought the rights to manufacture the product in Canada. After outgrowing a few locations, the company made its home in SoHo, at 203 Bathurst Street, in 1919. In 1955, the entire company merged with Julius Kayser & Company before being purchased three years later by C.H Roth company. Holeproof Hosiery Company was now Kayser-Roth. By 1971, hosiery sales had decreased enough that the hosiery department at the Bathurst factory closed and the factory closed completely in 1989.
