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Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company records, 1898-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company (Portland, Or.)
Title
Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company records
Dates
1898-1962 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 cubic feet, (3 legal document cases; 1 flat box (11x14); 1 flat box (13x16))
Collection Number
Mss 1436
Summary
Records of the Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company of Portland, Oregon, including materials from its predecessor firm, Willamette Tent & Awning. Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company was an apparel company named for brothers Max S. Hirsch (1871-1959) and Leopold Hirsch (1868-1961) and their business partner Henry Weis (1874-1940). It became famous for its White Stag line of skiwear, created by Max S. Hirsch's son Harold S. Hirsch (1907-1990). The firm was renamed White Stag Manufacturing Company in 1946.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Ernest Henry Wemme (1861-1914) founded Willamette Tent & Awning Company in the 1880s in Portland, Oregon. In 1907, he sold the firm to brothers Max S. Hirsch (1871-1959) and Leopold Hirsch (1868-1961), who partnered with the firm's secretary, Henry Weis (1874-1940). By 1914, the company had renamed itself Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company. The company specialized in outdoor clothing and supplies.

In the 1930s, Max S. Hirsch's son, Harold S. Hirsch (1907-1990), began designing skiwear. He named this line of clothing White Stag, after the fact that the name "Weis" is similar to the German word for "white" (weiß), and the name "Hirsch" is the German word for "stag." The White Stag line became popular, and eventually expanded to other types of casual sportswear. In 1946, the company as a whole renamed itself White Stag Manufacturing Company.

The firm was purchased by Warner Brothers Company (later Warnaco) in 1966. Under Warnaco's management, White Stag was moved out of Portland. In 1986, financial difficulties led to a hostile takeover of Warnaco, and White Stag was spun off into part of a new company named Authentic Fitness Corporation. In 2003, Wal-Mart purchased the White Stag trademark.

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Other Descriptive Information

Contains material previously designated Mss 1436-1.

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Content Description

The collection consists of records of the Portland, Oregon, apparel firm Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company, including records from after its rebranding as White Stag Manufacturing Company. Also included are records from its predecessor firm, Willamette Tent & Awning Company. Records include: account books; payroll books; fabric samples and design worksheets; sales catalogs; and correspondence. Other materials in the collection include a script and photographs from a Richfield Oil Company "Success Story" television special about White Stag; some personal account books of firm owner Max S. Hirsch; speeches by Hirsch's son and White Stag Manufacturing Company owner Harold S. Hirsch, and poems collected by Harold S. Hirsch.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company records, Mss 1436, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in five series: Series 1. Willamette Tent & Awning Company records; Series 2. Administrative records; Series 3. Product designs; Series 4. Sales catalogs and promotional materials; Series 5. Personal papers of Max S. Hirsch and Harold S. Hirsch.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Harold S. Hirsch, April 1972 (Lib. Acc. 12207); and materials acquired in the mid or late 20th century (Lib. Acc. 29014).

Separated Materials

Photographs were separated to Photo Collections, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Related Materials

Related collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library include Mss 1819, Harold S. Hirsch papers; Mss 2871, White Stag Manufacturing Company records; Coll 850, Hirsch family papers, which includes some materials relating to the Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company; and Coll 817, Harry E. Bell and Faye Bell papers, which also includes some Hirsch-Weis Manufacturing Company and White Stag materials.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Revised by Jeffrey A. Hayes
2012; revised 2021

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