The Uniform

By Kathy Keefer Fink

“Due respect shall be paid at all times to the Little Colonel uniform.” - Constitution and By-Laws of the Little Colonels of Colonel White H.S.

THE Little Colonel uniform. It was unique and unforgettable. A source of great pride at Colonel White, and the envy of every other drill team in Dayton. It “wowed” the boys, and every girl wanted to wear it. Even to this day, more than 50 years later, people still remember it. How many times while at CW did you wonder where the idea for our uniform came from?

From military origins, the classic bellboy style has been around for centuries. In the 1930’s, the bright red uniform of the Philip Morris icon, Johnny Roventini, made the style an overnight sensation. In the 1940’s, hat designers began adding veils and trim, and “snoods” - decorative hairnets - to the bellboy hat style. I remember seeing Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck among others wearing that style in the movies. Then in the early 1960’s, it morphed into the "pillbox" that Jackie Kennedy made popular. My curiosity finally prompted me to contact the makers of the Little Colonel uniform – Fechheimer’s of Cincinnati.

Company History

Fechheimer’s of Cincinnati has been in business since 1842, but it began well before that with Samuel Maier (1720-94) who sold clothing door-to-door in Mitwitz, Bavaria. Samuel’s son Meyer, who ran a dry goods store, took the surname Fechheimer from the nearby village of Fechheim, where he traded. In turn, Meyer’s sons began arriving in America in 1832. Solomon Fechheimer, the ninth son, settled in Rogersville, Kentucky in 1842, where he owned a general store and served as the town’s postmaster. Solomon’s sons May and Jacob, eventually moved to Cincinnati to work with their Uncle Marcus at Fechheimer, Frenkel & Company. Eventually, May and Jacob together with Arnold Iglauer, became the founders of Fechheimer Brothers Company. After the Civil War, the company began using the term “military tailors” in its advertising, and became quite successful selling post-war uniforms to both Union and Confederate veterans. Later during World War II, Fechheimer’s had a contract for 10,000 heavy wool, army green overcoats. One of these original overcoats can still be seen today at the “Cincinnati Goes to War” exhibit at Union Terminal.*

My Visit To Fechheimer’s                

In March, I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon at the main offices in Blue Ash. My contact was Sales Manager Larry Schmalz, who has been with the company since the 1950’s! He was a delightful host as he showed me around the offices, and introduced me to members of the staff. After all these years, he still remembered Mr. D, and had managed to find some old style books with designs similar to ours to show me. He couldn’t tell me how Mr. D had come to choose our look, but did say that most band directors came to the company with a style already in mind. One firsthand account actually credits that Philip Morris bellboy as Mr. D’s Muse.

Regardless of where his inspiration came from, I have no doubt that Mr. D knew just exactly what he wanted us to look like the day he walked into Fechheimer’s, then in downtown Cincinnati. Although I wasn’t there, I can just imagine him thumbing through one of those style books until he came across “that look” and said, “That’s it! That’s what I want, right there.” Then with the help of the designers at Fechheimer’s, he took the look and made it his own. 

The Look

It probably started with the dark green, 100% wool whipcord fabric, which was fashioned into a short, one-piece, skirted design with stand-up collar. It was a feminine version of the bellboy style. Surprisingly, Larry remembered that they had suggested a gusset under the arms to make it easier for us to salute. But Mr. D said no. Company designers probably also recommended against the use of rows of traditional buttons as impractical, and chose instead the flat, white, ribbed braid to emphasize the clean, tailored look. Adding the white shoulder knots, and the white/green/white chevron braid on the sleeves re-enforced those early military roots. And topping it all off was our classic bellboy hat from Bayly, Inc. of Thomasville, Georgia. The hat owed its origin to a 19th century French military drummer boy's hat. It was the piece de resistance - cocked, as it was, at an angle over the left eye. White boots and tailored white gloves completed the look. The iconic Little Colonel uniform was born.

Larry had been amazed when I first contacted him and told him why I was calling, and that I still had my uniform. He insisted I bring it with me when I came to visit. So that day after lunch, I retrieved it from the car and brought it into the board room, where it could be examined by him and other interested staff. One of the salesmen from New York loved the look of it, and said the company should have examples of uniforms from its historic past to display in its offices. I said they couldn’t have mine!

Senior Vice President Fred Heldman was equally amazed, and seemed truly delighted to see a piece of Fechheimer history from so many years ago. Not surprisingly, no one could believe I still had it. Why, DID I still have it? I told them, “You just had to have been there.”

Fechheimer Senior V.P. Fred Heldman, holding uniform, is shown with Customer Service Representatives Susan Leming, left, and Susan Meeker, and Sales Manager Larry Schmalz. The author's uniform was made in 1957, and retired in 1965. Catalogs on the table show vintage styles from the period.

After that, Larry escorted me and the uniform out onto the factory floor where they’re still making uniforms. Banners over the walkway read “Fechheimer’s American Idols” and “Uniforms for American Heroes”. Today they make uniforms for police, fire, EMS, transportation, sports umpires, U.S. and foreign militaries, the postal service and more. There I met two very special people.

Betty Deaton, 81, is still a “cutter” at Fechheimer’s, and cut all our uniforms in 1957 and 1963. When Larry asked her if she recognized it, she hesitated for a moment, and then said it did look familiar. I was also introduced to Supervisor Donna Fey, who had worked on our uniforms in 1963. She seemed to recognize it right away.

Supervisor Donna Fey, left, and "cutter" Betty Deaton worked on Little Colonel uniforms in 1957 and '63. 

After carefully examining the uniform inside and out, she recalled one co-worker whose job it had been to hand stitch the white, knife-pleated skirts in place. “See, you can see her stitches right there,” she said, pointing out the small, fine stitching to me. Donna remembered how difficult it had been to get those skirts sewn in just right. Our uniforms were the only ones that Fechheimer’s ever made that had those knife-pleated skirts; the material had to be special ordered from another company. Apparently, it had never been used before, and was never used again. One reason may have been the great difficulty they had getting those skirts in. Also according to Larry, back then our uniforms probably cost around $80 each. Today, they would run $350.

Finally, I’m proud to say that we were the exception in yet another way. Before ever seeing my uniform, Larry shared with me an old axiom of band uniform design: “No matter what your school colors are, everybody always winds up with a little gold somewhere on their uniforms.” We never did. The buttons on our hats were silver. 

Today, Fechheimer’s is a Berkshire Hathaway company with a world-wide operation. Ironically, they no longer make band uniforms.

Fechheimer Sales Manager Larry Schmalz poses with military dress uniform display at Fechheimer headquarters.

* Fechheimer Bros. Co. history provided by the friendly people at Fechheimer’s.