Starting out in Florence Eiseman
The appeal of Florence Eiseman’s clothing was rooted in the quality of its design and workmanship: deep hems, carefully matched fabrics, hand-sewn appliqués, and fine, often imported, fabrics. Consumers viewed the clothes as potential heirlooms from the start. Parents could invest not only in a garment for one child, but for those who followed and even for imagined future generations.
Florence Eiseman initially started sewing to “calm her nerves” after the birth of her second son Robert in 1931. This hobby transformed from the creation of bespoke work for the children of friends into a big business after her husband, Laurence, brought three of her custom pinafores to Marshall Field’s in Chicago in 1945. Laurence was a partner in a toy company that made trains like the “Tony Take-A-Part” model shown here. After his success with Marshall Field’s, he and Florence turned their attention to developing her children’s clothing business. The family began by working out of their Shorewood, Wisconsin home, and then established a factory in Milwaukee. Today The Eiseman Company LLC still designs fine children’s clothes about ten miles away from where Florence and Laurence Eiseman began their business.
