Brooks Brothers, Inc. - circa 1930's Famous Clothing Co. Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Security Bank Note Co. Philadelphia. Brooks Brothers, established in 1818, is an esteemed American luxury fashion brand recognized as the oldest apparel label in continuous operation within the United States. Initially a family-owned enterprise, Brooks Brothers offers a diverse range of clothing for men, women, and children, in addition to home furnishings. The brand has entered into licensing agreements with Luxottica for eyewear, Interparfums of Paris for fragrances, and Turko Textiles based in Turkey for its home collection. Following a series of store closures and declining online sales attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company sought bankruptcy protection in July 2020. Subsequently, in September 2020, Brooks Brothers was acquired by a partnership between Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group.

On April 7, 1818, Henry Sands Brooks, at the age of 45, established H. & D. H. Brooks & Co. at the northeast corner of Catherine and Cherry streets in Manhattan. He asserted that his fundamental principle was to "create and trade exclusively in merchandise of the highest quality, to sell it at a reasonable profit, and to engage with individuals who seek and value such products." In 1833, his four sons—Elisha, Daniel, Edward, and John—took over the family business and renamed it "Brooks Brothers" in 1850. That same year, the Golden Fleece symbol was adopted as the company's trademark. This emblem, depicting a woolly sheep suspended from a ribbon, had long been associated with British wool merchants and traced its origins back to the fifteenth century, serving as the insignia of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, established by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The first Brooks clothier store opened on Catharine Street in Manhattan in 1845.

In its formative years, Brooks Brothers gained recognition for introducing ready-to-wear suits to American consumers. During the mid-nineteenth century, the company provided attire for United States President Abraham Lincoln, who became a devoted patron. At his second inauguration, Lincoln donned a coat custom-made by Brooks Brothers, which featured a hand-stitched design of an eagle along with the phrase, "One Country, One Destiny," inscribed in the lining. He was wearing this coat, along with a Brooks Brothers suit, at the time of his assassination. During the Civil War, Brooks Brothers supplied uniforms to soldiers, but faced significant backlash for allegedly poor-quality production. Under a contract with New York State to provide uniforms for the New York Volunteers, the company utilized torn and sometimes decaying rags, which were glued together and fashioned into uniforms that disintegrated in the rain, leading to mockery from other regiments. James Murray, the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until his death in 1915, noted that Brooks Brothers were purportedly responsible for popularizing the term "shoddy" in American vernacular.

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