Box 1

The Rockford Mitten and Hosiery Company records trace the corporate activities of a textile manufacturer from 1881 to its dissolution in 1957. The minute books (1881-1957) detail company policies, organizational changes, and financial conditions. An examination and analysis of the company’s financial statements and its relationship to subsidiary corporations are documented in the audit and annual reports (1918-1955). Additional financial information is available in the general ledgers (1935-1956), profit/loss reports (1926-1954), and the income tax returns (1913-1955). Only the subsidiary Beloit Hosiery Company is represented in the collection in company minutes (1936-1955). Finally, the corporate charter, amendments, by-laws, and stockholders certificates and records supply supplementary historical evidence. A comprehensive collection, the Rockford Mitten and hosiery Company records provide excellent source material for research in corporate business development and the evolution of the textile industry during the first half of the twentieth-century.