WRANGLER HISTORY TIMELINE
1897 - 20-year old C.C. Hudson leaves Spring Hill Farm in Williamson County, Tennessee, seeking fortune in the emerging textile town of Greensboro, North Carolina. He finds work in an overall factory sewing on buttons for 25 cents a day.
1904 - Hudson's workplace closes. He and a few others buy several of the sewing machines, lease space over a grocery store downtown and incorporate Hudson Overall Company.
1919 - Sales of Hudson overalls are booming. The company moves to larger headquarters and changes its name to Blue Bell Overall Company.
1926 - Big Ben Manufacturing of Kentucky purchases Blue Bell for $585,000.
The name of the merged companies remains Blue Bell; headquarters remain in Greensboro.
1936 - Blue Bell introduces Super Big Ben Overalls featuring 100% Sanforized fabric that reduced shrinkage to less than 1%, setting a new standard for the industry.
1943 - Blue Bell acquires Casey Jones work-clothes company and the rights to Casey Jones' rarely used brand name -- Wrangler.
1947 - Wrangler authentic western jeans, designed by celebrity tailor Rodeo Ben, are introduced to the American consumer.
1949 - Professional rodeo cowboys Jim Shoulders, Bill Linderman and Freckles Brown wear-test the 13MWZ and endorse the Wrangler name for durability, quality and authenticity.
1962 - Blue Bell opens a plant in Belgium and the Wrangler brand is successfully introduced to Europe.
1963 - Newsweek magazine coins the word "teenager" and features a Wrangler-clad girl on the cover.
1974 - The Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association officially endorses Wrangler jeans.
1980 - Blue Bell purchases Jantzen, the swimwear manufacturing company.
1986 - Blue Bell accepts a friendly merger with VF Corporation of Pennsylvania, making VF one of the two largest jeans makers in the world with 25% of the $6 billion market.
1996 - Don Laws becomes president of the Wrangler division of VF Corp. One out of every five pairs of jeans sold in America features a Wrangler label.
1997 - The 13MWZ celebrates its 50th birthday. The Wrangler spirit endures for its 100th year.
2000 - Wrangler endorsee Ty Murray, the "king of cowboys," is inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
2001 - Wrangler becomes the first title sponsor of the National Finals Rodeo, the world championship event of pro rodeo.
2002 - L. Kimsey Mann, CEO of Blue Bell from 1974-1983, passes away. He leaves a legacy of brand development. During his tenure, several brands were introduced, including Sedgefield, Wrangler Kids and Rustler.
2003 - VF Jeanswear adds two new brands to the Wrangler family -- RIGGS WORKWEAR™ by Wrangler®, a line of premium work clothes, and ProGear™ by Wrangler®, hunting apparel for the serious sportsman.
2004 – Wrangler Jeans Co. becomes the official jean of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 8 race team. It's a new generation of Wrangler.
2005 – After spending 7 days at the top of eBay's "Most Watched" list, a Wrangler-sponsored opportunity to ride shotgun with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. goes for $42,100 with 100% of the winning bid benefiting hurricane relief efforts.
2005 – Aura from the Women at Wrangler™ debuts, offering 120+ fits and revolutionizing the way women shop for jeans. Consumers are also treated to two new premium brands with the launch of Wrangler 47™ and Genuine Wrangler®.
2005 – Wrangler spearheads a year-long industry-wide fundraiser, Tough Enough To Wear Pink, to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.
