Our History - The Beginning

Mr. Ben Silver was a maker of fine men’s overcoats when John F. Kennedy strode coatless, despite the January 1960 chill, into the White House. The youthful President’s televised indifference to outerwear plunged the men’s coat industry into a steep decline, from which it never recovered, and Mr. Silver’s prestigious nationwide network of wholesale accounts disappeared. Seeking another way to utilize the skills of a lifetime, he began to manufacturer fine traditional blazers, complemented by blazer buttons with the enameled insignia of a number of universities.

Mr. Ben Silver

The blazers were an immediate success with the same fine men’s stores he had always served; but ironically the blazer buttons became the predominant product. Nearly every university, college prep, and prep school wanted them in their bookstores. Haberdashers wanted them to augment their blazer sales. Ben Silver became known as a purveyor of fine jewelry quality blazer buttons, producing the blazer buttons for American Presidents as well as corporations and clubs.