In 1907, Stanley Switlik emigrated from Poland and arrived at
Ellis Island as a 16 year old “steerage” passenger. While
working at a variety of jobs from house painting to selling
insurance and real estate, he found a small canvas and leather
manufacturing company, and, in September of 1920, agreed to
purchase it. The Canvas-Leather Speciality Company was
incorporated October 9, 1920, with his friends and relatives
among the stockholders. The first products included collapsible
hampers, golf bags, coal bags, pork roll casings, and one which
would foretell a future in government contracting-leather mail
bags manufactured for the United States Post Office Department.
On display in our museum is one of the first of these leather
mail bags. As “barn-storming” pilots of the day excited the
public’s imagination, the company began manufacturing pilot and
gunner belts, designing flight clothing, and experimenting with
parachutes. In the 1930′s, with a new name, Switlik Parachute &
Equipment Company became the largest