Receive FREE SHIPPING when you spend $50+ Use promotion code GIFT4DAD at checkout. Ends 6/10!
About Us
History
History
Career
1897 20year 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. C.C. Hudson and
his brother, Homer, form the Hudson
Overall Company, operating from a loft
above Coe Brothers Grocery on South
Elm Street in Greensboro.
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 reduces
shrinkage to less than 1%, setting a
new standard for the industry.
1943 Blue Bell acquires Casey
Jones Company, a manufacturer of
workclothing, and, with it, 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. Professional
rodeo cowboys Jim Shoulders, Bill
Linderman and Freckles Brown wear
test the 13MWZ and endorse the
Wrangler name for durability, quality
and authenticity.
1948 Jim Shoulders, World
Champion Cowboy, signs on as an
official endorsee of Wrangler. He goes
on to win a total of 16 world
championships, including five All
Around, seven Bull Riding and four
Bareback Riding World Titles.
1962 Blue Bell opens a plant in
Belgium and the Wrangler brand is
successfully launched in 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.
1982 Wrangler brand becomes the
primary sponsor of professional driver
Dale Earnhardt and the legendary
blueandyellow "Wrangler Jean
Machine." Wrangler becomes the first
apparel company to have significant
involvement in NASCAR as Dale wins
the first three of his seven NASCAR
championships this year.
1986 Blue Bell mergers with VF
Corporation of Pennsylvania, making
VF one of the two largest jeans makers
in the world, with 25% of the $6 billion
market.
1992 Wrangler supplies clothing for
the cast of "Pure Country" starring
George Strait in Wrangler jeans as
Dusty Chandler, a super star in the
country music world.
1994 Wrangler moves into its new
world headquarters on North Elm
Street in downtown Greensboro.
1996 One out of every five pairs of
jeans sold in America features a
Wrangler label.
1997 The 13MWZ, the official jean of
the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association,
celebrates its 50th birthday. The
Wrangler spirit celebrates its 100th
year in business.
2003 VF Jeanswear adds two new
brands to the Wrangler family: RIGGS
WORKWEAR® by Wrangler®, a line of
premium work clothes, and Wrangler®
ProGearTM, hunting apparel for the
serious sportsman.
2004 Wrangler® Jeans Company
becomes the official jean of Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 8 race team.
It’s a new generation of Wrangler.
2005 Aura from the Women at
Wrangler® debuts, offering 120+ fits
and revolutionizing the way women
shop for jeans. Consumers are also
treated to a new premium brand with
the launch of Genuine Wrangler®.
2007 Wrangler endorsee James A.
"Jim" Shoulders, known as the Babe
Ruth of Rodeo, passes away. His
passing ends a 58year partnership
with the brand, the longest sports
licensing endorsement in the history of
professional sports.
2008 Wrangler partners with AQHA
(American Quarter Horse Association)
to develop The Ultimate Riding
Jean™.