Academic Costume Companies

Most of the manufacturers of the vintage academic caps, gowns, and hoods illustrated on this website are defunct or were purchased by other companies. When this happened, business records were lost or discarded, which means that very little is known about these companies today. Most tragically, no primary documents from the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume are known to have survived the purchase of Cotrell & Leonard by Oak Hall in 1980.

Here is a list of those companies along with photographs of labels that may help the reader identify the age of a particular garment.

Cotrell & Leonard, Albany, New York. Established in 1832. Depository of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume. Went bankrupt and was purchased by Oak Hall in 1980.

A Doctor of Philosophy gown and Bowdoin University hood label from the 1910s or 1920s. Most top-end academic costume manufacturers would add the owner's initials below the label.
A c.1929-1935 gown and soft cap label.
A Doctor's gown and soft cap label from the late 1930s until the 1940s.
A Doctor's gown label from the 1950s.
A six-sided doctoral tam label. The date of manufacture is not known.
The label for a Cornell University Doctor of Philosophy hood of an unknown date.
The label inside a rental-quality gown for a bachelor's degree, probably dating from the 1960s or 1970s. Many schools would purchase gowns of this quality to be kept on hand for students to borrow for commencement ceremonies; this is from the collection of gowns used at Milligan College in Tennessee.
A Yale University Doctor of Science hood label, possibly from the 1940s or 1950s.
Two labels inside a 1972 Doctor of Philosophy hood from Ohio State University. The "Care Labeling Rule of 1971" required a fabric identification and laundry care tag to be sewn onto garments in a conspicuous place.

Cox Sons & Vining, New York, New York. Established in 1837. This manufacturer appears to have gone defunct in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

A pre-1918 doctoral gown label.
The interior of a pre-1918 velvet Doctor's mortarboard.

Oak Hall Cap & Gown Company, Salem, Virginia. Established in 1889. The company’s website can be accessed here.

C.E. Ward, New London, Ohio. Established in 1891. Incorporated in 1905. Purchased by Oak Hall in 1968.

A gown label, probably from the 1920s or 1930s.
A Doctor's gown label with order information dated 1948.
A doctoral gown label from 1962.
A Master's gown label, most likely from the 1950s. What the number indicates is not known.
An Ohio University Doctor of Philosophy hood label from 1961.
A University of Virginia Doctor of Philosophy hood label from 1962.
An Ohio University Doctor of Philosophy hood label from 1967.

E.R. Moore, Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1907. Purchased by Oak Hall in 2004.

A doctoral gown label, probably from the early 1930s.
A label for a Doctor of Divinity hood from Hope College. Unknown date.
The label from a six-sided velvet doctoral tam, probably from the 1980s.

Bentley & Simon, New York, New York. Established in 1912. Purchased by Oak Hall in 1974.

The interior of a velvet doctoral mortarboard of unknown vintage.
The label inside a velvet Doctor's tam. Below the label is a blank strip of fabric where the tam's owner could write his or her name. The date of manufacture is not known.
A Stetson University Doctor of Literature hood label from the late 1940s or 1950s.

Tilden Manufacturing Company, Ames, Iowa. Established in 1913. Tilden Manufacturing Company existed from 1913 until 1931 or 1932, when it became the “Collegiate Manufacturing Company”. Tilden and Collegiate were famous for their felt pennants, freshman caps, felt athletic blankets, and other high school and college souvenir and novelty items. In 1956, Collegiate purchased the “Pacific Athletic Company” in California, and in 1963, Collegiate expanded to a third location in Virginia called “Collegiate of Virginia”. Within a few years, all three locations were consolidated under the name “Collegiate-Pacific”. These companies have not made academic costume since the 1930s.

The label inside a silk master's gown from the 1913-1931 period. The hook at the top of the photograph is a feature of early 20th century gowns. It attached to the gentleman's jacket collar, which helped to prevent the gown from slipping down the back.
A Princeton University Master of Arts hood from the same period.

Collegiate Cap & Gown Company, Champaign, Indiana. Established in 1926. Purchased in 1979 by Herff Jones, Incorporated, a company founded in 1920 that made academic, masonic, and fraternal jewelry. Their website that can be accessed here.

A doctoral gown label from the late 1930s or early 1940s.
A Doctor of Literature hood from 1928.
A hood label from the late 1940s or early 1950s.
The label for a doctoral hood of an unknown date.

Thomas A. Peterson Cap & Gown Company, Kansas City, Missouri. Established in 1927. They made academic caps, gowns, and hoods as well as choir robes and band uniforms into the 1970s at least. This company is now apparently defunct.

A pre-1960 Master's gown label.
A Doctor of Science hood label from the University of Denver, possibly dating from the 1950s.
The label for a Master of Arts hood from the University of Kansas, thought to be from the 1930s.

Paul A. Willsie Company, Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1930. This company, which is still in business, makes academic, legal, and religious garments and accessories.

The interior of a Doctor of Education gown from the 1950s, showing the manufacturer's label and two fabric tapes sewn to inside of the gown over the wearer's shoulders. To better secure the gown, these tapes could be passed over the shoulders, under the armpits, and tied behind the wearer's back inside the gown.

Autrey Brothers, Denver, Colorado. At present, nothing is known about this company, which is apparently defunct.

The label for a rental Master's gown from before 1960.
The label for a Master of Science hood from the University of Colorado tailored before 1960.