Milco was founded in 1922 by Solomon and Marco Mitrani. The name Milco is derived from “Mitrani Lingerie Company”.During the 1920’s and 30’s the brothers would produce women’s lingerie products six days a week and sell the garments to the “pushcart retailers” in the lower west side of Manhattan on Sundays. As the business prospered, sales expanded into regular retail outlets and a larger factory was needed.
During the depression, rural areas advertised in the New York newspapers that tax break incentives were available with a large available work force with a good work ethic. Most of these workers were owners of small family run farms. Milco moved to Bloomsburg in the mid 1930’s, at first renting factory space and eventually buying the property where the factory is currently located. During World War II the lingerie production was converted to manufacturing parachutes for American bombers, that were quick opening and allowed American planes to get out of harms way during low flying missions.
Milco is credited with the success of these parachutes. After the war, the Mitrani Brothers decided to start to manufacture fabric with the invention of the tricot machine and a new yarn that was developed called Nylon. In the 1950’s Milco built a dyehouse and became a vertical manufacturer by making fabric, thread, elastic, embroidery, boxes, cartons and expanding the sewing capability. With the tide of imports, Milco eventually moved the sewing operation offshore and in 2018 sold the sewing factory being operated in El Salvador to concentrate solely on the textile company.
